Meet the Team
SEN’s editors are PhD scientists from Harvard, UCSF, and McGill with research publications in high-impact journals, including Science, Nature, Nature Genetics, and the Journal of Neuroscience. We are personable, efficient, and professional. We understand our client's pain points because we have been at the bench, we have published papers, and we have applied for grants to fund our own projects. Ultimately we really care, which is why we go out of our way to see our clients succeed. As a result, most clients become repeat customers. Check out our client testimonials and see a list of our successes.
Elizabeth Asha Nigh, PhD, Founder and Senior Editor
|
Education: PhD in Neurobiology from Harvard
Asha Nigh was previously a scientific officer at the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine. At CIRM, she managed a $30 million grant portfolio in neuroscience aimed at supporting the development of cures based on stem cell research. She was also responsible for organizing conferences and for preparing workshops and reports to inform CIRM’s strategic decision-making. Finally, she created a portfolio analysis method to evaluate the institute’s scientific impact. Dr. Nigh was also a research assistant at Sandoz and the biotech company Tularik. Her doctoral work in Dr. Michael Greenberg’s lab focused on the molecular basis of learning and memory and of maternal behaviors. As an undergraduate she studied glial cells, the “other” cell type in the brain, in the laboratory of Dr. Ben Barres at Stanford. |
Julie Gosse, PhD, Senior Editor
|
Education: PhD in Neuroscience from UCSF
Julie Gosse has conducted primary research and authored manuscripts for top tier journals such as Science and Nature Genetics. Dr. Gosse’s scientific expertise is in genetics, cell biology, and neuroscience. Following an internship at the biotechnology startup Neuronyx, she studied synaptic transmission in the thalamus in the Tonegawa lab at MIT. As a graduate student in Cynthia Kenyon’s lab at UCSF, Dr. Gosse applied genetics in C. elegans to explore the overlap between aging and tumor mechanisms. As a postdoctoral fellow in Marc Tessier-Lavigne’s lab at Genentech, she studied axonal regeneration after injury to the central nervous system. |
Anna Lisa Lucido, PhD, Senior Editor
|
Education: PhD in Neurological Sciences from McGill University
A neurobiologist by training, Anna Lisa Lucido transitioned to a career in scientific writing, editing and communication first as a Scientific Editor at the J. David Gladstone Institutes. At Gladstone, she worked closely with principal investigators and trainees in the writing and editing of grants, manuscripts, and other scientific documents. In addition, Dr. Lucido assisted in Gladstone’s many public relations endeavors, including press releases, donor fundraising material and scientific outreach. In the course of her work, she has assisted scientists in the acquisition of funding from NIH, CIRM, and other major biomedical granting agencies, and in the publication of manuscripts in high-profile journals including Nature, Science, Cell, Stem Cell and Nature Neuroscience. |
Deborah Solymar, PhD, Senior Editor
|
Education: PhD in Immunology from Harvard
Deborah Solymar has participated in writing and editing scientific manuscripts, including grants, academic papers, and workshop reports for researchers and faculty based at academic institutions, governmental agencies, and biotechnology firms. In addition, Dr. Solymar has assisted with the coordination and writing of university departmental and institution-wide federal grant applications. Her doctoral work in Dr. Anjana Rao's lab focused on cell type-specific transcription regulation of inflammatory cytokines in Th2 and mast cells. She previously worked at Roche Bioscience (formerly Syntex), where she helped to develop models for testing potential therapeutics for Alzheimer's disease and rheumatoid arthritis. |
Karin Engel, PhD, Editor
|
Education: PhD in Chemistry and Chemical Biology from UCSF
Karin Engel has edited scientific manuscripts, grants, and a biology textbook. She has also volunteered for the Sustainable Sciences Institute, editing manuscripts from non-native English speakers from developing countries. Dr. Engel’s scientific expertise is in molecular biology and biochemistry. As an undergraduate, she performed chemical synthesis during an internship at the IBM Almaden Research Center. Her PhD work in Dr. Keith Yamamoto’s lab at UCSF focused on chromatin-mediated transcriptional control. She then conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. Jürg Müller at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Germany, where she performed biochemical studies of protein-chromatin interactions. |
Ashwini Parsana, PhD, Editor
|
Education: PhD in Behavioral Neuroscience from Yale
Ashwini Parsana conducted research in emotional learning and memory in the laboratory of Dr. Thomas H. Brown. Her doctoral dissertation focused on neuronal responses in the rat amygdala to emotionally-salient social signals. Dr. Parsana has published research articles in peer-reviewed journals and encyclopedias and has written NSF and NIH grants. She has also created award-winning conference presentations and academic teaching materials. Finally, Dr. Parsana enjoys editing statements of purpose, doctoral dissertations, and CVs to create strong, coherent, and persuasive messages. |
Tina Shahian, PhD, Editor
|
Education: PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from UCSF
Tina Shahian specializes in developing content for grants and research manuscripts. She also has extensive experience in developing engaging scientific marketing content for both web and print. Dr. Shahian completed her PhD thesis in the laboratory of Dr. Charles Craik at UCSF, where she developed small molecule modulators of protease activity. Her primary work characterizing a novel allosteric inhibitor of a dimeric herpesevirus protease is published in Nature Chemical Biology. Areas of expertise include biochemistry, chemical biology, virology, assay development, and high-throughput screening. |
“Our paper was reviewed quite favorably on the first try! A reviewer commented that 'the manuscript is clear and well-written, and is refreshingly free from grammatical errors.' ”
The American Journal of Human Genetics; Associate Professor in the Department of Genetics, Stanford School of Medicine
The American Journal of Human Genetics; Associate Professor in the Department of Genetics, Stanford School of Medicine