EMWA’s Newsletter – March 2024
European Medical Writers Association (EMWA)
Professional Organisation of Medical Writers and Communicators
Another month has come and gone, and EMWA 57th conference in Valencia is getting nearer. This month, we share a few more details about the sessions taking place during the conference, as well as Special Interest Groups news and other updates.
Happy reading!
EMWA 57th Conference News
From 7th to 11th of May, the Spanish city of Valencia,?“2024 European Green Capital” will host EMWA’s 57th conference. It will be an opportunity for experienced, new, and aspiring medical writers to develop their professional skills, learn, and participate in social events. A large part of the conference is dedicated to EMWA Professional Development Programme (EPDP) workshops, which provide high-quality training for medical writers. The details of the EPDP workshops in Valencia are now available to view on our?website, and in the meantime, we’ll share some information about other activities.
Regarding all-day events, there will be a Getting into Medical Writing (GIMW) Day, which will include the “Introduction to Medical Writing” Seminar, CV + LinkedIn clinics and networking opportunities. You can read more about GIMW in our last newsletter. There will also be an all-day Symposium about Artificial Intelligence (AI), where different perspectives about this transformative technology will be shared, from its development to ethical considerations with its use. There will also be an overview of how medical communicators can adapt do the current opportunities. Whether you’re an avid early adopter or a laggard in AI matters, the symposium will benefit you.
Shorter events include a seminar on predatory publishing and a CORE Reference seminar providing the latest information on regulatory reporting and public disclosure landscapes. There will also be a lunch seminar on the topic of copyright, including discussions about open access publishing and AI.
Smaller but no less relevant events include three round tables: one regarding best practices in translation, one the impact of AI on medical writing from an agency’s perspective, and one on the latest trends of conducting and publishing real-world evidence (RWE) studies.
Finally, for medical writers with more experience who wish a deeper dive in certain topics, there are four Expert Seminar Series (ESS) to choose from: Non-Clinical Regulatory Writing, Visual Healthcare Communications, Experience, Trust, and Public Perception of AI, and Using AI Tools in Practice.
We will keep providing more information about these and the other sessions that will happen in Valencia, so keep an eye on your email inbox and EMWA’s LinkedIn page.
One final note about travel to the conference: if you can’t find a suitable flight to Valencia itself, try to see if you can find one to Alicante. From there, there is a train that goes to Valencia which takes about 2 hours. There is also the possibility of going to Madrid and get to Valencia via the AVE (fast speed train) – thank you to our members who suggested this alternative!
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EMWA Professional Development Committee Webinar
Webinar:?Successful implementation and development of lay protocol synopses
Wednesday, 13th March 2024 at 17:00 CET
Dear members,
The next EPDP webinar will ?focus on the regulatory requirements and recommendations for lay protocol synopses, and will provide an overview of all the aspects that should be considered for successful planning and drafting, as well as challenges to overcome when developing lay protocol synopses.?
To register, please?click here. For more information about the webinar content, please visit https://www.emwa.org/education/emwa-webinars-programme-2024/
Kind regards,
EMWA webinar team
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Regulatory Special Interest Group News
The Regulatory Special Interest Group (SIG) had a meeting last Friday, March 1st. The minutes of the meeting are posted in the LinkedIn group.
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CORE Reference
Check out the?January 2024?list of ICH, EMA (including CTR and CTIS), FDA and other regional guidances; best practice documents; and other tools and resources supporting clinical trial reporting; transparency and disclosure of clinical documents; real world data and artificial intelligence/machine learning in the regulation of medicines. The CORE Reference NewsSummary encompasses medicines, vaccines and devices; information is archived (including the February 2024 NewsSummary in the coming days) at:?https://www.core-reference.org/news-summaries/. Sign up for the bi-monthly email service here:?https://www.core-reference.org/subscribe.
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Veterinary Special Interest Group at Valencia: Session and Dinner Invite
The vetSIG will hold a session during the Spring conference, followed by a dinner open to anyone interested in the SIG as well as those who are already participating in it.?The one-hour presentation is due to start at 5 pm, Thursday, May 9th, details to follow.?If you are interested in joining the dinner, please email?[email protected]?as there may be a limitation on the number of places.
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Pharmacovigilance Special Interest Group News
Upcoming PV SIG Meet&Share - Monday 11th March, 14h-15h CET
Topic: “Concerns with Safety Concerns”
Speaker: Sven Schirp, Boehringer Ingelheim
领英推荐
Dear members, this Meet&Share is all about safety concerns in PBRERs and RMPs. You will learn how to manage changes in the list of safety concerns of a medicinal product during the life-cycle between the two most relevant PV documents. Sven will share his wide experience and his considerations. All members will have the opportunity to ask questions and share their own experience. This Meet&Share will be?moderated?by our PV SIG’s supporting volunteer Maria?Gullberg. Do not miss this?chance, see you there!
