Examples of work
This list provides quick links to my writing samples and examples of past projects.
Past projects
Science on Harvard.edu
I worked with communicators across the university and with my colleagues in the central communications team to define how we could best present the diversity and impact of scientific research carried out across the university. See website
Harvard Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology website
I worked with faculty, leadership, and key members of staff to create a new website for the department that conveys the quality and impact of its education and research, is easy to navigate on all devices, and sits well with its parent websites at two different Harvard schools. See website
Harvard Stem Cell Institute (HSCI) video
HSCI is a network of world-leading stem cell scientists who are breaking down barriers between academic and industry research to find cures for diseases. I worked with Pillay Productions to create a video that highlights the value of HSCI, and shows how working across sectors can have a real impact on people’s lives. Watch video
Impact: EMBL-EBI Annual Report
EMBL-EBI’s Impact Report involves all teams throughout the organization. For several years, my role was to collect annual reporting documents from 40 teams, identify achievements that align with the institute’s strategic plan, write up the report, and work with the graphic designer to create a high-quality product that is useful to funders, potential collaborators and leadership. See the 2017 report
EMBL-EBI website redesign
In the redesign of the EMBL-EBI website, and subsequent development of an over-arching ‘style lab’, my role was to coordinate the content of the global website, working with the development team and UX designer to create a supportive CMS and seed the initial content. This role evolved into content stewardship, leading the Web Content Committee, which represents the core website and 40 web-based services. See website
Writing samples
Harvard Gazette news: The giant in our stars
Astronomers discovered a monolithic, wave-shaped gaseous structure — the largest ever seen in our galaxy — made up of interconnected stellar nurseries. Dubbed the “Radcliffe Wave” in honor of the collaboration’s home base, the discovery transforms a 150-year-old vision of nearby stellar nurseries as an expanding ring into one featuring an undulating, star-forming filament that reaches trillions of miles above and below the galactic disk. Read story
Press outreach: How stress turns hair gray
Scientists in the Harvard Stem Cell Institute discovered how acute stress turns hair gray. The findings show that a neurotransmitter released during the ‘fight or flight’ response can deplete the entire population of pigment-producing stem cells in a matter of days. I was responsible for coordinating story production and handling press outreach. Read story
What is the value of open data?
An independent analysis of EMBL-EBI underscores the value and impact of open data in the life sciences. Read announcement
EMBL-EBI researchers make DNA storage a reality
Researchers at the EMBL-European Bioinformatics Institute created a way to store data in the form of DNA – a material that lasts for tens of thousands of years. The new method makes it possible to store at least 100 million hours of high-definition video in about a cup of DNA. Read announcement
UK Biobank partners with the European Genome-phenome Archive
UK Biobank, which manages health information on over 500,000 individuals, shared its genetic datasets in its first release via the EGA. This will ensure long-term data security, accessibility and sustainability, which will help researchers better understand human disease. Read announcement
EMBL-EBI news: Mini DNA sequencer tests true
The performance of the MinION™ miniature DNA sequencing device was evaluated by an open, international consortium, and the resulting recommendations and protocols published on the F1000Research platform. Read story
Feature story: Biobanks: Genetic Data in Demand
Millions of people generously give their time, blood and information to biobanks – all with the goal of improving research into human disease. EMBL-EBI works with its global partners to resolve data challenges in biobanking, applying its strengths in genomics and data integration so that these resources may become truly transformative for biomedicine. Read story
Feature story: Blood, Big Data and Epigenetics
Blood disease research has been taken to a new level with a suite of 47 scientific papers published in Cell and other high-profile journals by the International Human Epigenome Consortium (IHEC). To support biomedical research, IHEC and the EU-funded BLUEPRINT project have made the 1000+ associated datasets freely available to all. Read story
EMBL-EBI announcement: Human Cell Atlas Data Platform Kicks Off
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) has funded EMBL-EBI, the Broad Institute and UCSC Genomics Institute to build a Data Coordination Platform (DCP) for the Human Cell Atlas, an open, data-intensive endeavor to chart the specific genetic properties of all human cells, across all tissues and organs, and build a new reference map of the healthy human body. Read announcement
Harvard Gazette news: For new medicines, turn to pioneers
Would we be wise to prioritize “shovel-ready” science over curiosity-driven, fundamental research programs? In the long term, would that set the stage for the discovery of more medicines? Read story
Harvard Gazette news: Harvard’s quantum leap
As quantum science and engineering come into their own, co-directors of a new initiative at Harvard say anything is possible. Read story
Harvard Gazette roundup: Perspectives on gene editing
Medicine is on the cusp of major change as disruptive technologies such as gene, RNA, and cell therapies enable scientists to approach diseases in new ways. In this article, science leaders at Harvard University share their views on key issues in the field. Read the roundup
Harvard Gazette news: Speeding up single-cell genomics research
Improved technique scales up research into how genes are controlled. Read story
Harvard Gazette news: A silly-sounding prize for some serious science
The AAAS Golden Goose Awards recognize basic research that sounds odd, but leads to societal benefits. Read story
Harvard Stem Cell Institute Backgrounder: Meet the New Medicines
Game-changing drugs like aspirin and antibiotics are being joined by the new disrupters: gene and cell therapies. As scientists reinvent the landscape of therapeutics, how will we make the most of new and old medicines? Page through story
EMBL-EBI Backgrounder: What’s a microbiome?
Microbes drive almost every food chain on Earth, using just about anything for energy and interacting with one another in countless ways. But how on Earth do they work? Read story
Harvard Video collaboration: Our endless fascination with Pi
This video came out of a cross-team collaboration that involved people with many different perspectives and priorities. Watch video
EMBL-EBI Event coverage and write-up: BioBeat 2015
Live tweeted from the event (followed by Storify). Commissioned video and photography. Wrote up the event and shared it on EMBL news channel. See event coverage
See more news writing samples: 89 stories on the EMBL news site
For over seven years, I wrote regular research and organizational news about the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI). Some of these are cross-posted on the institute’s parent news website. See more news writing samples from EMBL
Harvard Science Communications 