Conference Booking

Johanna M Chester is an independent freelance medical and scientific writer. She has co-authored over 75 publications in indexed journals in various disciplines, including surgery, dermatology, nephrology, urology, haematology, biomedical sciences and laboratory medicine. She teaches medical writing to doctors and aspiring medical writers in Italy. Johanna actively supports EMWA initiatives,  as a member of the EPDC,  co-lead of the webinar programme, member of the freelance business group, and a founder of the Italian LEG.

Gaele is a principal medical writer and manager at Veristat. She worked in academic research for 10 years, in France, the UK, Australia, and the US, with a specific interest in rheumatology, paediatrics, medical imaging, and sport sciences. Gaele has a doctoral degree in physiology and published approximately 30 scientific articles during her research career. She has been a medical writer since 2011 and is experienced at writing a wide range of regulatory documents and medical communications covering various therapeutic areas

Arine is a senior medical writer at Veristat. She has a PhD in sports sciences and has worked in academic research. She has been a medical writer since 2021 and is experienced at writing a wide range of regulatory documents on pharmaceuticals and medical devices, covering various therapeutic areas. Arine has also mentored medical writers on several types of documents.

Cheryl is currently the head of the global medical writing group for BioMarin, and specialises in medical writing for serious and life‑threatening rare diseases. She joined the pharmaceutical industry in 2001 in drug development, and continued in positions in medical editing and medical writing in both the pharmaceutical and consultancy industry. She holds a degree in Medical Biology and a Masters in Neuroscience. Cheryl has been a workshop leader since 2015.

Tiziana has been specialising in pharmacovigilance (PV) writing since 2008. In her current position at Boehringer Ingelheim, she is responsible for the preparation of lifecycle PV documents with a particular focus on Risk-Management Plans (RMPs) and Periodic Safety Update Reports (PSURs), including related pre- and post-submission activities and health authority assessment reports. Tiziana has been a member of EMWA since 2009 and a workshop leader since 2013; she was President elect in 2017-2019 and has been chairing the PV special interest group since 2017.

Julia is a Senior Partner of Trilogy Writing & Consulting, a company specialized in providing regulatory medical writing. Since she started her career as a regulatory medical writer in 1997, she has since been President of the European Medical Writers Association (EMWA) twice and is currently a member of the Executives Council for the American Medical Writers Association (AMWA). Julia is a known voice in the industry as an advocate for the importance of medical writing, writing and speaking frequently about the value of good medical writers during drug development. She is an experienced training of medical writers, running workshops for EMWA, AMWA, DIA, and pharmaceutical companies around the world. She is a Nick Thomson Fellow of EMWA and in 2022 she received the AMWA Harold Swanberg Distinguished Service Award for her contributions to medical communication.

Lisa is a Senior Partner of Trilogy Writing & Consulting. Aside from management activities, she leads client projects, with extensive experience in a variety of documents. Lisa has a special interest in writing for the public, and in the effective and ethical use of AI in medical writing. Following a PhD and post doc. in Pathology at Cambridge, Lisa began her medical writing career in 2000. Since then, she has been involved in the European Medical Writers Association (EMWA) as a member of the Educational Committee, mentor, leader, and assessor of workshops, and is a member of the American Medical Writers Association (AMWA)’s Executive Forum, AI Task Force, and teaches and reviews workshops for AMWA. Lisa regularly takes part in podcasts, articles, and is a member of several global, pan-industry panels and committees. She holds an EMWA professional development certificate, is a visiting lecturer for King’s College London and the University of Lisbon, initiated and chaired EMWA’s first Special Interest Group (in PV) and is the current chair of the Communicating with the Public SIG, and the Geoff Hall Scholarship Committee. She is section editor of the ‘Medical Communications and Writing for the Public’ section of Medical Writing, is an EMWA Nick Thompson Fellow, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine.

Ekaterina, a trained biologist, began her journey in Oncology drug development in 2005. Ekaterina brings experience in Medical Writing, Medical Data Review and Clinical Sciences. Her career includes leadership roles in biotech companies and contract research organizations, where she developed internal Oncology training programs. Ekaterina holds a Master’s degree in Pharmaceutical Medicine and is currently pursuing her PhD. At Immatics, she is part of Clinical Sciences team focusing on innovative TCR-based anticancer therapies.

