Professional Medical Writers and Medical Editors
FAITH HICKMAN BRYNIE has two specialties:
- assistance to nonfiction book authors on works related to science, medicine, health, psychology, education, and related fields. Brynie provides substantive and developmental editing, rewriting, and ghostwriting of manuscripts and assistance with proposals and query letters.
- critiques of novels for fiction writers working in the genres of mystery; science fiction; action adventure/thriller; literary; contemporary/mainstream; detective/crime; horror; and children/juvenile/young adult. (No romances or fantasies, please.)
Brynie is the author of 25 nonfiction works. Her latest, Brain Sense (Amacom, 2009) explains the latest advancements in neuroscience for general audiences. She has won numerous awards for her juvenile and young adult nonfiction, including “Best of the Year” from the American Association for the Advancement of Science and “Best for Teens” from the International Reading Association.
She has a Ph.D. in science curriculum and instruction, and she is an experienced editor of science activity books, trade books for middle school and high school, and textbooks K-12. She has worked for major publishers as writer, substantive editor, developmental editor, copyeditor, and fact checker. She excels at communicating complex ideas clearly and simply. Over the last eight years, she has assisted more than 20 authors with preparation of their nonfiction proposals and development of their manuscripts. Several have gone on to achieve publication and commercial success.
Brynie loves fiction, and she has written three novels, all published by Geneses under a pseudonym. She has won several contests and awards for her short fiction, which has been published in such magazines as Thema, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, Midnight Zoo, Aberrations, Over My Dead Body!, Haunts, and others. She critiques novel manuscripts, helping authors develop their characters, plot, dialogue, voice, and style. Over the last eight years, she has critiqued more than 30 novels. Her advice has led to publication and commercial success for several novelists.
- Nonfiction: assistance with the development of manuscripts, proposals, and queries; developmental/substantive editing; rewriting, ghostwriting
- Fiction: novel critiques: mystery; science fiction; literary; action adventure/thriller; contemporary/mainstream; detective/crime; horror; children/juvenile/young adult (no romances or fantasies, please)
VALRIE (VAL) GERARD, MA, PhD in Biology
After earning her Ph.D. from the University of California at Santa Cruz, Val worked as a research biologist at Dalhousie University and the California Institute of Technology. She ultimately accepted a faculty position at the State University of New York, Stony Brook, and retired from that position in 1999.
As a freelance editor, Val has worked with professionals and students on writing projects in a broad range of medical and scientific fields. Many of her clients have returned for assistance with new or ongoing projects. Val helps her clients to communicate complex information in a succinct, clear, and well organized manner; to design clear and efficient figures and tables; to identify and summarize the most important points. With her assistance, clients have been successful in obtaining multi-million dollar research grants, publishing articles in prestigious journals, completing and defending dissertations, etc. Val takes pride in the achievements of every one of her clients, and particular pride in the development and improvement of their own writing skills that will help to ensure their future success.
- Medical and science editor and writer since 2001. Editing, copyediting, and writing of manuscripts, books, grant proposals, dissertations, etc. Topics range from oncology, cardiology, immunology, and epidemiology to molecular genetics and development of new therapies through chemical mining. Focus on organization, interpretation, and clear presentation of complex information.
- Past clients include professionals and students from Australia, Chile, China, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Thailand, Uganda, the UK, Venezuela, even the U.S.! Goals are successful completion of specific writing projects, and helping clients improve their own writing skills for future projects.
- Val’s own work includes more than fifty publications in biology, including physiology, biochemistry, and mathematical modeling (see her publication list), and one million dollars worth of successful grant proposals.
- Over thirty years of teaching experience, including scientific writing courses. Served as advisor and/or mentor to many graduate and undergraduate students.
- Past experience as associate editor, editorial board member, and/or reviewer for over two dozen scientific journals, including Science, and government funding agencies.
“Dr. Val Gerard was extremely helpful and was really in tune with what I wanted. Her comments on my article are precise and informative. Will definitely ask for her service if I need help with manuscripts or grant proposals.” Jan Chang, UMass Boston
"Val, thank you SO much! I just met with my advisor to discuss this paper and am feeling much better about it, thanks to your tremendous help. I have to make some updates based on his feedback, which are primarily additions to the study intros & discussions and technical changes to the analyses, so I'm happy too that none of your work will be wasted. I wish I had collaborators like you! I'm surprised and pleased to be working with someone who's fast, meticulous, and so honest in keeping track of time and letting me know that the project came in under budget. And thank you again for getting this done so quickly - I'm thoroughly impressed." Doctoral student, Harvard Business School, 2011 (On file with network coordinator)
Dr. Sara H.
