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Matthew Ong is an award-winning investigative medical journalist and health policy writer based in Washington, D.C. His reporting on the politics and business of cancer research and drug development has led to Congressional investigations, triggered action by FDA, CDC, NIH, NCI, FBI, and GAO, and helped change policy and standards of care.
He is an MPH, Epidemiology candidate at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Currently, Matt is associate editor of The Cancer Letter (est. 1973), an oncology news and policy publication, where his stories have been recognized by >15 organizations and >20 awards. His articles are read weekly by experts, policymakers, and key opinion leaders at top-tier academic institutions, government agencies, life sciences companies, professional associations, and advocacy organizations. His work has been cited in books and scientific journals, and he has been invited to give lectures to journalists, scientists, and physicians. |
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His stories have been picked up and cited in books, journals, and by news organizations, including The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Review of Books, ABC News, CBS affiliates, The Boston Globe, Science, Nature, Inside Higher Ed, The Houston Chronicle, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Journal of the American Medical Association, The British Medical Journal, The American Journal of Managed Care, The Journal of Clinical Advances in Hematology and Oncology, MedPage Today, GenomeWeb, by the CEO Roundtable on Cancer, CEO Cancer Life Sciences Consortium, and the American Association for Cancer Research. He has been interviewed for documentaries, podcasts, and on public radio programs, including NPR.
Matt serves as an instructor and guest speaker for policy and advocacy organizations, at conferences, as well as at D.C.-area universities and research institutions.
Matt's stories have contributed to federal action by the:
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA),
• U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
• U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH)
• U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI)
• U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI),
• U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), and the
• U.S. Congress Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the House Committee on Energy & Commerce
His reporting has been recognized by the following journalism and professional organizations:
• National Press Club (NPC),
• Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ),
• Association of Health Care Journalists (AHCJ),
• The Poynter Institute (TPI)
• Society of American Business Editors and Writers (SABEW),
• National Institute for Health Care Management Foundation (NIHCM),
• American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE),
• American Association of University Professors (AAUP),
• Washington Media Institute (WMI), and the
• Washington, DC Professional Chapter of the Society of
Professional Journalists (SPJ DC).
Matt is one of five journalists selected for the 2021 class of the Health Care Performance Fellowship, the Association of Health Care Journalists' most prestigious fellowship, which is supported by The Commonwealth Fund. In 2022, he was selected as an NIH Research Scholar with the NIH All of Us Research Program. In 2020, he was selected from over 130 journalists by the Poynter Institute and The Washington Post to join the 2020-21 Leadership Academy for Diversity in Digital Media.
In 2016, Matt was chosen as a fellow for the inaugural class of the National Cancer Reporting Fellowships, a collaboration between the Association of Health Care Journalists and the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI). He was also invited as a fellow for the 2017 Comparative Effectiveness Research Fellowship, a joint effort by AHCJ and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI).
Matt's detailed coverage of precision medicine and oncology bioinformatics has been cited by the President’s Cancer Panel, which advises the White House and provides recommendations and findings to the President of the United States, in accordance with the National Cancer Act of 1971. He is featured in a 2021 cancer informatics podcast, "How technology is helping to fight cancer".
For his coverage of the National Cancer Moonshot Initiative, led by former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, Matt was interviewed on KQED San Francisco, the National Public Radio's (NPR) largest member station, for an hour-long feature on the first anniversary of the Cancer Moonshot.
Matt's investigative work has focused on minimally invasive surgery, cancer-related outcomes, and reporting of adverse events in a multi-year investigation, When Surgical Innovation Kills and How Medical Devices Do Harm. His coverage is featured in a 2021 documentary, Kicking the Hornet's Nest. Other notable projects include enterprise and investigative stories on systemic inequities, social justice in health care, and sexual misconduct in oncology.
In Malaysia, Matt's country of origin, his work has been showcased in feature-length interviews on BFM 89.9, MalaysiaKini’s series Malaysians Now, and by MIMS, an international medical news network.