John qualified in medicine having studied at Oxford University and Guy’s Hospital, London. Initially he trained as a surgeon. After gaining further experience in paediatrics, neonatology, obstetrics and gynaecology, he then became a GP. Since 2003, John has completed an MBA at Warwick University Business School. He then spent five years as Director of Medical Communications at InterComm International Ltd., becoming a healthcare communications consultant and trainer in scientific communications in 2013. His interests include supporting researchers, medical communications agencies and medical equipment companies to ensure their scientific communications are accurate, understandable and use appropriate language. John has provided training for universities and research institutes across Europe in academic writing, presentation delivery, and conference abstract and poster preparation. He is co-author of How to Publish in Biomedicine. 500 Tips for Success. 3rd Edition (2016). CRC Press.

After getting bored of his first two careers (organic chemistry research and medical translating), Adam worked as a medical writer, first at a small contract research organisation and then at a large medical communications agency. He set up his own business in 1999, which was a lot of fun for a while but sadly didn’t survive the recession and ceased trading in 2014. Adam was EMWA President in 2004–2005 and was co-author of EMWA’s guidelines on the role of professional medical writers in publications. He finally got bored of medical writing as well, and now works as a statistician. However, he doubts he will ever get bored of coming to EMWA conferences.

Maria is a co-owner of Proper Medical Writing, the first Polish medical writing agency. In 1991, she began working within the pharmaceutical industry where she gained experience in both the marketing and medical sides of the business. Between 2001 and 2013, Maria worked at Pharmacia (later Pfizer) in Stockholm, Sweden, where she was responsible for large research databases and patient registries. Maria led numerous research groups investigating growth hormone disorders based on real-life clinical data. She has an extensive track record of quality of life and patient-reported outcomes research. Furthermore, she lectured at different meetings related to late phase drug development and patient registries. She is a member of the European Medical Writers Association, European Association of Scientific Editors, European Society of Endocrinology, and Growth Hormone Research Society. She is also a reviewer for a number of peer-reviewed journals, an Associate Editor for BMC Endocrine Disorders and a section editor for Medical Writing. Maria was EMWA president in 2023-2024.

Vivien has 30 years of experience in an international pharmaceutical CRO. In her current position as Director, Global Medical Writing and Head of IQVIA’s Clinical Trial Disclosure group, Vivien manages a team of UK and European Medical Writers along with a group of Clinical Trial Disclosure Specialists based out of India. Vivien was a member of the EMWA-AMWA group who delivered the CORE Reference project (www.core-reference.org; an open access resource to support authoring of disclosure-ready CSRs).
Vivien is an EMWA Workshop Leader, DIA panellist and a member of The CORE Reference Project committee. In more recent years, Vivien has been an Expert Seminar Series (ESS) presenter on the topic of the EU CTR/CTIS.

Sam Hamilton is a postdoctoral virologist, with 32 years in clinical and regulatory medical writing and leadership roles in the pharmaceutical industry. Sam has a special interest in public disclosure of clinical-regulatory documents as Chair of the EMWA-AMWA group who delivered the open-access www.core-reference.org in May 2016. Sam is long-time supporter of EMWA serving in various roles over 19 years, notably as Freelance Advocate; Editorial Board member for Medical Writing (MEW); Workshop Leader; Expert Seminar Series (ESS) Chair; and Vice President and President. Sam was elected an EMWA Nick Thompson Fellow in 2018 for her services to the Association. Sam is currently MEW Section Editor for the “Regulatory Public Disclosure” Section, and Chair of The CORE Reference Project.

Evguenia finished her PhD in biochemistry at the University of Buenos Aires before finding her true passion in science communication. At EMWA, she is the co-editor of the Medical Writing journal and chair of the GIMW Programme Committee. She is a passionate educator with 15+ years of teaching experience. She is currently a freelance science communication lecturer, a career coach, and a founding partner at Alquimia CMC.

Sofia Polcowñuk has a PhD in Biology from the University of Buenos Aires and is currently a researcher at the University of Glasgow where she discovered her passion for science communication through illustrations. She joined EMWA 3 years ago and is an active member of the Creative Team. With over 8 years teaching experience in different modalities, Sofia is currently working as a freelance illustrator for ChemDye studio and is passionate about visual communications and design.

Diana Ribeiro, MPharm, is a pharmacist by training. Having worked for 10+ years in hospital and community pharmacies, she then transitioned to medical writing in late 2019. Working across a number of therapeutic areas, she has written many different types of documents, both in medical communications and the regulatory field. In 2020, she started working in medical devices, authoring clinical evaluation reports under the medical devices directive and the medical devices regulation (MDR), as well as other documents in this area.

