Translational Science Spotlight- Skilled Communicator

SCTR Translational Science Spotlights

During Innovation Week 2024, we focused on defining translational science and highlighted funding opportunities, and four MUSC investigators who have implemented novel approaches in their work. These approaches have the potential to address broad cross-cutting translational scientific roadblocks, spanning basic to implementation science.

In the coming editions of SCTR’s Translational Science Spotlight, we will feature members of the clinical and translational science community and their unique contributions to advancing the science of translation.

Tell us about your pathway to becoming a Science Writer and your role in advancing translational science.

I grew up around science, as my father was an immunologist, and I worked in his basic science laboratory in high school and began editing papers and books for his group and continued to freelance as a scientific editor. The past two decades of my career have been focused on communication of high-impact biomedical and clinical research to medical/scientific audiences, first as Managing Editor of Mayo Clinic Proceedings and then of MUSC’s medical magazine, and to the broader public through EurekAlert! releases and news stories.

My current roles as SCTR Science Writer and the Director of Science Communications Initiatives in the MUSC College of Graduate Studies draw on my experience communicating basic, translational and clinical research. I strive to help scientists, scientists-in-training and translational science teams to tailor communications and publications to their intended audience, whether scientific or non-scientific.

How do you help SCTR to communicate its translational innovations to the CTSA community and to other scientists? How do you build academic writing skills in trainees?

As SCTR Science Writer, I assist translational science teams with writing manuscripts about their innovations for academic journals. I also teach a writing course, ReWriting Science, for KL2 scholars and other early-career researchers to support them in telling a succinct, compelling and “sticky” research story as they draft manuscripts and grant proposals. I also present on persuasive scientific writing and provide feedback on specific aims for the Lift Academy, a university-led initiative to help early-career investigators land their first R01 grant.

“Communicating effectively across diverse audiences is essential in translational science and research. Dr. McGhee has made immeasurable contributions to ensure that newly trained scientists are equipped with the skills to effectively communicate their science.” -- Dr. Kathleen Brady

At the College of Graduate Studies, I teach a summer science writing class for biomedical science doctoral students who have just completed their first year of graduate school. In the class, students are asked to tailor their research story to a number of different audiences with differing levels of scientific knowledge, including a lay audience.

Other than scientists, who are the critical audiences for translational scientists? 

It is essential that translational scientists learn to break free of the ivory tower and communicate to broader audiences, including community members and leaders, the media, diverse populations of patients, health care professionals and policy makers, if they are to reach translational science goals of increasing participation in clinical trials and improving implementation of evidence-based practices.  Patients can’t enroll in clinical trials they don’t know about, and interventions shown to work in clinical trials can’t be implemented in the community or health care institution without understanding community members’ or health care professionals’ concerns and needs and organizational, social and attitudinal hurdles.

In your current position, how do you get the word out about science, including translational science, to a broader audience?

As SCTR Science Writer, I write MUSC news stories about how SCTR initiatives are addressing chokepoints in the translational pathway, as well as news stories and EurekAlert! releases about recent high-impact translational science or clinical research publications.

As Director of Science Communications Initiatives at the College of Graduate Studies, I direct the SC-SWIFT internship, a science communications internship that is open to both graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. The internship is made possible by the support of CGS Dean Paula Traktman, Ph.D., and the collaboration of Matthew Greseth, Ph.D., Assistant Director for Graduate Education and for Science Communications Initiatives. The internship offers one-on-one mentoring and an opportunity to write and publish real-world news stories and releases about recent high-impact SCTR and MUSC research.

“It is essential that biomedical scientists be able to communicate “how biology works” to a variety of audiences and make their research findings accessible and compelling. Dr. McGhee is an outstanding teacher and a passionate mentor to CGS students and fellows, many of whom now consider science communication a vital part of their career.” -- Dr. Paula Traktman

SCTR and CGS together developed a manuscript about the internship, which was published in the Journal of Clinical and Translational Science in 2021. The article was highlighted by the Journal of Clinical and Translational Science editor-in-chief Lars Bergland, Ph.D. in the Association for Clinical and Translational Science newsletter. Bergland wrote: “Given the current problems of communicating scientific gains to a broader public, clearly illustrated during the pandemic, a recent paper by Kimberly McGhee and colleagues from the Medical University of South Carolina is in many senses newsworthy. They describe the creation of an amateur press corps to cover breaking science. Biomedical graduate students and postdoctoral fellows have written news stories and press releases about recent high-impact research articles. Over a 5 year period, more than 100 press releases have resulted in more than a half million views.” To date, there have been 297 press releases with more than 725,000 views.

How has the internship evolved since the publication?

One long-standing goal of SC-SWIFT is to train students and postdoctoral scholars in communication skills that will help them as they pursue careers inside or outside of academia. To provide them micro-credentials that can be shared across their online platforms, the CGS recently began offering three levels (beginner’s, intermediate, advanced) of MUSC-branded digital badges in science communications. Interns earn credit by writing news stories, press releases and blog posts, making a presentation to a lay audience, participating in science communications workshops and, for the advanced badge, mentoring other interns and helping organize trainings in science communications or other lay-facing events. A manuscript about the development and implementation of the digital badges in science communication is in development.