Matt graduated from Marquette University in 2012, majoring in journalism, psychology as well as women's and gender studies. As an undergraduate, he received the Excellence in News/Editorial Journalism Award for two consecutive academic years. He has a certificate in business administration from Georgetown University, and is the recipient of the 2016 Washington Media Institute Distinguished Alumni Award.
Matt's work has appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, where he contributed to a series that won a 2013 George Polk Award and inspired an $8.3 million donation to the Diederich College of Communication at Marquette University for the creation of a public service journalism fellowship program.
Matt has >10 years of experience in oncology, covering precision medicine, health inequities, surgery, cancer informatics, drug development, and medical devices. He also has >15 years of experience as a writer, editor-in-chief, producer, and business development manager for various publications in news organizations and in corporate and marketing communications.
Matt serves as an instructor and guest speaker for policy and advocacy organizations, at conferences, as well as at D.C.-area universities and research institutions.
Matt's stories have contributed to federal action by the:
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA),
• U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
• U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH)
• U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI)
• U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI),
• U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), and the
• U.S. Congress Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the House Committee on Energy & Commerce
His reporting has been recognized by the following journalism and professional organizations:
• National Press Club (NPC),
• Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ),
• Association of Health Care Journalists (AHCJ),
• The Poynter Institute (TPI)
• Society of American Business Editors and Writers (SABEW),
• National Institute for Health Care Management Foundation (NIHCM),
• American Society of Business Publication Editors (ASBPE),
• American Association of University Professors (AAUP),
• Washington Media Institute (WMI), and the
• Washington, DC Professional Chapter of the Society of
Professional Journalists (SPJ DC).
Matt is one of five journalists selected for the 2021 class of the Health Care Performance Fellowship, the Association of Health Care Journalists' most prestigious fellowship, which is supported by The Commonwealth Fund. In 2022, he was selected as an NIH Research Scholar with the NIH All of Us Research Program. In 2020, he was selected from over 130 journalists by the Poynter Institute and The Washington Post to join the 2020-21 Leadership Academy for Diversity in Digital Media.
In 2016, Matt was chosen as a fellow for the inaugural class of the National Cancer Reporting Fellowships, a collaboration between the Association of Health Care Journalists and the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI). He was also invited as a fellow for the 2017 Comparative Effectiveness Research Fellowship, a joint effort by AHCJ and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI).
Matt's detailed coverage of precision medicine and oncology bioinformatics has been cited by the President’s Cancer Panel, which advises the White House and provides recommendations and findings to the President of the United States, in accordance with the National Cancer Act of 1971. He is featured in a 2021 cancer informatics podcast, "How technology is helping to fight cancer".
For his coverage of the National Cancer Moonshot Initiative, led by former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, Matt was interviewed on KQED San Francisco, the National Public Radio's (NPR) largest member station, for an hour-long feature on the first anniversary of the Cancer Moonshot.
Matt's investigative work has focused on minimally invasive surgery, cancer-related outcomes, and reporting of adverse events in a multi-year investigation, When Surgical Innovation Kills and How Medical Devices Do Harm. His coverage is featured in a 2021 documentary, Kicking the Hornet's Nest. Other notable projects include enterprise and investigative stories on systemic inequities, social justice in health care, and sexual misconduct in oncology.
In Malaysia, Matt's country of origin, his work has been showcased in feature-length interviews on BFM 89.9, MalaysiaKini’s series Malaysians Now, and by MIMS, an international medical news network.
Matt graduated from Marquette University in 2012, majoring in journalism, psychology as well as women's and gender studies. As an undergraduate, he received the Excellence in News/Editorial Journalism Award for two consecutive academic years. He has a certificate in business administration from Georgetown University, and is the recipient of the 2016 Washington Media Institute Distinguished Alumni Award.
Matt's work has appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, where he contributed to a series that won a 2013 George Polk Award and inspired an $8.3 million donation to the Diederich College of Communication at Marquette University for the creation of a public service journalism fellowship program.
Matt has >10 years of experience in oncology, covering precision medicine, health inequities, surgery, cancer informatics, drug development, and medical devices. He also has >15 years of experience as a writer, editor-in-chief, producer, and business development manager for various publications in news organizations and in corporate and marketing communications.
