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Elise Eller, PhD / 2020-2021 Director-at-Large and Chair and Board Liaison, Member Awards Committee

AMWA Fellowships

AMWA Fellowships are awarded to members who have made 

significant contributions to the goals and activities of AMWA. 

The 2021 Fellows are leaders with distinguished records of  

service at the chapter and national levels.

Jennifer Bridgers, MS, MWC
Jennifer Bridgers brings a broad 

foundation of industry experi-

ence to her work, both in proj-

ect and managerial roles. She 

has been writing for medical and 

technical audiences for over 20 

years, including 17 years as a 

regulatory medical writer across 

many document types and thera-

peutic areas. As one of the first 

cohort of Certified Medical Writers (MWC), Jennifer has been 

actively involved with AMWA throughout her career, including  

through attending 15 of the last 17 annual conferences. She 

served as President-Elect, President, and Immediate Past 

President of the Carolinas Chapter from 2009 to 2012 and as a 

Carolinas Chapter delegate to the AMWA Board of Directors. 

She has taught over 10 workshops, including “Summarizing 

Clinical Safety Data for an NDA,” “Writing an ICH-compliant 

Protocol” and “Composing Narratives for Safety and Adverse 

Event Reporting.” She has also led multiple roundtables and 

open sessions at both national and regional AMWA confer-

ences. Jennifer’s contributions to AMWA also include con-

tinued committee work, having served on the Educational 

Committee, the Constitution and Bylaws Committee, and the 

Regulatory Education Advisory Group. She is the Regulatory 

Section Editor for the AMWA Journal (2017 to present) and  

the Chapter Advisory Committee representative for the 

Carolinas Chapter.

R. Michelle Sauer Gehring, PhD, ELS
R. Michelle Sauer Gehring is a senior research scientist at the 

University of Texas Health Center for Advanced Heart Failure, 

an instructor at the University of California San Diego, and 

the owner of RnA Editing, LLC. 

She wrote her first grant in 2005 

as a graduate student and has 

not stopped. After completing 

her PhD in microbiology/genet-

ics and a postdoctoral fellowship 

at Baylor College of Medicine, she 

began realizing that her talent 

was “in the writing” and transi-

tioned from the academic faculty 

career path to medical communication. She joined AMWA 

in 2009 and attained her certification as an Editor in the Life 

Science in 2011. At the chapter level, Michelle has served as 

Treasurer, Program Chair, and President of the Southwest 

Chapter. She has also chaired conference planning commit-

tees at the chapter and national level.

 Michelle was nominated to AMWA’s national Board of 

Directors in 2018 and currently serves as the Secretary and 

Board Liaison to the AMWA Journal. Michelle is an active 

member of the medical communication community, has con-

tributed multiple articles to the Journal, and leads open ses-

sions and roundtables at AMWA conferences. She mentors 

and advises those new to the field and continues to work in 

the academic research sector as an instructor and as a grant 

and publication writer and editor.

Theresa E. Singleton, PhD
Theresa E. Singleton is a freelance  

scientific writer and has worked in 

the field of medical communica-

tion for a decade. She holds a BS 

in nutritional science from Cornell 

University and a PhD in microbiol-

ogy and immunology from Boston 

University. Following her graduate 

studies, she completed a postdoc-

toral fellowship at Boston Children’s 

Hospital. Theresa is Owner and 

Principal Scientific Writer at Singleton Science, LLC, where 

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she specializes in publication writing and plain-language 

writing and editing.

 Theresa has been an active AMWA member since 2010, 

serving in leadership roles at both the chapter and national 

levels. She was the New England Chapter’s Secretary, 

President-Elect, President, and Immediate Past President. 

At the national level, Theresa served for 3 years on the Board 

of Directors. During that time, she chaired the Member 

Recognition Committee and was board liaison for the  

AMWA Journal.

 Theresa credits her business success, in part, to connec-

tions made with other AMWA members. To pay it forward 

and help create a supportive environment for those new 

to freelancing, she has co-led Jam Sessions for Early Career 

Freelancers at 3 AMWA annual conferences. She continues 

to serve in volunteer roles as a member of the Nominating 

Committee and as chair of the AMWA Journal Editor-in-Chief 

Search Task Force. When she’s not in the office or volunteering, 

she enjoys rhythm tap dance.

 Please join AMWA in congratulating Jennifer, Michelle, 

and Theresa. They will be acknowledged at the 2021 Medical 

Writing & Communication Conference, to be held virtually 

October 27-29.

The Member Awards Committee members were Elizabeth 

Brown, Elise Eller (chair), Andrea Gwosdow, Karen Klein, 

Mary Knatterud, Susan Krug (ex officio), Marianne Mallia, 

and Kristina Wasson-Blader. Diane Noland from AMWA 

Headquarters provided excellent support.

www.amwa.org/knowledge_builders

Knowledge Builders
Build your knowledge on a specific medical communication topic through a 
variety of elements designed to create an engaging educational experience.

Listen to a
narrated slide set

Engage
in exercises

Access the handout Review
the reading 
list

Note what you learned

Explore AMWA Online Learning and get ready to  L.E.A.R.N.

132 AMWA Journal / V36 N3 / 2021 / amwa.org 

http://www.amwa.org/knowledge_builders



