HSC writer and editor elected to leadership post

Melanie Fridl Ross, a senior writer and editor for the University of Florida Health Science Center Office of Public Information, has been elected to the presidential track for the Florida chapter of the American Medical Writers Association.

Currently president-elect, she will assume a one-year term as president next summer. Her duties include organizing meetings and educational programs for the members of the Florida chapter.

Ross also recently became certified as an editor in the life sciences by the Board of Editors in the Life Sciences, a national organization founded in 1991 to evaluate the proficiency of manuscript editors. She passed a three-hour examination on principles and practices of scientific editing.

At UF, Ross seeks to publicize the research activities of Health Science Center faculty. She holds a joint appointment as a manuscript editor for Dr. Carl J. Pepine the College of Medicine’s chief of cardiovascular medicine.

Founded in 1940, the American Medical Writers Association is a professional organization dedicated to improving all facets of biomedical communication, including the writing and editing of articles for scientific journals or mass-circulation publications, and health-related advertising and public relations efforts.