Tiziana von Bruchhausen, on behalf of the PV SIG
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Medical Communications Special Interest Group News
The EMWA Translators subgroup (part of the MedComms SIG) is having its first Meet & Share! Join us on 18th April, 11am - 12:30 CET.
At this Meet & Share we will be joined by authors of articles from the March MW issue on translation. Authors will talk about their articles, their perspectives on the translation landscape, and explore further aspects of their topics. There will be a Q&A after the panel, where attendees can ask questions and share their own experiences. A great opportunity to 'get to know' our authors.
You don't have to be a translator to attend! Everyone is welcome. If you're interested in translation, interpreting or work with languages in general then this Meet & Share is for you.
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Freelance Business Group News
Back in Vienna 2019, I took to the stage during the Freelance Business Forum (FBF) and was warmly welcomed by Satyen Shenoy as he handed the role of Freelance Business Group (FBG) Chair over to me. Fast forward nearly five years and it’s my turn to hand the role over to Adriana Rocha. During these five years, I’ve met and had the pleasure to work with various other freelancers and had several successful projects within the FBG. I would like to thank firstly the amazing FBG committee members who have participated in the FBG over the years, and secondly everyone who kindly put their hands up to be guest speakers, table leaders, breakout room moderators, authors in the Out On Our Own section and freelance issue, and all the other tasks I’ve asked people to get involved with. It has truly been an inspiring five years. I’m confidently handing it over to Adriana who will be running the FBF in Valencia (free to all those registered for the conference, so sign up!) and taking over the many tasks and initiatives that the FBG committee are involved with. I wish her and the committee every success and hope to see many of you at an EMWA congress in the coming years. Farewell for now.
Laura A Kehoe, PhD
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Ambassador Programme News
The?EMWA Ambassador Programme?is continuing its efforts to reach out to new audiences to promote medical writing and EMWA and has supported the events below.
On 30 January 2024, Katrin Zaragoza?D?rr?and Marta Maas held presentations on Medical Writing and the benefits of joining EMWA at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine Barcelona.? Katrin and Marta began their session by talking about their respective backgrounds and how they both came to medical writing from different career paths. They then continued the session by discussing the types of medical writing, the skills needed, where medical writers work, as well as discussing the EMWA organization and website including resources such as? webinars and the Medical Writing journal. They also reviewed topics such as the advantages of EMWA membership, training, networking and our conferences. The upcoming EMWA Spring Conference in Valencia, Spain was discussed, including the all-day “Getting Into Medical Writing” event. The session was well received by the 15 post-doctoral fellows in attendance who had many questions including training and opportunities for Spanish-speaking medical writers in Spain. This occasion provided EMWA a great opportunity to raise the profile about medical writing in Spain and to promote the upcoming conference this Spring in Valencia.
Francesca Cappellini has been invited again to participate in the?ChaSE Career Event at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden on 15 November 2024.
?If you are an experienced medical writer, an EMWA volunteer and are interested in becoming an EMWA Ambassador or if you know of any upcoming career events in your locality please contact the EMWA Head Office ([email protected]) or Abe Shevack ([email protected]).
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Medical Writing Journal (MEW) Updates
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Did You Know…?
EMWA membership allows you to participate in any Special Interest Group (SIG) Meet and Share, even if you are not an active member of that SIG. These events are usually announced here in the newsletter but also in a separate mailing, closer to the date of the event. The Meet and Share sessions are great opportunities to know more about a particular topic in an informal setting. Some sessions may be recorded, but many are not.
SIG members, on the other hand, participate in all SIG meetings (as their availability permits) and/or are more involved in the SIG activities, requiring a more active role but also providing a more in-depth knowledge about what is going on in the SIG area.
If you are interested to know more about the SIGs, please read this.
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Tips and Tricks
This month,?unfortunately we had no contributions for this section.
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If this is the first time you’re seeing the “Tips and Tricks” section, here’s the context: this section is intended to be a space for EMWA members to share pieces of useful information that might ease the life of fellow medical writers. This way, EMWA is fostering a sense of community among its members and promote dialog. In return, we’ll highlight your LinkedIn or EMWA Freelance Directory profile (or your website) with a link for it, if you wish so.
You can email your contributions to the Public Relations Officer by the 22nd of each month to be featured in the following month newsletter. Provide the text (maximum 200 words) and a link to your profile or website. Please note that the featured tips and tricks will have to be relevant to fellow medical writers, and repeat suggestions may not be featured.
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