Is cancer preventable? A literature review - Volume 21, Issue

Despite significant progress in tumour diagnosis and treatment over the last few years, cancer remains a major cause of death worldwide. Cancer prevention through diet and lifestyle changes is gaining importance, as our understanding of the…

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…

Risk Management - Volume 24, Issue

The Webscout - Volume 24, Issue

‘A ship is safe in a harbor – but this is not what ships are made for’. (William G.T. Shedd, American theologian, 1820–1894) Risky scenarios are something many people try to avoid. But you will find yourself in situations when you have to face…

EU sourcing requirements for animal-derived materials - Volume 31, Issue

Regenerative medical products derived from animal tissue have been used to successfully treat millions of patients. As they are manufactured from animal sources, there are bio-contamination and biocompatibility risks that must be addressed in…

Predatory publishing – what medical communicators need to know - Volume 28, Issue

The rise of ”predatory journals”, also known as pseudo-scientific journals, poses a risk to the integrity of science and therefore medical communicators need to know about their practices. Upon receipt of a publication fee, predatory journals…

Pesticide dossiers, an opportunity for medical writers - Volume 23, Issue

Pesticides, also known as crop protection products, are approved for sale through a process similar to that for authorising human medicines. For example, the toxicology data submitted are nearly identical to the nonclinical data generated for a…

Anonymisation: A new challenge for medical writers - Volume 27, Issue

In its commitment to transparency, the EMA implemented Policy/0043 and Policy/0070 to make data accessible to all; however, this has given rise to the need for anonymisation of personal data in clinical reports. The analysis of the 64 submission…

A primer on anonymisation - Volume 28, Issue

Canadian and European regulators finalised guidelines that allow for sharing of clinical trial data. To maintain the utility of clinical information, risk-based anonymisation techniques are recommended. It behoves applicants to ensure organisational…

Lay summaries and writing for patients: Where are we now and where are we going? - Volume 28, Issue

We examine the trend for increasing and more transparent patient information and ask how close we have come in the last few years to producing useful and meaningful information for patients. We also outline the challenges faced by medical writers…