Jo has over 25 years’ experience in medical writing, and is currently Value Communication Principal at Visible Analytics Ltd. She specialises in writing for market access, health economics, and outcomes research. She has led, managed, and written a wide variety of projects for pharmaceutical companies, market access consultancies, and medical communications agencies, including health technology assessment submissions, value stories, manuscripts, literature research projects and more. In a previous life, she has written numerous news and feature articles for the scientific and consumer health press, and is author of four health-related books for teenagers. She has a particular interest in oncology and holds an MSc in Cancer Therapeutics from Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London. Jo served as EMWA Education Officer from 2011 to 2014.

Sarah has been a medical writing professional since she graduated with a doctorate in the biological sciences from University College London. Currently, she is a Director in clinical regulatory writing at AstraZeneca. She manages one of the established portfolios in the oncology franchise. There she is a also a submission lead overseeing dossiers for IND/CTAs, MAAs/BLAs. In addition to authoring key clinical documents, she is also a line manager of 5 reports. Previously, she has worked in CROs, other pharmas, also as a manager and lead author. She had a brief stint in medical devices, and as a freelancer. She is actively involved in EMWA: She served on Executive Committee as Treasurer and Honorary Secretary, led an EMWA workshop, EMWA webinar, and published in Medical Writing (including recently, the Salary Survey). She is currently part of the Treasurer’s Finance Committee, an EMWA ambassador, and a member of the Remuneration Survey team.

Kari is an experienced freelance medical writer who works mainly with medical communication and training, particularly manuscript writing. She has given workshops on manuscript writing at several universities in different countries, gives EMWA workshops on manuscript writing, grant-writing and cross-cultural communication, and currently serves on EMWA’s Professional Development Committee (since 2013). During 2004–09 she was a member of EMWA’s Executive Committee. She is bilingual Canadian/Norwegian, has a MSc in biochemistry, has worked for more than 10 years in clinical development in pharmaceutical industry, and is currently a regular writing consultant for a medical device company.

Thomas is a biologist by training and was working hard to unravel the mysteries of the brain using his own brain and such obscure things as glass needles, fluorescent dyes and white powders called neurotransmitters. However, in order to avoid going mad himself, he quit university and started his medical writing career in 1999 with the CRO Kendle in Munich. In 2002 he changed to big pharma and worked for Lilly Deutschland GmbH, mainly writing on Phase III-IV projects, including observational studies. Still working in the area of madness he mostly tackled psychiatry, quality of life, and red tape in the position of Group Leader Scientific Communications Europe for Neurosciences at Eli Lilly & Co. To avoid getting entangled too much he then changed in 2009 to the other side of the fence now working as a service provider and consultant for Trilogy Writing & Consulting as Medical Writing Manager. In 2015 Thomas moved to the headquarters of Merck Healthcare KGaA in Germany and is responsible for all regulatory medical writing documents from Phase I to post-marketing studies in the “beyond oncology” area; including the setup of a MW hub in Bangalore/India.

Dr. Janowich Wasserott is a Senior Medical Writer on the Publications and Scientific Communications team of the PPD clinical research business of Thermo Fisher Scientific. She is the leader of the ‘Tech Tips’ focus group, where she provides departmental trainings on practical tips to improve writing efficiency using Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Before becoming a medical writer, Dr. Janowich Wasserott studied how the brain handles the demands of task switching and task planning. She has a keen interest in improving processes and enjoys finding new ways to elevate the quality and efficiency of writing deliverables.

Gaele is a principal medical writer and manager at Veristat. She worked in academic research for 10 years, in France, the UK, Australia, and the US, with a specific interest in rheumatology, paediatrics, medical imaging, and sport sciences. Gaele has a doctoral degree in physiology and published approximately 30 scientific articles during her research career. She has been a medical writer since 2011 and is experienced at writing a wide range of regulatory documents and medical communications covering various therapeutic areas

Arine is a senior medical writer at Veristat. She has a PhD in sports sciences and has worked in academic research. She has been a medical writer since 2021 and is experienced at writing a wide range of regulatory documents on pharmaceuticals and medical devices, covering various therapeutic areas. Arine has also mentored medical writers on several types of documents.

Sabrina is a Regulatory Medical Writer with 10+ years of experience in clinical development. She has been involved in document writing across all stages of development and in various indications (e.g. oncology, inflammatory diseases, biosimilars). She has experience in the development of Briefing Documents directed to the EMA and FDA as well as other regulatory interaction and meetings. Following a PhD in human genetics and a postdoc in cancer research, she pursued an advanced training in clinical research before joining the pharmaceutical industry. Sabrina is also an experienced EMWA workshop leader.

