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Executive Committee

The Executive Committee is elected at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) held during the AMWA Annual Conference. Nominations for executive positions are called for prior to the AGM. All executive positions become vacant annually and are open for nominations from members, subject to conditions within the constitution.

2023–2024

Ian Harrison PRESIDENT

  Dr Ian Harrison is the Scientific Communications and Clinical Trials Manager for Ego Pharmaceuticals. Ian joined Ego Pharmaceuticals in 2017, at first splitting his time between the Research and Development laboratory and the Regulatory Affairs department before moving to his current role. Prior to his position at Ego Pharmaceuticals, he spent many years in medical research and academia and has published on a wide variety of topics, from the impact of reactive oxygen species on cancer development to the optimal topical treatment strategies available for atopic dermatitis. Ian holds a PhD in Pharmacology from Monash University. His area of focus at Ego Pharmaceuticals is the design and implementation of clinical trials, and the development of technical communications, from presentations and regulatory arguments to scientific publications, for all of Egos stakeholders, including healthcare professionals and consumers.

Email: president@medicalwriters.org

Nicola Ryan  VICE PRESIDENT

Nicola started her career in medical writing after completing a BSc majoring in physiology and pharmacology. Over more than 30 years she has developed experience and expertise in a wide variety of scientific medical writing tasks, from manuscripts (including publications in NEJM, JAMA and the Lancet family of journals) to “plain language” patient information/website resources, and conference materials. As a freelancer for the last 9 years, she primarily works directly with researchers and key opinion leaders based in Asia or Europe.

Email: vicepresident@medicalwriters.org

Shelley Reid SECRETARY
AND PUBLIC OFFICER

Shelley works as a nurse midwife specialising in neonatal care. She holds tertiary qualifications in nursing, psychology, editing and publishing, public health, and is currently working towards completing a PhD. She works in Sydney at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital Women and Babies Newborn Care as Clinical Nurse Specialist (Research). Shelley became a member of AMWA after attending one of their annual conferences, quite by chance, and eventually joined the AMWA Committee to contribute her expertise on association governance.

Email: secretary@medicalwriters.org

Sheridan Henness TREASURER

Sheridan has a PhD in lung cancer and subsequently completed post-doctoral work in COPD. Following this, she left academia and Australia for the varied life of medical writing in New Zealand. After 15 years in medical communications at a medical publisher, she is now back in Australia, and a freelance medical writer focusing on manuscripts for submission to medical journals, medical conference materials and medical education. Oncology, inflammatory lung diseases, HIV and diabetes are specialities, but she’ll turn her writing hand to almost any topic that requires evidence-based, clear and balanced communications.

Email: treasurer@medicalwriters.org

Sophia Auld  ORDINARY MEMBER

Sophia Auld writes clear, accurate, and persuasive copy to help health and medical brands prove their expertise, educate customers and the public, and grow their sales. Before pursuing her lifelong love of writing, Sophia worked as a physiotherapist for over 25 years. 
She has written for NSW Health, Deaf Children Australia, Healthscope, the Victorian Department of Health, GSK, HCF and Air Liquide Healthcare, along with many health practitioners and small businesses. Her health articles have featured in titles including The Saturday Paper, MiNDFOOD, Good Health, WellBeing, Breathe, and The New Daily.
When she’s not at her desk, you might find Sophia bushwalking, at the gym, reading, drinking coffee, or hanging out with her family.

Michael Molloy-Bland  ORDINARY MEMBER

Michael has an MSc (1st class honours) in microbiology from the University of Canterbury and a PhD in molecular biology from the University of Otago. Michael joined Oxford PharmaGenesis as a medical writer in 2008 after undertaking post-doctoral research at the University of Oxford. He is currently a CMPP-qualified Scientific Director (New Zealand-based) in the Melbourne office of Oxford PharmaGenesis, providing strategic and content overview across several accounts. During his 15 years in the industry, Michael has gained extensive experience in publication development (with a fair amount of dabbling in other forms of medical communication) across a range of evidence types and therapy areas, including co-authorship of several narrative and systematic review publications. At present, he has a strong interest (though limited expertise) in the practical integration of AI into the publication development process, especially regarding literature reviews. Michael enjoys reading science fiction, playing video games, hanging out with his family, and his regular poker evening with his friends.  

Marie Cheeseman  ORDINARY MEMBER

Marie has an MSc(hons) in physiology from the University of Auckland. After graduating, a chance viewing of a job advertisement for a medical writer at Adis International was the start of a medical writing career spanning almost 20 years. Marie has worked on a variety of publications and has reported on late-breaking research from major medical conferences. She has worked as a freelancer for 10 years, and now works with agencies across the globe. She has substantial experience in diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatology and multiple sclerosis, and is willing and able to work across any and all therapeutic areas. Her areas of expertise include manuscripts, conference materials, patient information, and medical education.

Serina Stretton  ORDINARY MEMBER

Serina Stretton PhD, ISMPP CMPP™ is a certified medical publication professional with more than 20 years’ experience working with authors and clients globally and in the Asia Pacific region. Serina has published peer-reviewed research on publication misconduct, is a past-Convenor of the Medical Writing Interest Area Committee for ARCS Australia, and past-member of the Global Alliance for Publication Professionals.  Currently, Serina is Division Lead for Envision Pharma Group, based in Sydney Australia.


Jen Hall  DIGITAL CONTENT AND MARKETING ASSISTANT

Jen has a BA in Psychology and a Diploma in Proofreading and Editing. She has a diverse background in pharmaceutical distribution customer service, recruitment, property administration and as a teaching assistant.

Jen currently works as a healthcare administrator and also provides content marketing and administrative support to the AMWA Executive Committee.

Email: marketing@medicalwriters.org



Member Spotlight - Michael Molloy-Bland

Michael gained his PhD at Otago University and then secured a postdoctoral research position at the University of Oxford. He is currently working as Scientific Director in the Melbourne office of Oxford PharmaGenesis, working remotely from New Zealand. His role mainly involves overseeing strategy and content development for scientific publications across several client accounts.
He shares more about his journey, and some very wise insights and words of advice, on our Member Spotlight page.

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