Science Communications
Ellen is a scientific communications expert with more than 25 years of experience. She writes, edits, gives talks, and coaches writers. Areas of focus include manuscripts, grant proposals, annual reports, AI tools and ethics, and academic editing.
Public Speaking
Experienced plenary and keynote speaker. Hired by universities to give talks to undergraduates, graduate students, postdocs, and faculty.
Topics include GenAI ethical and environmental concerns, grant writing, narrative structure of manuscripts, giving feedback (faculty talk), plain language, and careers in science communications.
Writing & Editing
Scientific and medical writing of journal articles, case reports, grant proposals, annual reports, profiles/features, news summaries, press releases.
Developmental editing, line editing, copy editing.
Expert in plain language, inclusive language, style guidelines (AMA, AP, APA, CMOS).
Coworking Events
Join Ellen on Zoom and work on a piece of writing you need to make progress on!
Ask me anything about being a freelancer.
Watch me demonstrate a writing or editing tool.
Make connections with people who do similar work.
Ellen’s talk was an excellent overview of the flood of useful new AI-enabled writing tools. Her use of many concrete examples and discussion of appropriate uses and cautions were much appreciated. —Professor, University of Washington Department of Bioengineering
Kudos to your editor [Ellen] for their time and efforts. It is clear that they went through the paper with a fine-tooth comb, from slight one-word changes here and there to correcting a citation...I am happy with the final product, and I think overall, it is improved over our initial submittal without impacting any of the information. —Manuscript author, Journal of Environmental Health
Ellen is an exceptional editor. I had the opportunity to work with her on a project that contained many components. She is well-organized, thoughtful, and has tremendous expertise in a variety of style requirements. She made significant improvements to the materials she was given and she did so in a respectful way, always providing options for consideration. Our project was improved immeasurably by her contributions. I highly recommend Ellen. Not only is she thorough, reliable, and flexible, she is also an absolute joy to work with. —Senior Communications Manager, Washington Health Alliance
Ellen did a fantastic job editing my program’s annual report. She knows the style guides inside and out and made word choice and grammatical corrections that took the report to the next level of professionalism. I was proud to share it with leaders inside and outside our organization. Ellen has excellent communication skills, is easy to work with, and flexible. I am happy to recommend her as a copyeditor and would enthusiastically work with her again. —Manager, Treuman Katz Center for Pediatric Bioethics
Ellen knows what concise, effective writing looks like, and sometimes we as writers are too close to the subject matter to see it objectively. Ellen is an exceptional editor who brought out the best in [my text]. Ellen helped me make the most of a PowerPoint presentation. Beyond her knowledge of how to make the most of words and ideas, she brought a genuine concern for the world that really contributed to a great finished product. —Director of Media Relations, St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital
I was deeply impressed with her expert eye on improving content and clarity. Her suggestions were excellent and insightful and demonstrated a deep grasp of the detailed issues involved and a great talent in both effective editing and powerful communication skills. She was extremely responsive in a timely and collegial manner and I would not hesitate to seek her collaboration again. —Clinical Bioethicist and Lawyer, American Society for Bioethics and Humanities
Ellen is a superb writer and editor; I have seen her raw talent and understand how she has honed her craft with focus and dedication. Ellen is exceptional in her communication: she always seeks to clearly understand the needs of her clients, then makes decisions that fulfill everyone's needs and invariably leads to successful project completion. Her clarity, genuine care, and exceptional craft all contribute to her leadership; she can deliver a very high level of detail while meeting rapid turnaround times and juggling multiple projects without missing a step. Ellen has greatly influenced my own work, and I am eternally grateful for her positive influence on my career growth. —Research Scientist, Department of Chemistry, University of Kansas
Ellen has been an enormous help. She has been a pleasure to work with and I appreciate her so much. —University Professor, R01 Grant Application
About Ellen Kuwana, MS
Ellen is a trained scientist (MS Neuroscience, University of California San Francisco) with more than 25 years of basic, clinical, and translational research experience. Her areas of subject expertise include neuroscience, molecular biology, cancer biology, and research bioethics. She worked at the University of Washington for 14 years and at Seattle Children’s Research Institute in bioethics for 6 years.
She has edited more than 500 scientific articles and dozens of successful grant applications (R01, R34, K08, P50, STTR/SBIR) totaling more than $89 billion in grant awards and contracts. She is an expert in plain language, appropriate reading levels, and inclusive language. She gives talks internationally on AI tools and science communications.
She is past president of the Northwest Science Writers Association, one of the largest and oldest regional science communications groups. She has organized and hosted more than 100 monthly freelancer business meetups for the National Association of Science Writers. She is on the board of ACES: The Society for Editing, where she fundraises for the education fund and leads the Henry Fuhrmann Mentorship Award.