A firm advocate of the strategic importance of Medical Writers, Katrin has been overseeing and supporting the development of regulatory documents during clinical development for the past 10 years. She has written Briefing Documents directed to the EMA, FDA and CDE in multiple indications. Having worked as an employee and as a freelancer, she has founded her own consultancy offering medical writing services, mentoring and training. With a PhD and 10 years as a molecular medicine scientist, she joined the pharmaceutical industry in 2011. Her experience in clinical operations further complements her overview of clinical research and associated documents. Katrin is an EMWA member since 2018 and an EMWA ambassador in and around Barcelona.

Alessia is a medical writer and a senior scientific assistant with 10 years’ experience at IRCCS Policlinico San Donato, a research hospital specialized in cardiovascular treatments. She has worked as biomedical librarian and scientific event manager, with a prominent aptitude for medical communications, research manuscripts and grant writing. She has a B.S. degree in interpreting and translation, and experience in psychological sciences and techniques with a commitment to therapeutic photography and creative writing. She is exploring the efficacy of psycho-cardiology therapy in patients with rare and congenital heart diseases throughout the direction of two research projects employing art-therapy exercises and environmental psychology experiments.

Diarmuid is an EMWA workshop leader and served as a member of the EMWA Executive Committee from 2012 to 2022. Originally an academic researcher on the subject of entrepreneurship, he has worked as a business lecturer and researcher, editor and writer in Ireland, Germany and Switzerland. After 15 years in orthopaedic clinical research, his most recent role was as the Key Expert Manager for a dental intraoral scanner company. Diarmuid is also a general freelance writer and is currently completing a PhD in Public Health with a focus on Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) in Low to Middle Income Countries.

Claire is a Senior Director of Global Submissions at Certara. She worked in pharmaceutical and academic research before and after her PhD in immunology and oncology. Claire has worked within the pharmaceutical and CRO industry in a number of clinical and medical roles including medical information and sales/marketing. After leaving the big smoke in London, she decided on a career in medical writing. Claire has been a medical writer since 2007 and worked as a MW Manager at Trilogy and ICON before joining Certara as one of the Submission Leads. She has a wide range of experience and a particular interest in regulatory documents covering various therapeutic areas.

Christopher Marshallsay is Head of Scientific/Medical Writing & Trial Transparency at BioNTech SE (Mainz, Germany). Christopher is a PhD biochemist with over 25 years of experience in various roles in clinical development – including pharmacokinetics, medical writing, clinical trial disclosure, and as department/function head – whilst located in Aachen, Frankfurt, Mainz, and Paris. He has previously worked at Ciba-Geigy, Aventis, Sanofi, and Grünenthal. He currently manages a group of teams providing integrated scientific, regulatory, and publication writing services for research, non-clinical, and clinical teams. His team also provides trial transparency services (clinical study registration/results posting, Policy 0043/70 requests, freedom of information requests, voluntary disclosure requests, and protection of company confidential information and personal protected information), and publication management and submission services. As a process nerd, Christopher is a key driver for process optimisation and standardisation at BioNTech. Christopher is also an experienced lecturer and workshop leader. He is a Committee Member of the Regulatory Public Disclosure Special Interest Group.

Julia A Hild is a Senior Medical Writer at Boehringer Ingelheim with a background in pharmaceutical biology and biological sciences. She holds a doctoral degree in human biology and a degree in plain language writing. Since joining Boehringer Ingelheim in 2020, Julia has played a pivotal role in developing lay language documents across multiple therapeutic areas. She specializes in creating patient-friendly materials, including lay summaries, lay protocol synopses, and informed consent forms. Julia also works with visual media, creating scripts and storyboards for videos and comics to support patient understanding. She established processes in close collaboration with the Patient Engagement team to involve patients in the review of lay language documents, ensuring their feedback drives clarity, relevance, and truly patient-centric communication.

Stephen (Steve) Gilliver has been an EMWA member for 15 years and is a former Co-Editor of the EMWA journal, Medical Writing. He has spent the past 16 years working as an editor and medical writer. Having moved from the UK to Sweden in 2010, he ultimately settled in Malmö, where he now works home-based as a Manager, Medical Writing, specializing in publications (manuscripts, abstracts, posters). He is a joint British-Swedish citizen and speaks fluent Swedish.

Phillip Leventhal, PhD is a Senior Manager, Medical Writing at the PPD clinical research business of Thermo Fisher Scientific, where he leads the Publications and Scientific Communications Team. Phil has over 20 years of experience in scientific and medical writing and earlier experience in pharmaceutical research and drug discovery. He has written nearly 200 published peer-reviewed publication and edited hundreds more. As Editor-in-Chief of Medical Writing and Executive Committee member from 2011 to 2020 (now Editor Emeritus) and a long-standing workshop leader for EMWA, he was awarded the Nick Thompson Fellowship in 2021 for exceptional service.