Crafting Clarity: Exploring Careers in Medical Writing and Communication
Monday, December 2nd, 5:30 – 6:30 PM CST
(Virtual)
Earning a PhD makes you the subject matter expert in your field. However, can you communicate your knowledge to a diverse set of audiences, including healthcare workers, providers, and patients? This is the exciting opportunity (and challenge) medical writers face on a daily basis. This upcoming “What can I do with my PhD?” career seminar will feature professionals whose expertise in scientific writing and passion for effective communication drive their work in the medical writing field. Our panelists will discuss what drew them to this career path, the types of projects they work on, and their role in medical communication. They will also offer advice on how you can prepare yourself to make a similar transition, leveraging your scientific background to excel in this field. Join us this week to explore the opportunities and the impact you can make in medical writing and communication.
Audrey Torcaso, PhD
Medical Writing, Program Manager, Astellas
Dr. Audrey Torcaso received her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Loyola University Chicago in 2017. She did a brief postdoctoral fellowship at the Medical College of Wisconsin before embarking on her medical writing career. She joined Astellas Pharma in 2018 where she is now an Associate Medical Writing Program Director. In her current role, she serves as a medical writing lead on several oncology drug development programs, managing both study- and program-level regulatory document activities from IND to NDA and beyond.
Matthew Eckwahl, PhD
Principal Medical Writer, AbbVie
Matthew Eckwahl is a principal medical writer at AbbVie. In this role, he is responsible for the writing and scientific accuracy of congress presentations and manuscripts in the field of rheumatology, coordinating with cross-functional internal teams (eg, Clinical Development, Pharmacovigilence, Statistics, and Medical Affairs) and key opinion leaders outside the company to plan and develop publications. Previously, he was an associate program officer at the Walder Foundation, a private family foundation based in Skokie, Illinois. Eckwahl helped develop, manage, and evaluate programs in the Foundation’s Science Innovation portfolio. Eckwahl completed his postdoc at UChicago in 2019, where he examined how RNA modifications impact retrovirus replication.