STATISTICAL GENETICIST
Quantitative Genetics
Genetic Epidemiology
Genotypic and Haplotype Tests
Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium
Genome-Wide Association Studies
Golden Helix
R Statistics – R Programming
Dr. Sara H. specializes in the analysis of genetic, biological, experimental, and clinical data. She is accomplished in the areas of statistical genetics, quantitative genetics, bioinformatics and biostatistics. Dr. Sara H. was trained in mathematics and biology (BA), statistics (MA), and genetics (Ph.D.). She worked as a statistical geneticist for The Rockefeller University in the Laboratory of Statistical Genetics, with Allan Award winner Dr. Jurg Ott. She works with researchers and clinicians from Baylor College of Medicine, Rockefeller University, and Casey Eye Institute.
For medical researchers and clinicians …
She crafts statistical analyses targeted to specific hypotheses and determines which statistics would best be applied to the biological questions. Working with a variety of scientists, she has contributed to the publication of over 35 peer-reviewed publications and research abstracts within the last five years. She has publications within the areas of heart disease, age-related macular degeneration, and drug addiction.
For graduate students in biology, genetics, bioinformatics, and biostatistics …
Sara teaches basic statistics courses as well as statistics courses specific to human genetics, and was formally trained as a statistical geneticist. As a statistical geneticist in a department of primarily molecular biologists, she developed an ability to communicate complex mathematical concepts clearly to both students and fellow scientists. With her combined training in both genetic epidemiology and statistical genetics, she has expertise in analyzing genetic data. Her Ph.D. thesis explored the role of context dependency and interaction in human genetics.
Summary …
She helps select and/or perform the proper statistical analyses for genetic, biological, and clinical data. She helps develop meaningful hypotheses with statistical analyses that reflect the biological questions being asked. She recognizes issues specific to biological and genetic data and understands how they may influence statistical analyses. As a medical communications consultant, she helps communicate research results in publications, presentations, and posters. Her purpose is not just to produce results, but to relate them understandably. She assists in the design of research studies or--if the research design is complete--performs the data analyses. She will work with you throughout the process to ensure that your questions are answered. She will either assist you in doing your own analyses or perform the analyses for you with a written report of the results. She has experience in writing grants, papers and presentations, both as a supporting statistician and as a first author. She also has experience teaching statistics and statistical genetics, and is available to provide consultation and statistical support to trainees on research projects. She can assist you in documenting the statistical methods used in the data analysis, in producing clean and comprehensible graphs and tables, in preparing bibliographic entries relevant to the statistical analysis, and in manuscript content drafting and review.
Sara H. also has expertise in both observational data (cross-sectional and longitudinal studies of patients and population studies of individuals) and experimental data (rats, mice, cell lines). Sara can help with issues such as linkage disequilibrium, inter-relatedness, and context-dependent effects.
Areas of advanced expertise: programming in R, genetic analysis of related individuals (e.g., generalized estimating equations, family-based association tests), genetic analysis of unrelated individuals (e.g., t-tests, analysis of variance, chi-square tests, logistic regression, genotypic and haplotype tests, Genome-wide association studies (GWAS), next generation sequencing analysis, interaction analyses (GXG, GXE, EXE)), and fitting data to the underlying assumptions (e.g., linkage disequilibrium, Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, tests of normality, transformation of data), as well as traditional statistical analyses including, but not limited to, ANOVA, longitudinal analysis, survival analysis, linear regression, meta-analysis, power analysis, permutation testing, and various methods of correction for multiple testing.
All analyses are performed in R or using statistical genetics software such as Golden Helix. This allows her to deal with the large amounts of data being produced in the area of genetics, such as the million marker chips.
