Pharmacovigilance - Volume 32, Issue

Ecopharmacovigilance: A review of cause, impact, and remedies The Pharmacoviligance section in this issue opens the door to a very interesting topic: ecopharmacovigilance. This article is the result of a collaboration among volunteers of EMWA’s…

Regulatory Matters - Volume 32, Issue

Systems biology and real-world data as drivers of change in drug research and development In recent years, systems biology is not only being applied in fundamental science but also in drug development and healthcare. The application of real-world…

Bringing decentralised clinical trial protocols to life - Volume 32, Issue

Decentralised clinical trials (DCT) use technology, processes, and services to reduce or eliminate the need for onsite visits. Use of DCT components within clinical trials is becoming widespread and protocols are pivoting from using DCT components…

Essential principles towards improving clinical risk assessment tools: A conversation with Uri Kartoun, PhD - Volume 32, Issue

Uri Kartoun (PhD in robotics, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel) is a Staff Research Scientist and an IBM Master Inventor, co-developer of technologies such as MELD-Plus, EMRBots, Memory-memory (M2) Authentication, and Subpopulation-based…

Harmonising linguistic validation with AI: Precision, efficiency, and the human touch in patient-reported outcome translation - Volume 33, Issue

The surge in artificial intelligence (AI) prompts a reassessment of linguistic validation methods for patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures. The robust linguistic process, designed to adapt PRO measures for different cultures and languages, is…

Unlocking success as a book author: Navigating the essential social skills of writing gained through my PhD journey - Volume 33, Issue

This article explores the journey of transitioning from PhD to a book author, emphasising the importance of soft skills cultivated during academic pursuits. Drawing from personal experience, the author underscores the parallels between academia and a…

From the Editor - On social media: Once a passive observer – now an active user - Volume 30, Issue

It is with great pleasure that I write my first editorial for this amazing issue on social media. The idea of this issue came to me in 2019, inspired by two special colleagues.

I had social media accounts even before I became a medical writer. I rec…

Challenges of paediatric drug development and impact of paediatric legislation - Volume 21, Issue

Medical writers are increasingly involved in designing and documenting overall plans in paediatric drug development, e.g. EU PIPs (Paediatric Investigation Plans) and individual components, e.g. protocols and study reports. It is essential to…

Preparing the Paediatric Investigation Plan application - Volume 21, Issue

In Europe, sponsors must possess a compliant Paediatric Investigation Plan (PIP) when applying for marketing approval of drugs. The core deliverable is the ‘scientific part of the application’ structured according to the EMA's PIP guideline. The PIP…

English Grammar and Style - Volume 23, Issue

Pronouns are useful referents (i.e. the thing doing the referring) to avoid repetition of words (usually nouns). Although personal pronouns (he, she, and I, in particular) are infrequent in medical writing, the neutral ‘it’ and the demonstrative…