MFSA 2026 Conference


Keynote Speaker: Sally Satel, MD


Dr. Sally Satel is a resident scholar at AEI and the medical director of a local methadone clinic in D.C. Dr. Satel was an assistant professor of psychiatry at Yale University from 1988 to 1993 and remains a lecturer at Yale. From 1993 to 1994 she was a Robert Wood Johnson policy fellow with the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee. She has written widely in academic journals on topics in psychiatry and medicine, and has published articles on cultural aspects of medicine and science in numerous magazines and journals. She has testified before Congress on veterans’ issues, mental health policy, drug courts, and health disparities. Dr. Satel is author of Drug Treatment: The Case for Coercion (AEI Press, 1999), and PC, M.D.: How Political Correctness Is Corrupting Medicine (Basic Books, 2001). She is coauthor of One Nation under Therapy (St. Martin’s Press, 2005), co-author of The Health Disparity Myth (AEI Press, 2006), and editor of When Altruism Isn’t Enough: The Case for Compensating Kidney Donors (AEI Press, 2009), co-editor of  Evaluating the Brain Disease Model of Addiction (Routledge, 2022), The Free Inquiry Papers (AEI Press, 2025) and Mind the Children: How to Think About the Youth Mental Health Collapse (AEI Press, 2025). Her book Brainwashed: The Seductive Appeal of Mindless Neuroscience (Basic, 2013), co-authored with Emory psychologist Scott Lilienfeld, was a finalist for the 2013 Los Angeles Times Book Prize in Science.



Conference Location


MFSA's 2026 conference will be held at the Le Meridien Boston Cambridge hotel, adjacent to the MIT campus. 


The conference will run from roughly 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and breakfast and lunch will be served. 


As of August 23, MFSA's room rate at the Le Meridien has expired. Out of town attendees wishing to stay at the Le Meridien are advised to contact the hotel directly, or email MFSA Executive Director Peter Bonilla with lodging-related questions. 



2026 Conference Exhibitors





Confirmed Speakers

Institutions are listed for identification purposes, and speakers are subject to change


Conference Agenda

This current working agenda is a draft and subject to change. 


AnchorSupport MFSA's 2026 Conference

MFSA's Annual Conference has always been free to attend, and we welcome donations to help it remain so. 


Sponsorship Tier Giving Level
Exhibitor Level$250
Patron Level$500
Leadership Level$1,000
Founder Level$2,500
Institute Level$5,000


Donations can be made through our website, and donation-related inquiries may be directed by email to giving@mitfreespeech.org.


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