Doctor Journalist Eli Cahan at OU To Explore ‘Superbug’ Health Risks

Dr. Eli Cahan will visit the University of Oklahoma October 29-31, 2024, to explore his Pulitzer Center-supported project Could a Conflict-Borne Superbug Bring On Our Next Pandemic?

Cahan is an award-winning investigative journalist covering the intersection of health care and social justice. During his Oklahoma visit, he will meet with students and faculty focusing on how “superbugs,” or antimicrobial resistance bacteria (AMRs), germinate on the frontlines of modern wars, and why they pose existential health risks. 

This global investigation, published in Rolling Stone, tells the AMR Iraqibacter story—a story of war and biology, of missed opportunities and unintended consequences, and of a post-antibiotic future.

Other work by Cahan has been featured in The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and USA Today, among other publications. In addition to his journalistic career, Cahan is a pediatrician at Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston Medical Center, and Harvard Medical School. 

Cahan’s visit is made possible through a Pulitzer Center Campus Consortium partnership with the University of Oklahoma’s Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication.