Welcome to the March 2023 chapter newsletter. 

We have a few robust features section this month! Check out the CAC report, new member profile, book review below and an upcoming webinar. 

Anyway, deviating from my usual snooty classical and world music suggestions, this March I’d like to recommend the Jeff Beck instrumental “Serene,” from the 2010 album Emotion & Commotion. Beck, if you didn’t know, died recently, defying rock star logic by reaching the ripe age of 78. He was a guitar god who stood alongside Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, though his propensity for dissolving bands as soon as they hit their prime curtailed his commercial success. Beck was famous for making the guitar “sing” in a way nobody before or since could. Listen and you’ll see what I mean. 

Let us know what you think, and remember, you can also read this newsletter on the chapter website. You can find previous newsletters on the website as well. 

CHAPTER NEWS 

• President-Elect and Programming Chair position currently open! See details below. 

• Join our AMWA North Central LinkedIn Community! Link here. 

CHAPTER EVENTS 

• Webinar with an Expert! 6:00 pm on Tues, March 21, 2023

• Next book club April 24, 2023 

FEATURES 

• New Member Profile: Arrianna Carey, PhD  

• CAC report by LeAnn Stee 

• Read a Good Book? By Paul Mamula, PhD 

CHAPTER NEWS

Volunteers needed for President Elect, Programming Chair, CAC Representative

The AMWA North Central chapter is looking for a new President-Elect, Programming Chair and CAC Representative. Please consider volunteering! More information below. 

AMWA North Central is a volunteer-based organization. If members don’t take an active role, the chapter will cease to function, and members will lose access to programming, news, and networking opportunities. Consider taking your turn to lead (or join) a committee or serve as a chapter officer. If members don’t take an active role, the chapter will cease to function, and members will lose access to programming, news, and networking opportunities. Consider taking your turn to lead (or join) a committee or serve as a chapter officer. Please submit your interest or nominations for any of the above positions to bod@list.amwanorthcentral.org. 

• President-Elect: We are seeking a President-Elect for the 2023 term. This position is critical to our status as a chapter!  Without a volunteer to fill this vital position, we will not be able to continue as a chapter. Please volunteer! As President-Elect, you will attend the monthly AMWA NC chapter board meetings, take minutes, and chair the meeting if the president is unable to attend. Other duties may be assigned by the President or Board on an ad hoc basis. 

• Programming Committee Chair: The Program Committee Chair is responsible for organizing AMWA events throughout the year, including identifying topics of interest and recruiting speakers. This is an important role in AMWA and is valuable for both member engagement and education. Please submit your interest or nominations. 

• CAC Representative: We are looking for a new Chapter Advisory Council (CAC) Representative. The CAC Rep attends all meetings of the CAC, either held in person at the annual AMWA National meeting or by conference call. The CAC Rep then communicates all concerns and questions from chapter leaders and members to the CAC.

Not ready or able to lead a committee? All of our committees invite members to share ideas and keep the workload light. 

In addition to keeping our group viable, volunteering with AMWA is a great way to network with your fellow members. It’s also a good way to fortify your C.V. with an extra line showing how you give back to your profession! If you can volunteer a few hours a month to help, please send a message to bod@list.amwanorthcentral.org. 

EVENTS

Webinar with an Expert: 6:00 pm on Tues, March 21, 2023

Join us in hearing about the University of Minnesota’s Earl E. Bakken Medical Device Center (BMDC) from Director Will Durfee PhD. This is a Zoom webinar–join from the comfort of home! Reminder emails will go out to all members with a Zoom link.

Next book club: April 24, 2023

The Illusion of Evidence-Based Medicine: Exposing the Crisis of Credibility in Clinical Research by Jon Jureidini and Leemon B McHenry. The book presents a detailed account of two influential clinical studies that seriously misrepresented the drugs’ efficacy and safety. The drugs, paroxetine and citalopram, are used for pediatric and adolescent depression. The book argues for reevaluating the relationship between medicine and the pharmaceutical industry. 

FEATURES

New member profile: Arrianna Carey, PhD

By Arrianna Carey 

Arrianna joined AMWA in September of 2022, shortly before graduating with her PhD in Biological Sciences from the Irell and Manella Graduate School of Biological Sciences (IMGS). The IMGS is located within the Beckman Research Institute at the City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, CA. Arrianna performed her dissertation research in the laboratory of Dr. Mark LaBarge and her project focused on the immune system contributions to breast cancer susceptibility. 

While researching alternate careers outside of academia, Arrianna learned about the field of medical writing and after holding several informational interviews with medical writers in her network, she was sold. She felt this was exactly the career she was looking for as it combines her strengths and interests of writing, communicating, and distilling complex scientific information and presenting it to various audiences. She learned about AMWA through Nisreen Shumayrikh, PhD, who gave a presentation on medical writing at the IMGS’s annual graduate student symposium. 

Arrianna is currently applying for medical writer positions and looking for a role in either the medical communications or regulatory side of medical writing. She is open to almost any writing position that will allow her to use her scientific skills and training to create high quality deliverables that ultimately improve lives and make science accessible to everyone. With a background primarily in oncology and immunology, she is interested in writing about many therapeutic areas and is excited to gain experience working with clinical trial data. 

Arrianna’s adventures in science started at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire (UWEC) where she performed basic biochemistry research as an undergraduate student, studying the effects of mutation on the leucyl-tRNA synthetase enzyme function in Dr. Sanchita Hati’s lab. This experience, which included writing two successful grant proposals, co-authoring one publication, and giving multiple poster and oral presentations of her research, built the foundations of a productive scientist. After graduating from UWEC with her BS in Biochemistry/Molecular Biology, she spent a few years working as a Quality Control Specialist in the microbiology lab at Nestlé Nutrition in Eau Claire. Knowing she wanted to pursue higher education and training in cancer research, she moved to southern California with her future husband. While applying for PhD programs, she secured a job at Amgen as a Senior Associate in Quality Control, with the intent of transitioning from her food science background into healthcare and biotechnology. 

Arrianna decided to attend graduate school at City of Hope because she is passionate about science and medicine and wanted to expand her laboratory research skills at an NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center known for its innovative research that has led to promising new therapies. As a graduate student, she gained expertise in oncology, immunology, and aging, and though she has always enjoyed benchwork, her love for writing emerged. She wrote one first-author publication of her research and communicated her project over the years to general and expert scientific audiences through at least 13 posters and 12 oral presentations. After expressing her enjoyment for writing to her colleagues, she contributed to writing and editing several other publications and grant proposals for the lab. She has a personal desire to help others and her primary goal has been to contribute to research that advances the field and leads to better prevention strategies or therapies for cancer patients. She carries that goal to the medical writing field, where she is eager to use her background and ability to effectively communicate to help a team of medical writers deliver cutting-edge science and medical advancements to the world. 

As natives of Minnesota, Arrianna and her husband moved back to the land of 10,000 lakes in 2022 to be closer to their families. Since joining AMWA, Arrianna has completed several professional development courses that were recommended by AMWA members and has found the members to be very helpful and welcoming. She has read a lot of useful information in the discussion forums and participated in the North Central chapter’s January book club. Feel free to connect with her on LinkedIn and reach out if you have any advice on breaking into the field. 

Chapter Advisory Council Update

By LeAnn Stee, North Central Chapter Representative 

Mission of the Chapter Advisory Council (CAC)  

The CAC serves to maintain a connection between chapter leaders and the AMWA Board of Directors by advising the AMWA board on the organization’s strategic direction as it affects the chapters and acting as a sounding board about issues that have an impact on chapters and the national organization. 

First Quarterly Meeting of 2023 

The AMWA CAC held its first meeting of 2023 on February 9. The meeting was held virtually with GoToMeeting software.  

Jen Minarcik, chair, opened the meeting with a review of the mission of the CAC (see first paragraph). 

Updates from the AMWA Board of Directors: Jen Minarcik 

1. AMWA 2023 Priorities 

• Plan and promote the 2023 and 2024 AMWA annual conferences 

• Implement technology and office space updates at headquarters 

• Enhance and expand AMWA certificate programs 

• Launch new editing and regulatory online certificate programs 

• Essential skills certificate modules: content update, brand refresh 

• Create and promote AMWA online learning programs 

• Attract, engage, and retain AMWA members 

• Engage medical writing executives and support executive forum events 

• Support AMWA value-of-medical-writing activities 

• Recruit, orient, and engage volunteers 

• Enhance diversity and inclusion 

2. 2022 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Survey: Overview of Results 

• The AMWA Diversity and Inclusion Assessment Task Force developed the DEI survey 

• Goal: To conduct a survey to help determine the current state of the organization’s diversity and inclusion 

• Survey open: August 10-September 12, 2022 

• Survey snapshot: 397 respondents; 98% were AMWA members; data collected (besides demographics):  sexual orientation/identity, gender identity, pronouns, disabilities, US military active duty/veteran status, accessibility needs and barriers 

• In late November 2022, the task force was divided into 3 subgroups based on interest and expertise to analyze survey results—an informal report was shared in January 

• In February, the full task force will reconvene to discuss synthesizing the findings into a formal report and list of recommendations for the AMWA BOD 

Updates From AMWA Headquarters: Sharon Ruckdeschel, director of membership and systems for AMWA 

2023 Medical Writing & Communication Conference 

• Baltimore, MD, October 25-28 

• Call for proposal deadlines 

• Education Sessions/Med Write Talk: February 27 

• Roundtables and poster: April 17 

• Schedule will be finalized in April 

• Registration: will open by early June 

• Chapter Leaders Session: day is to be decided 

• Chapter dinners: likely on Thursday night 

• Future annual conferences: 2024 New Orleans, 2025 Phoenix 

• Call for Volunteers 

• Opened new call for volunteers in September 

• Promoted and solicited responses through December 

• Chairs and staff coordinated to select members 

• AMWA will use the volunteer interest forms received throughout the year as opportunities develop 

Spring Chapter Activity Reports & Compliance 

• Activity reports are due March 1, 2023 

• Message posted on the Chapter Officer Community in Engage 

• Report template, compliance checklist, and website checklist were attached to the post 

Read A Good Book? The Sense of Structure: Writing From the Reader’s Perspective

By Paul W. Mamula, PhD 

A good book for improving your writing is The Sense of Structure: Writing From the Reader’s Perspective by George Gopen [1]. I purchased it after taking an AMWA workshop on rhetorical grammar several years ago, and I was reminded of the book when 2 articles by Gopen [2,3] appeared in consecutive issues of the American Scientist. The articles provide a nice introduction for those unfamiliar with Gopen’s work about problems with scientific writing and his suggestions for improving it. 

Writing for improved comprehension is critical for better communication. Research requires clarity for reviewers, grant administrators, and readers, so investment in better writing techniques is very important. Gopen’s book provides nice concise reviews of topics and exercises for analyzing and improve writing. The book is a snappy 240 pages, and each chapter is accompanied by a series of examples and exercises. Topics include sentences, balance, paragraphs, bad advice, among several others. The book provides practical tips for improving skills. The first 5 chapters explain principles. Of particular interest is chapter 5: Write the Way You Speak and Other Pieces of Bad Advice. It is a short essay with 14 pieces of advice that he deems are wrong, e.g., “To make it better, make it shorter”; “A sentence is too long when it exceeds 29 words.” He goes on to explain why these tips are wrong using examples from science and literature. Part 2 of the book (the last third) consists of short chapters on various topics involving punctuation (dashes, colons, ellipses, and many more) and includes explanations for which might be preferred e.g., dash versus parentheses, dash versus colon. The book is a good addition to the science or medical writer’s reference bookshelf and a nice workbook for those wishing to improve their writing. 

If you just want to sample how Gopen’s work might help your writing, read his 2 articles in the American Scientist [2,3]. The articles will give you a taste of what is frequently wrong with biomedical writing and ways to improve text. If you want to dig deeper and work on ways to improve writing with practical exercises, work through the problems and exercises in the book. In either case, one is in for many helpful tips to writing better, a critical commodity in our attention-challenged era. 

References 

1. Gopen GD. The Sense of Structure: Writing From the Reader’s Perspective. New York: Pearson, 2004, pp 1-240 

2. Gopen GD. Getting the Point Across. Am Scientist Nov Dec 2022; 110(6):346-51 

3. Gopen GD. Writing to Facilitated Reading. Am Scientist Jan-Feb 2023; 111(1):28-33