Newsletter – September 2014
Contents
Save the Date: North Central Chapter Fall Program
AMWA Opportunities
Bulletin Board: Book Club
Member News
Member Profile: Nissa Mollema
SAVE THE DATE for our North Central Chapter Fall Program:
Saturday, November 1
Dr. Timothy Denison will make a presentation on neuromodulation therapies in the context of the federal administration’s Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative. Dr. Denison serves on the Advisory Committee to the director of the BRAIN Initiative.
AMWA OPPORTUNITIES
Registration for the AMWA annual conference, to be held October 8-11 in Memphis, is now open: http://www.amwa.org/events_annual_conference. Note that September 26 is the last day to register before onsite registration fees apply.
AMWA volunteer opportunities are open to all members. For information about national opportunities, visit: http://www.amwa.org/membership_get_involved. To learn about North Central chapter opportunities, see http://amwanorthcentral.org/chapter/?page_id=72.
BULLETIN BOARD
Our next book club meeting will be Monday, September 29, 2014, 6:30 p.m., Caribou just west of Har Mar (2111 Snelling Ave. N., Roseville).We will discuss: Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us by Michael Moss.
MEMBER NEWS
June Oshiro, PhD, editor in Scientific Publications at Mayo Clinic, recently earned the ELS certification with her successful completion of the Board of Editors in the Life Sciences (BELS) exam. The exam, written by senior life-science editors, focuses on the principles and practices of scientific editing in English. Congratulations, June!
Kelly Haggenson is now employed as a medical affairs consultant in Medtronic’s Neuromodulation Division. She researches and writes response letters to inquiries from healthcare providers regarding Medtronic therapies. Congratulations to Kelly on her new position.
BREAKING NEWS!! September 11, 2014
…and the President’s Award Goes to…Naomi Ruff, PhD, ELS
The President’s Award is given by the AMWA president to a member of AMWA in recognition of distinctive contributions to the association at the chapter or national level. This year, AMWA President Brian Bass has selected Naomi Ruff, PhD, ELS, to receive this prestigious award, citing particularly her outstanding, consistent, enduring, and valued contributions to not one but two AMWA chapters: the Northern California Chapter and the North Central Chapter.
Dr. Ruff has served at the chapter level in numerous positions since 2002. She was a Board Delegate, and she served two terms as President of the Northern California Chapter, as well as Secretary, Newsletter Editor, and director of the Pacific Coast (Asilomar) conference. Since moving to the North Central Chapter, Dr. Ruff has served as a member of the chapter’s Publications Committee and as Secretary.
In addition to her considerable volunteer efforts for her Chapters, Dr. Ruff has committed her time, expertise, and energy at the national level as a speaker and workshop leader, and as a member of the Chapters, Web and Internet Technology, Nominating, and Posters Committees, the Freelance Directory Subcommittee, and the Elections and Science Curriculum Task Forces.
Mr. Bass noted that Dr. Ruff was selected especially because of the valuable impact she has had at the chapter level. “Chapters are the foundation of AMWA’s strength as an organization. Those who volunteer see first-hand how much their commitment benefits AMWA and their colleagues, and they learn quickly how much one gains personally and professionally by being an active and engaged member of a major national organization.”
Note from Chapter President Ruth Taswell:
“Naomi, congratulations on behalf of our North Central chapter’s Executive Committee for receiving this year’s President’s Award from AMWA! This is such an honor and a confirmation of your great contributions to AMWA and our chapter. We are so thankful you moved to Minnesota—though we wish you were closer than Duluth—and for your participation in our chapter’s leadership.”
MEMBER PROFILE: Nissa Mollema
By Scott Wessels
Nissa h
as been an AMWA member since 2012, but only recently transitioned to a career as a full-time medical communicator. In July, she joined Cardiovascular Systems, Inc. (CSI) as a clinical database analyst/science affairs associate. In this dual role, her time is split between “science” and “data.” On the science side, she writes and edits manuscripts, abstracts, and power point presentations. On the data side, she reviews case report forms and writes data clarification forms. CSI is a mid-sized company, so Nissa is getting diverse opportunities and is working cross-functionally with many different teams.
Prior to transitioning to CSI, Nissa worked full time at the University of Minnesota as a postdoctoral research associate and part-time as a freelance medical writer. Much of Nissa’s time at the U was spent designing research studies and mentoring students. She secured grant funding to study neurological disease in stem cell models. In this position she wrote grants, published scientific research papers, and communicated with the community (https://www.americanscientist.org/issues/feature/one-familys-search-to-explain-a-fatal-neurological-disorder).
Nissa is skilled at decoding scientific information for the lay audience. She was recruited for her first contract-writing job through LinkedIn. After that experience, additional opportunities began to unfold, and Nissa found there was a need for skilled medical communicators.
In 2013, she started her own freelance medical writing and editing business. “Freelance writing allowed me to work on challenging projects for diverse companies: medical publishers to biomedical industry to biopolymer corporations,” Nissa declares. “Freelancing was the best fit for me because it allowed me to focus on my project at the University of Minnesota while building experience as a medical writer.”
Nissa states that her mentor at the University of Minnesota, Dr. Harry Orr, was incredibly supportive as she explored different options for her next move. “Dr. Orr is a clear, scientific ‘story teller,’ and he has a real talent for communicating with various audiences,” she says. “He was certainly an inspiration when I began considering a career in science writing. He gave me exceptional training and worked closely with me to define my project, develop my career goals, and personalize my experience at the University of Minnesota. His team has become like a second family.”
AMWA also has had an enormous impact on Nissa’s work. She was introduced to AMWA through Anne Marie Weber-Main, a past AMWA North Central president. They met for coffee in 2012 when Nissa was interested in learning more about careers in scientific writing.
Your Name in Lights
Want to be profiled in an upcoming AMWA newsletter? Here’s your chance to introduce yourself to other North Central Chapter members. Great networking opportunity! Contact Deborah Sugerman (at dsug…) or Kelly Haagenson (at kelly…) for more information.
