Scientific Editing Pilot

Through the Office of the Dean for Research, GUMC is offering a pilot program to provide scientific editing of proposal documents. The goal is to increase the merit and fundability of GUMC’s research proposals, particularly R01 proposals.

Please submit your R01 specific aims page and research plans (or analogous documents for other proposal types, e.g., NSF and DOD) in Word document form to the Office of the Dean for Research one month prior to the sponsor’s submission deadline. Proposals will be reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis for scientific merit, syntax, and grammar.

The scientific editors are Dr. Marion Hartley and Dr. Kerrie Bouker.

Marion Harley, PhD

I have over 25 years of knowledge in many aspects of clinical and basic science research; my Ph.D. is in pharmacology, and I have been a research academic and writer for the entirety of my career.   As the Medical Writing Program Manager for the Ruesch Center at Lombardi, a position I have held since 2011, I provide scientific, grammatical, and syntactic review and editing services for a range of research documents. My research and writing background means that I am uniquely skilled at judging scientific content for its clarity, and I can advise on missing details or ambiguity within the text. I review and edit the following types of documents: 

·      Manuscripts  (publications)

·      Grant Applications

·      Clinical Trial Protocols

·      Other, as requested

Kerrie Bouker, PhD

I have a Ph.D. in Tumor Biology from Georgetown University and have both basic science and clinical research experience. Prior to returning to Georgetown for a postdoctoral fellowship,  I was a freelance science writer and editor for a number of years. Faculty and students alike sought my writing/editing expertise during both my pre and post-doctoral work at Georgetown.  I successfully competed for grants both pre and postdoctoral, and have co-authored numerous manuscripts and review articles. Currently, I am working in Lombardi as a research coordinator in the Clinical Research Management Office.  I am eager to provide grammatical editing of your scientific documents, including grants, manuscripts and protocols. My specialty is to help ensure clarity of thought and proper organization of these documents, which is paramount to success in grant competition and manuscript and clinical trial protocol development.