Mary Elizabeth Williams is a patient advocate, journalist, and health and science writer for Salon.

In 2011, after being diagnosed with metastatic melanoma, she enrolled in a Phase 1 immunotherapy clinical trial. Her experience as a patient and research participant is described in her book A Series of Catastrophes and Miracles: A True Story of Love, Science, and Cancer, and it sparked her interest in communication in health care settings. 

After obtaining her certificate in Narrative Medicine from Columbia, she is now working toward her doctoral degree in Medical Humanities at Drew University, where she is studying the application of techniques from crisis negotiation settings (such as hostage situations) into healthcare communication. Her research focuses on what healthcare providers can learn from the people who have the most precise training in talking to people in distress, and how the most collaborative, empathetic techniques can be adapted to informed consent discussions, end-of-life decision-making, and other emotionally complex situations.

She also had her New York Times Modern Love column, about relationships during her cancer experience, adapted to the Amazon series.