“Her expertise, honesty and patience turned my anxiety into an accomplishment. Not only did she deliver on analyzing my data, she went above and beyond by rewriting up the analysis according to my school’s format. She explained it in plain English and coached me to defend each part of my analysis. She even gave me an outline to follow when I told her that I was stuck on the conclusion part of my paper. When I informed her that I was stressing out about getting an editor that can have the paper edited in short notice, she forwarded my request to the editing part of this freelance network and in less than 4 hrs the editor was already working on my papers. I will be defending my thesis this weekend and I have no worries.“ Ebele Onyedumekwu, RN Mount St. Mary’s College
JO-ANN LANGTREE writes and edits books, stories, and articles in the following fields: business, medical, insurance, health, holistic health, spirituality, religion, psychic phenomena, young-adult fiction, children's books, mystical experience, self-help, New Age, nutrition, diet, exercise, saints & masters, gurus, theosophy, Christianity, homeopathy, vitamins & minerals, herbs, and food supplements. She was a writer and editor for Aetna Life & Casualty. As editor of Life NEWS, she had sole responsibility for finding, developing, writing, editing, and proofing all articles. Topics included new products, sales campaigns, insurance-agent interviews, accolades, seminars, Company acquisitions and policies. Jo-Ann also edits personal and business sites.
- Proofreading
- Editing (Copyediting and Developmental)
- Spirituality, metaphysics, religion, theosophy, psychology, holistic health, food supplements, homeopathy, nutrition, psychic phenomena, lucid dreaming, mystical experience, self-help, saints, masters, and gurus
HOLLY MONTY has been a professional editor and writer for seven years. She graduated with honors from the prestigious Writing Seminars program of the Johns Hopkins University, ranked second in the United States, with a concentration in nonfiction writing. After earning a master of arts degree in linguistics from Rice University, Ms. Monty is currently in the master’s degree program at Johns Hopkins, majoring in communications.
Ms. Monty began her career in editorial services and publishing in the offices of Baltimore’s City Paper. Later, she was a head copy editor at the American Geophysical Union, in Washington, D.C., a scientific membership organization for geophysicists with a well-respected and well-known publishing division. While a copy editor at AGU, Ms. Monty was head copy editor of three internationally leading journals in geophysics: Journal of Geophyical Research–Earth Surface, Water Resources Research, and Journal of Geophysical Research–Oceans.
Since operating as a freelance editor and writer, Ms. Monty has had the opportunity to work with a broad range of some of the nation’s leading publishers. To date, she has edited over one thousand published journal articles, fifty nonfiction books, and as many dissertations and theses covering topic areas as diverse as psychology, history, physics, medicine, education, cultural studies, and women’s studies, to name only a few, and she has helped many published authors improve their writing for publication.
Ms. Monty’s medical expertise extends from addiction to sexual health. An expert working with non-native speakers of English, Ms. Monty helps to transform nonfluently written medical text into stylistically and grammatically correct medical prose. She can work with any journal’s author guidelines to ensure that your submission meets expectations and requirements. Ms. Monty has edited papers submitted to, and published by, journals such as Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Behavior Sleep Medicine, Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, Qualitative Health Research, Psychiatrie, European Urology, Annals of Rheumatic Disease, Annals of Neurology, and other journals. In addition, she has copyedited numerous books on medicine and nursing published by such industry giants as Greenwood Press, Praeger, and Springer.
M Perrin received her MPH in Epidemiology from Columbia University and is currently a doctoral candidate in neuropsychology. Ms. Perrin worked as a Lead Scientist for the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. She helped develop a large-scale public health study and created surveys for assessing the psychological and physical health of survivors of the World Trade Center disaster. Ms. Perrin also provides mentorship to graduate-level statistics interns and teaches seminars in research methods and statistics to public health professionals.
Ms. Perrin received an award from the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene for the year’s most impactful journal article and was invited to present her research at community and professional meetings. She has published 12 scholarly articles and presented findings at 13 scientific conferences. Ms. Perrin has also served as an ad hoc peer reviewer for 7 high-tier scientific journals, providing critical analysis of over 20 research studies.
Ms. Perrin is a statistical consultant for principal investigators and graduate students in psychology, education, pediatric endocrinology, psychopharmacology and neuroscience. She helps clients formulate testable hypotheses, devise accurate methods of assessment and conduct appropriate statistical analyses. She also provides critical review of written statistical reports to ensure that findings are presented in a clear and organized manner.
