Effective communication is the l
ifeline of scientific discovery; without it, we are unable to adequately explain, educate and obtain funding necessary to continue unveiling the mysteries of biology and their importance to survival. Scientific writing is arguably one of the most important forms of scientific communication as it is the means by which scientific discoveries are shared across the globe and scientific hypotheses are submitted for funding consideration. As a young scientist and recipient of both an American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellowship and a Ruth L. Kirstein Postdoctoral Fellowship from the NIH, I am deeply aware of the importance of effective and elegant communication through scientific writing. Moreover, while preparing my doctoral dissertation and during my pursuit of independent postdoctoral funding, I discovered a profound joy in the art of scientific writing and communication. My postdoctoral mentor, Dr. Hong Chen, recognized and helped to cultivate my scientific writing and communication skills by allowing me to assist in writing many of her grants and several of our published manuscripts. It is through these experiences that I have gained the valuable skills and encouragement to seek a career in scientific writing and communication with Dr. Patrick Gaffney, Member of the Arthritis and Clinical Immunology Program at OMRF. Dr. Gaffney has given me the artistic freedom to create and/or extensively edit manuscripts and funding applications for his research group. Under his guidance, I am working towards my scientific and medical writing certifications and expanding my expertise to encompass not only basic science research, but also clinical research.