Email - ruth@mediwrite.com.au | Phone - (+ 61) 0415 569926

Ruth Hadfield, PhD | Medical writing, editing & research consultant

Freelance Medical Writer

The role of a medical writer in translating research into practice

Medical writers are catalysts in knowledge translation by Ruth Hadfield, PhD Recently I watched Simon Sinek’s inspiring TedTalk about how great organisations ‘Start with Why’.  It got me thinking.  I love being a freelance medical writer.  I really enjoy researching the medical literature and working on a wide variety of topics and I have no doubt that […] Read More

What is medical writing?

What does a medical writer do? Medical writing is a term that encompasses a wide range of tasks from journalism and blogging through to writing highly specialised regulatory submissions for approval of a new drug or medical device.  Very few medical writers cover the entire spectrum of medical writing, most specialise in a subset. Other […] Read More

Oncology Conferences in Australia 2020

I have compiled the following list of oncology conferences being held in Australia & New Zealand during 2020. If you would like your conference included in this list of oncology conferences please contact me. This is a free service. As an experienced medical writer, I can provide professional services for your medical meetings including record […] Read More

Talcum powder and ovarian cancer

Talcum powder and ovarian cancer In a recent lawsuit pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson has been ordered to pay US$72 million in damages to the family of a woman who was a prolific talcum powder user and died from ovarian cancer. However, there is concern among medical experts that the verdict is not based on […] Read More

Does the menopause make women gain weight?

It is, of course, a generalisation, but if you look around at the average 20 to 30 year old woman, chances are she will be a lot slimmer than the average 40 to 50 year old.  What is the explanation for this?  Is it just that women lose interest in their appearance after a certain age? […] Read More

Should the ovaries be removed along with the uterus at the time of hysterectomy?

In pre-menopausal women, there remains a lack of research to guide this decision according to the latest Cochrane review The updated review, conducted by Dr Leonardo Orozco, MD, at the OBGYN Women’s Hospital and the Central American Cochrane Centre, San José, Costa Rica concluded that the findings were limited by the lack of randomised controlled trials […] Read More

Australian researchers stressed out and disgruntled by grant application process

Recent research published in the online journal BMJ Open reports that 93% of Australian researchers surveyed are stressed by the workload of grant applications.  The academics surveyed agreed that preparing NHMRC grant proposals always took top priority over other work (97%) and personal (87%) commitments and 88% reported that they were inclined to restrict their holidays during the […] Read More

MS and vitamin D link confirmed by comprehensive systematic review

A recent study published in the journal Neuroscience Letters has combined data from eleven studies in a systematic review and meta-analysis of vitamin D levels in blood and multiple sclerosis. Study author Dr Duan, and colleagues at the Department of Neurology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Harbin Medical University, Harbin, China reported that on average MS patients […] Read More

Comprehensive review shows no link between vaccinations and autism

New Australian research published in the journal Vaccine has found no evidence for a link between childhood vaccinations and autism. The comprehensive, systematic review was conducted by Associate Professor Guy Eslick, Nepean Clinical School, University of Sydney and included five cohort studies involving more than 1.25 million children and an additional five case-control studies involving more than […] Read More