Case Study
A referral rooted in trust. A brief that demanded clinical precision, plain language, and compassion — in equal measure.
This engagement didn’t come through a job board or a cold pitch. The director of my graduate program at Boston University — where I had been recognized with the 2019 Excellence in Graduate Studies Award — connected me with a fellow graduate at the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition (NOCC) for a medical copywriter role.
NOCC is a 501(c)(3) public charity whose mission is to save lives through the prevention and cure of ovarian cancer, and to improve quality of life for survivors and their caregivers. Since 1991, they have provided support to thousands of cancer survivors and delivered millions of educational resources. Their website, ovarian.org, is a trusted destination for patients, caregivers, and the general public, and the content needed to reflect that trust at every level.
NOCC required a medical copywriter to update ovarian cancer content across six web pages and two print resource guides — incorporating the latest treatment information, current statistics, plain language principles, and inclusive language throughout. The scope was specific and the standards were high.
About Ovarian Cancer · What Is Ovarian Cancer · Risk Factors · Diagnosis · Treatment Options · Types and Stages
Resource Guide for Those Newly Diagnosed · Resource Guide for Recurrent Disease
Writing for a patient advocacy organization requires a particular kind of discipline. Ovarian cancer content is not neutral territory. The people reading it are often frightened, recently diagnosed, or caring for someone they love. Every word choice matters.
All content was written at or below a sixth-grade reading level to translate clinical terminology into clear, accessible language without oversimplifying or misrepresenting the medical content.
Updated all references to reflect that ovarian cancer affects anyone born with ovaries — not exclusively women — ensuring the content reached and respected all communities.
Web content was structured to support discoverability — ensuring that patients searching for ovarian cancer information could find NOCC’s resources when they needed them most.
The engagement also required scientific knowledge of ovarian cancer — its types, stages, risk factors, diagnosis pathways, and treatment landscape — drawing on both research skills and the health communication foundation built during my graduate studies at Boston University.
The engagement was completed on schedule across Q2–Q4 2023, with all deliverables meeting NOCC’s standards for clinical accuracy, plain language, inclusive language, and SEO. The updated content is currently serving patients, caregivers, and the general public as a trusted source of ovarian cancer information.
For me, this engagement represents something beyond a deliverable. It reflects what I believe healthcare content should always be: accurate, accessible, and written with genuine care for the person reading it.
All eight deliverables are publicly available:
I bring the same standard to every engagement — whether the audience is a patient, a caregiver, or a clinical professional.