All members

Chair:
Kimi Uegaki

Committee members:

  • Raquel Billiones
  • Carola Krause
  • Sarah Kabani

SIG supporting members:

  • Blanca Gomez
  • Lutgart Opstaele
  • Andrea Rossi
  • Elisa Sala
  • Kate Silverthorne
  • Gomotsegang Fred Molelekwa
  • Arthur Jarov
  • Elizabeth Johnston
  • Catarina Leitão
  • Paula Pinto
  • Jordan Sedlacek
  • Diana Radovan
  • Surayya Taranum
  • Zlata Stone

SUS SIG Membership

If you are interested in joining the SUS SIG, please contact the SIG Chair: sussig@emwa.org.

Social Media

The SUS SIG is active on the EMWA LinkedIn page. You can find us via #EMWASUSSIG.

SUS SIG Meetings

The EMWA SUS SIG meets virtually every month. If you are interested in joining our discussions, you can send a mail to sussig@emwa.org.

Past Meetings

SUS SIG Meet and Share - 9th February 2024 0900-1000 CET

On February 9, 2024 from 9-10 a.m. (CET), the SUS-SIG will be hosting a meet & share on the role of digital twins in medical research. During this meet & share, Katharina Friedrich, MD, will discuss how digital twins and virtual trials can reduce the burden of clinical trials and make medical research more sustainable. 

SUS SIG objectives

The Sustainability Special Interest Group (SUS-SIG) aims to bring sustainability goals into EMWA as an organisation and help disseminate information for the medical writers on being more sustainable as industry professionals. Furthermore, we want to raise awareness of industry standards (pharma, medical devices, etc.) on sustainability goals.

Subgroups and topics

EMWA as UN Sustainability Partner Organisation

      • Subgroup Head: Raquel

        Members: Carola, Elisa

        We aim to register EMWA as a UN Sustainability Partner Organization. Therefore, we have analysed the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (https://sdgs.un.org/goals) and propose that EMWA fits well to the following goals:

        Goal 3 – Good Health And Well-Being

        Goal 4 – Quality Education

        Goal 12 – Responsible Consumption And Production

        In collaboration with the EMWA Executive Committee (EMWA EC), the SUS-SIG seeks to develop an implementation plan for the enlisted United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Experts Seminars on Sustainability

  • Additional information to follow

Medical Communications & Sustainability

  • Subgroup Head: Archana

    Members: Raquel, Kimi, Blanca, Daniela

    Regulatory Writing in the Context of Sustainability

    We continuously investigate how regulatory bodies implement the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Through webinars & EPDC approved workshops, we aim to provide information on regulatory guideline updates and on how these document should be written and updated. Currently, we focus on the following regulatory topics:

    • Guideline on the environmental risk assessment of medicinal products for human use (EMEA/CHMP/CWP/4447/00 Corr 2),
    • Healthcare Waste Management / Circular Economy (EU-HCWM project).

    We currently team up with EMWAs Veterinary Medical Writing and Pharmacovigilance SIGs to provide you with in-depth insights on those topics.

    Position Statement on the Fact-Checking Role of Medical Writers & Communicators

    We aim to publish a Position Statement on Fact-Checking following the recommendation of the WHO's Information Network for Epidemics (EPI-WIN), the Code of Principles of The International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), among others. This document will equip medical writers with a checklist to adhere to when looking for information and writing for their audiences.

    The Role of Medical Writers & Communicators in Adapting the FAIR Data Principles

    We believe that Medical Writers & Communicators have a role in familiarising and adapting the FAIR data principles. FAIR stands for findable-accessible-interoperable-reusable data, hence, how data is shared following the completion of a research study. This is aligned with the need to reduce and prevent research waste, such as unnecessary duplication of efforts. The requirement for explicit data sharing plans also reflects the recognition that the traditional silo-culture surrounding data management has kept data hidden, and opportunities to adequately and accurately inform new studies have been foregone.

    FAIR data principles lead to creating data systems in which all data and metadata are machine-readable and GPDR-compliant and allow analyses to occur without the movement of data from their original storage locations. These principles are advocated by organisations such as the EMA and the Heads of Medicines Agencies (HMA), European Commission, and the WHO.

    Resources:

MEW: The Crofter (Sustainable Communications)

EMWA's Ecological Footprint

  • Subgroup Head: Raquel

Members: Carola, Blanca, Kimi, Elisa

With a focus on the environment, this workgroup aims to collect data on EMWA's carbon consumption and provide suggestions on reducing the ecological footprint of EMWA. The long-term goal is to become a carbon-neutral not-for-profit organisation.

Therefore, the following steps are undertaken:

- Organise webinars to increase awareness about environmental topics amongst EMWA members. For further information, please see our recent webinar from Achim Schneider on Sustainability in the healthcare industry: https://player.vimeo.com/video/471075316

- Collect carbon consumption data from EMWA's activities (e.g., conferences, journal publication) to calculate EMWA's current carbon footprint.

For collecting and analysing these data, we have established a partnership with the University of Lucerne. Through a 6-week Bachelor's Thesis, we will define actions and goals to reduce EMWA's ecological footprint.

By following this data-driven approach, we aim to provide goals and an action plan to the EMWA EC. We will communicate our results to the EMWA community through the Medical Writing (MW) journal and an EMWA conference seminar.

Resources

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION

WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM

EU GREEN DEAL

OTHERS