Word In Black health data reporter Anissa Durham has been selected as one of five journalists to receive the 2025 U.S. Health System Reporting Fellowship, awarded by the Association of Health Care Journalists. The fellowship, now in its 15th year and supported by The Commonwealth Fund, provides mentorship and resources to journalists pursuing ambitious projects that examine health care systems and equity in the United States.
Durham’s yearlong project will tackle a deeply entrenched issue: how medical mistrust, fear, and misinformation in Black communities impact organ donation and transplantation.
Durham’s work comes at a time when discussions about health equity often lack the context of how systemic barriers intersect with cultural and historical mistrust. Black patients are significantly less likely to register as organ donors or receive life-saving transplants, often due to a combination of mistrust and structural bias within the medical system.
“Medical mistrust didn’t spring up overnight,” Durham says. “It’s rooted in generations of systemic inequities, from the exploitation of Black bodies in medical research to the ongoing disparities in access to quality health care.”
With this fellowship, Durham joins a cohort of reporters dedicated to illuminating critical issues in health care. Her previous reporting includes a collaboration with the STAT News team to produce “Ozempic Tales.” In this three-part series, Anissa reported on how Black folks feel about diet culture, medications used for weight loss, and body image.
Her latest reporting project promises to bring much-needed attention to the voices of patients and families often left out of the conversation.
As Durham puts it, “This work isn’t just about telling stories — it’s about changing them.”
Stay tuned for updates on her reporting as it unfolds over the next year.