Ellen founded WeGotThisSeattle, a COVID-19 emergency relief project, and fed more than 200,000 frontline and essential workers starting on March 13, 2020. She raised more than $175,000 (plus in-kind donations) and helped 200 Seattle-area restaurants stay in business. She has been featured in The New York Times, The SeattleTimes, Seattle Met Magazine, CBS This Morning, Mother Jones, and High Country News, and has been drawn by Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist David Horsey as one of 2020’s local heroes.
Memberships & Associations
Asian American Journalists Association
Association of Science Communicators
Association for Women in Science
COVID-19 Rapid Response Taskforce
National Association of Science Writers
National Postdoctoral Association
Education
MS in Biochemistry, University of California San Francisco
Thesis work in the laboratory of John Rubenstein, MD, PhD, Weill Institute for Neurosciences
BS in Organismal Biology, University of Kansas
Intensive Japanese language and business summer program in Hiratsuka, Japan
Leadership
Executive director, nonprofit medical organization
Associate director, scientific & medical communications at an agency
Founder, WeGotThisSeattle COVID-19 relief project
Past President, Northwest Science Writers Association
National Association of Science Writers
Recipient, Diane McGurgan Service Award
Founder, Freelance Writers Coffee Chat
Two-time awardee, Idea Grant: Mental Health Workshop and First-Generation College Student Mentorship
Selected Publications
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Kuwana, E. (2024). Sleep deprivation leads to sex-specific effects and memory problems. Inside Neuroscience (Spring 2024). Society for Neuroscience.
Woodley, L., … Kuwana, E., et al. (2021). CSCCE Glossary: Inclusive language in community building.
Suver, C., & Kuwana, E. (2021). mHealth wearables and smartphone health tracking apps: A changing privacy landscape. Information Services & Use, 41(1–2), 71–79.
Kuwana, E., Shirts, C., & Lamberg, L. (2021). Science writing for kids: Tools, tips and techniques for a tough audience. Science Writers. National Association of Science Writers.
Kuwana, E. (2021, February 5). Science writers in extraordinary times: COVID-19 time capsule. Science Writers. National Association of Science Writers.
Kuwana, E. (2020, April 27). How a simple gesture morphed into a full-time effort to feed the frontline. Timmerman Report.
Kuwana, E. (2020, May 3 and July 1). Science writers in extraordinary times: COVID-19. Science Writers.
Porter, K.M., ... Kuwana, E., … Diekema, D., Capron, A.M., Magnus, D., & Wilfond, B.S. (2017). Research on medical practices: Attitudes of IRB personnel about randomization and informed consent. IRB, 39(1), 10–16.
Cole, A.M., … Kuwana, E., et al. (2017). Conflicts of interest and distribution of resources to community partners: An organizational ethics dilemma. Progress in Community Health Partnerships, 11(1), 99–106.
Kraft, S.A., ... Kuwana, E., Meyer, A., Porter, K., Diekema, D., Capron, A.M., Alicic, R., Wilfond, B.S., & Magnus, D. (2016). A comparison of institutional review board professionals’ and patients’ views on consent for research on medical practices. Clinical Trials, 13(5), 555–565.
Cho, M.K., ... Kuwana, E., Gallagher, T.H., Diekema, D., Capron, A.M., Joffe, S., & Wilfond, B.S. (2015). Attitudes toward risk and informed consent for research on medical practices: A cross-sectional survey. Annals of Internal Medicine, 162(10), 690–696.
Taylor, H.A., Kuwana, E., & Wilfond, B.S. (2015). Challenging cases in research ethics [Series]. The American Journal of Bioethics, 15(4), 75.
Puelles, L., Kuwana, E., … & Rubenstein, J.L. (2000). Pallial and subpallial derivatives in the embryonic chick and mouse telencephalon, traced by the expression of the genes Dlx-2, Emx-1, Nkx-2.1, Pax-6, and Tbr-1. The Journal of Comparative Neurology, 424(3), 409–438.
Puelles*, L., Kuwana,* E., Puelles, & Rubenstein, J.L. (1999). Comparison of the mammalian and avian telencephalon from the perspective of gene expression data. European Journal of Morphology, 37(2-3), 139–150. *Authors contributed equally.
Qiu, M., … Kuwana, E., Pedersen, R.A., & Rubenstein, J.L. (1996). Mutation of the Emx-1 homeobox gene disrupts the corpus callosum. Developmental Biology, 178(1), 174–178.
Fan, C.M., Kuwana, E., ... Rubenstein, J.L., & Tessier-Lavigne, M. (1996). Expression patterns of two murine homologs of Drosophila single-minded suggest possible roles in embryonic patterning and in the pathogenesis of Down syndrome. Molecular and Cellular Neurosciences, 7(1), 1–16.
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