Bringing Dead Science Writing to Life

James Netterwald, PhD
UMDNJ-Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, ’05

Two roads diverged in his professional world and James Netterwald decided to take the path less traveled by scientists with PhDs in microbiology and molecular biology. He spent six years earning that doctorate from GSBS in Newark and working in a research laboratory. After graduation, he decided that life in the lab was not exactly his final destination. “My new career was born out of a desire to live the life of a college professor without having to obtain a fulltime faculty position. I wanted to perform life science research without having to write grants…but I wanted to spend the lion’s share of my time writing articles, and books,” he admits.

So, with his new doctorate in hand, Netterwald took his first professional writing job as an associate medical director at Medical Knowledge Group in New York and a year later, left to pursue an editorial position at a pharmaceutical trade publication called Drug Discovery & Development magazine. In April 2009, he founded BioPharmaComm, LLC, to provide writing, editing and consulting services to life science industries.

“My clients include science trade publications, medical education, pharma-biotech and public relations companies. As a seasoned writer and editor, I know what it takes to clearly communicate science to the world,” he says. “I can bring previously dead, ineffective writing back to life.” Even a quick reading of Netterwald’s sample stories posted on his website, http:www.nasw.org/users/netterjr/ demonstrates his ability to make scientific topics soar journalistically. Imagine a story about polymerase chain reaction (PCR), for instance. Netterwald invites readers with the question: “Was Kerry Mullis insanely brilliant or brilliantly insane?” Everything from epigenetics to autism and neuroimaging receive this expert treatment.

Last October, an essay by Netterwald titled “Back to the Lab” and published in The Scientist, Magazine of the Life Sciences, caught our attention. This science-writer missed that life in the lab. “I was told that it couldn’t be done – a writer could never return to the lab after a five-year hiatus. Part of me wanted to prove them wrong,” he explained in his published piece. And he did. Netterwald has been doing research in the laboratory of William Ward, PhD, a Rutgers University professor and president of a small biotechnology company, Brighter Ideas, Inc, specializing in the production of antibodies against green fluorescent protein. “I’m a visiting scientist. Returning to the lab is possible; it just takes a little adjusting.” But he’s also a writer and entrepreneur, proving that it is possible to choose more than one professional road. To reach Netterwald, email: james.netterwald@yahoo.com