Ms. Perrin programs in SPSS\SAS and is familiar with AMOS, Matlab and STATA. Her statistical expertise include:
- - Sample size and power calculations
- - Reliability analysis (ICC, Chronbach’s Alpha)
- - Pearson\Spearman Correlation analysis, T-tests
- - Non-parametric analyses (Chi-square, Mann Whitney, Fisher’s Exact, etc.)
- - ANOVA, ANCOVA, RM ANOVA
- - Logistic and linear regression (univariate and multivariate)
- - Survival analysis (Kaplan Meier, Cox Proportional Hazard Analysis)
- - Structural Equation Modeling\Path Analysis
- - Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (Principal Component, Principal Factor Analysis)
- - Hierarchical Linear Modeling\Mixed Model Regression Analysis\Canonical Correlation Analysis
Ms. Perrin is not accepting submissions until August 1, 2012
Her research interests include:
- - neurophysiology (ERP\EEG assessments)
- - neuropsychology (auditory and visual processing, attention, memory and executive functioning)
- - schizophrenia
- - anxiety disorders\posttraumatic stress disorder
- - psychiatric epidemiology\public health\behavioral health
- - disaster\trauma
"You were such a pleasure to work with. You removed the anxiety by explaining things in a simplified way that I could understand! I felt confident going into my defense and was able to cogently answer questions from my committee members. I would recommend you without reservation." Virginia De Sanctis
"I cannot thank you enough for being such a patient and knowledgeable colleague. Without your expertise and guidance in data preparation and statistical analysis, our publications would never have been so well accepted by top-tiered journals. I truly appreciate and value your skills, patience, vision, and collaborative nature!" ~ Laura DiGrande, Dr.P.H., M.P.H.
Articles:
Growth trajectory during early life and risk of adult schizophrenia
Elevated maternal Interleukin-8 levels and risk of schizophrenia in adult offspring
Posttraumatic stress symptoms, PTSD, and risk factors among lower Manhattan residents 2–3 Years after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks
Differences in PTSD prevalence and associated risk factors among World Trade Center disaster rescue and recovery workers
Professional Medical Indexer
MADGE WALLACE is a professional freelance indexer. She creates indexes found at the back of nonfiction books. When an index is done according to generally accepted indexing standards, it performs flawlessly. The reader finds what he is looking for and doesn't give the index a second thought. On the other hand, if the index is poorly done, the reader becomes frustrated and will likely move on to the next book. Worse yet, a nonfiction book published without an index may not be taken seriously by the publishing industry. In short, a good index enhances the value of a book to readers, reviewers, librarians, instructors, and researchers. It is a mark of a serious book.Indexing is a skill Madge acquired after many years of writing freelance for newspapers and magazines, as well as authoring four published books. Her award-winning novel, Paying the Price, the story of a real estate deal in Hawaii that goes terribly bad, was published in 2005. Her Hawaii Real Estate Exam Book has been used by students all over the world to pass the Hawaii real estate licensing exam.
As an indexer Madge puts herself in the mind of the potential reader and anticipates his needs. Indexing involves such things as
- gathering together scattered information on the same subject
- breaking down large ranges of information into manageable subtopics
- cross referencing related topics
- double posting topics that might be accessed in several different ways
- distinguishing between passing references and substantive discussions
Madge has a degree in mathematics, and is a graduate of the U.S.D.A. Graduate School's Basic Indexing Course, a tried and true standard for indexers. She is a member of the American Society of Indexers. She indexes books on topics ranging from history to politics, cookbooks to real estate, social studies to biography, and health and wellness to Hawaiiana. All subjects will be considered.
Madge welcomes your questions on indexing. To learn more about the importance of indexing, see her article, "Good Indexes Sell Books." And if you are considering doing your index yourself, please see "Author as Indexer: the Good, the Bad and the Possible."
"This book was a challenging indexing project. Madge Wallace...did an excellent job sorting through this complicated task and the result is a book of which everyone involved is very proud."
"We greatly appreciate your diligence and care in creating the index for Patients Beyond Borders Second Edition—a quantum improvement. I was particularly pleased with the way you distilled a large amount of technical information—potentially confusing to the reader of a consumer guide—into an accessible, friendly format. Try as we might, we could not find an error in your work!"
