CHAPTER OFFICERS

About Our 2007 Board

Laura Singer - President

Laura Singer has worked as a freelance editor in both the healthcare/pharmaceutical and computer industries in Silicon Valley for more than 20 years. An active member of the Northern California Chapter since 1997, she was elected vice president in 2005 and stepped up to head the chapter this year when the president-elect resigned. She completed her multidisciplinary core certificate at the 2006 Annual Conference and plans to take the BELS exam at the Asilomar Conference in 2007.

A graduate of UC Santa Barbara, Laura earned a master's degree from Boston University's School of Public Communication. In addition to AMWA, she is a member of the Bay Area Editors' Forum and The BioDevice Group.

Words that inspire:
Even with the best intentions, language misused, language used stupidly, carelessly, brutally, language used wrongly, breeds lies, half-truths, confusion.
--Ursula K. Le Guin

Catherine Magill - Vice President and Acting Program Chair

Catherine Magill has worked as a freelance scientific/medical writer and editor for two years after more than 10 years in cell biology research in Bay Area biotech companies (one job, four companies). The desire for more flexibility in her worklife drove her to look into freelance opportunities in writing/editing for biotech, and during the course of that research she found AMWA and has been active in the Northern California Chapter since 2005.

Catherine got her Bachelor's degree from UC Berkeley in Neurobiology and her PhD from Stanford in Neurosciences and then moved to Harvard to do post-doctoral training in Molecular Embryology. She quickly determined that she prefers Northern California life and after three years she returned to the Bay Area to work in biotech, where she focused predominantly on the biology of oncology and inflammation.

Other professional organizations in which Catherine participates are NCSWA, AACR, AWIS, ISCCR and ASCB.

Sunny Bishop - Treasurer

In my 30 years of science, medical, and technical writing and editing, I have experience with academic, post-market pharmaceutical, and clinical research; hi-tech and science education in the private industry sector; and a governmental health insurance program. I have additional experience as a bookkeeper/controller for some small retail shops. Full details of my background and experience are available on my Web site.

I have an undergraduate degree in Microbiology and a Master's degree from UC Davis in Endocrinology.

I joined AMWA in 1983 and have been a member for most of the time since then. I have been on the Board of the Northern California Chapter serving as Treasurer since 2004. I passed the BELS exam in 2005.

Words that inspire:
Do unto others what you would have them do unto you.
--The Golden Rule

Barbara Boughton - Secretary

Barbara Boughton is a medical writer and editor with over 25 years of experience, and concentrates on the areas of medical journalism and CME publications. She began her career as a feature writer for newspapers, and has gradually expanded into the health and medical field.

She has written for medical trade publications such as the Lancet and the Journal of the National Cancer Institute as well as consumer magazines such as Consumer Reports and Better Homes and Gardens. During her career, she's won more than a dozen journalism awards for her writing skills. She also worked for three years as the managing editor of a company that publishes CME materials, before starting to freelance six months ago.

She's been a member of AMWA for four years and is completing her AMWA medical writing certification. She is also a member of the National Association of Science Writers and the Northern California Science Writers Association.

Fred Gebhart - Newsletter Editor

Fred Gebhart has been a freelancer for two decades, starting in pharmaceuticals and expanding into oncology, cardiology, and other speciality areas. He stumbled across AMWA while working the daily newspaper at a medical convention several years ago. This is Fred's first foray into chapter activities.

He graduated from UC Santa Barbara and learned the quick and dirty basics of health care as a Peace Corps volunteer in Senegal. Fred is also a member of the International Society of Travel Medicine, the National Association of Science Writers, and the American Society of Journalists and Authors.

Rene McCabe - Membership Liaison

Rene McCabe has been working in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical areas for more than 20 years (1 location, 2 jobs, 3 companies). A graduate of UC Davis, Rene completed her AMWA core certification with pharmaceutical emphasis in 1993 and her advanced certification in 2003.

Rene has been a member of AMWA since 1990 and has been active in the Northern California chapter for the last 2 years.

Prior to Rene's medical writing career, she worked in toxicology/safety assessment in nonclinical drug development. Rene's medical writing career has encompassed all phases of clinical drug development with particular focus in infectious disease, oncology and vaccines.

Rene's regulatory writing experience includes: investigational new drug applications, investigator's brochures, annual safety updates, clinical protocols, informed consents, clinical study reports, new drug applications, and standard operating procedures.

Non-elected position

Mimi Wessling - Web site Administrator

Mimi Wessling is a relative newcomer to the field: she has been a technical and medical writer for 6 years, and a member of AMWA-Northern California for only 2 years. She received graduate degrees from the University of Pennsylvania (Physical Chemistry) and the University of Michigan (History of Science and Medicine). Her previous career in academia included positions at University of Michigan, Stanford University and University of Essex (U.K.)

Her professional interests are medical communication, medical ethics, translations of German scientific writing, and most recently, regulatory writing.