





































 V37 N3 / 2022 

©2022 American Medical Writers Association. All rights reserved.  
ISSN 2163-5315

AMWAJournal.org     42

One of the privileges of serving as President-Elect is chairing 

the Nominating Committee, which is charged with selecting 

a slate of officers for the upcoming governance year. It was 

my pleasure to serve with Cyndy Kryder, MS, MWS; Tenille 

L. Lawson, PharmD; Erik MacLaren, PhD; Julie Munden, 

BA; Jill Roberts, MS; Theresa E. Singleton, PhD; and AMWA 

Executive Director Susan Krug, MS, CAE (ex officio, non-

voting member). I thank my fellow committee members for 

their insights and critical evaluation of officer candidates for 

the 2022–2023 governance year.

 Each year interested members are invited to submit 

a board interest form for consideration of 1 of 3 elected 

offices: President-Elect, Secretary, and Treasurer. The 

Nominating Committee reviews the forms and qualifica-

tions of candidates who meet the criteria and collectively 

agrees on a candidate for each officer position to submit to 

the AMWA Board of Directors (BOD) for consideration.

 I’m pleased to present the following candidates who 

were presented to and approved by the AMWA BOD at the 

June BOD meeting:

• President-Elect: R. Michelle Sauer Gehring, PhD, ELS

• Secretary: Kimberly Korwek, PhD

• Treasurer: Julie Phelan, MBA, MD

PRESIDENT-ELECT
R. Michelle Sauer Gehring, 
PhD, ELS, an AMWA member 

since 2009, is in her fourth year 

on the AMWA BOD (since the 

2018–2019 term) and currently 

serves as secretary and liaison to 

the AMWA Journal. Previously, 

she served on the Annual 

Conference Planning Committee 

(2013–2020), chaired the com-

mittee for the 2019 Conference in San Diego, and was a 

member of Editor-in-Chief Search Task Force. At the chap-

ter level, Michelle served as Treasurer (2012–2016), Program 

Chair/President-Elect (2016–2017), and President (2017–

2018) of the Southwest Chapter as well as chapter confer-

ence committee chair from 2015 to 2018. She was awarded 

an AMWA fellowship in 2021. Michelle has taught the Ethics 

for Science and Medicine workshop for AMWA. She teaches 

Citations and References for Medical Writing and Ethics for 

Medical Writers at the University of California San Diego 

Extension. Michelle has authored or contributed to multi-

ple Journal articles and serves as a peer reviewer. Michelle 

is the Senior Research Scientist for the University of Texas 

Health Science Center at Houston's Center for Advanced 

Heart Failure and co-owner of RnAEditing, LLC. She is the 

copyeditor of PURSUE and the Managing Editor of the VAD 

Journal.

SECRETARY
Kimberly Korwek, PhD, an 

AMWA member since 2010, has 

been on the AMWA BOD for 3 

years. She is currently the Chair 

of the 2022 Annual Conference 

Program Committee. During the 

2019–2020 term, she served as 

the Chapter Advisory Council 

Chair on the BOD, and prior to 

that she was a member of the 

Chapter Advisory Council (2017–2019). From 2016 to 2019, 

she was a section editor, serving on the editorial board for 

the Journal. Kim was President of the AMWA Southeast 

Chapter (2016–2017), serving previously as President-Elect 

(2015–2016). She also served as a Chapter Delegate to the 

AMWA BOD (2016–2017) and the Website Coordinator for 

the Southeast Chapter (2018–2019). Kim is the Manager of 

Scientific Communications within the Clinical Operations 

Group of HCA Healthcare. In this role, she is responsible for 

the management of the portfolio of comparative effective-

ness research projects that seek to use data collected within 

the course of clinical care to improve health care delivery 

and patient outcomes. Kim also manages the development 

of scientific publications, including manuscripts, abstracts, 

presentations, and white papers to facilitate the distribution 

of research findings to internal and external audiences.

Elise Eller, PhD / 2021–2022 AMWA President-Elect

Slate of Officer Candidates for the 2022–2023 Election

AMWA NEWS

http://www.amwajournal.org


AMWAJournal.org     43Slate of Officer Candidates for the 2022–2023 Election

TREASURER
Julie Phelan, MBA, MD, an 

AMWA member since 2009, is 

in her sixth year as Treasurer on 

the AMWA BOD and Chair of the 

Budget & Finance Committee 

(2016–2022). She was previ-

ously a member of the Budget 

& Finance Committee (2015–

2016), the Communications 

Committee (2014–2015), the 

2015 Salary Survey Task Force, and the Online Community 

and Social Media Committees (2012–2014). At the chapter 

level, she was President of the Greater Chicago Area Chapter 

(2013–2016), serving previously as President-Elect (2012–

2013). She also served as Membership Chair for the chapter 

(2011–2015) and as a Chapter Delegate to the AMWA BOD 

(2013–2016). She has authored articles for the AMWA Journal 

and currently serves as AMWA’s Registered Agent. She was 

awarded an AMWA fellowship in 2017. Julie is the founder 

and President of Biomedisys, Inc, a medical communica-

tion and strategy consulting boutique in Chicago, IL. She has 

more than 20 years of medical communication and business 

strategy experience including working as a biotechnology 

equity research associate analyst at Robert W. Baird & Co, 

medical and strategic advisor for an insurance corporation, 

and medical communication consultant.

PROCEDURE FOR ADDITIONAL NOMINATIONS
As required by AMWA’s Bylaws (Article IV.2e-f), these nomi-

nations were announced to the AMWA community by email 

more than 60 days before the annual business meeting. A 

nominee who is unopposed for any office is declared auto-

matically elected at the annual business meeting. As stated 

in the bylaws, additional nominations for President-Elect, 

Secretary, or Treasurer may be made by any member pro-

vided the member meet the criteria set forth by the BOD. 

The criteria and process are listed below:

• Member dues must be current, and the member must 

be in good standing.

• The nomination is submitted in writing to the 

Secretary of AMWA at least 30 days in advance of the 

annual business meeting. This year’s annual business 

meeting is scheduled on November 5, 2022.

• The nomination must clearly state the qualifications of 

the candidate and be signed by 50 members in good 

standing as of the date of the receipt of the nomination.

• The nomination must be accompanied by a letter  

from the candidate stating that she or he is willing to 

serve if elected.

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