Politics and Philosophy
Dr Alison Creasey
1996 - PhD Genetics, University of Edinburgh, UK
1975 - BA (Hons) Epidemiology (Medical Geography), University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe
1973 - BA Social Anthropology/Geography, University of Cape Town, South Africa
Dr Creasey is a senior post-doctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr Paul Hunt, University of Edinburgh (genetics of artemisinin drug resistance in a rodent malaria model). Her special interests have been in the field of tropical medicine and tropical parasitic diseases, with training in the epidemiological aspects of disease. Her field experience in serology and microbiology involved a number of anti-parasitic drug trials in Africa. Later in Edinburgh, genetics and molecular biology were focused on. Dr Creasey has the ability to communicate science in clear, unambiguous language. During her career she has edited journal articles and PhD theses for scientists from China, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia, and most African countries. Dr Creasey joined Edanz Editing as an editor in 2007.
Ms Marla Brunker
1996 - MSc Biology, New York University, US
1992 - BSc Biochemistry, Montclair State College, New Jersey, US
1981 - BA Political Science, City College of New York, US
Ms Brunker has been editing biomedical documents for over two decades, including submissions to peer-reviewed journals; dissertations and other academic papers; applications to US regulatory agencies (the Food and Drug Administration and the Patent and Trademark Office); pharmaceutical advertisements of all types; Web site content; slide presentations, scripts and other support pieces for conferences and similar events; and a wide variety of medical education materials. Her master’s thesis was on apoptosis in HIV+ CD4+ cells. She has also done laboratory work in breast cancer and environmental medicine.
Dr Peter Humphries
2008 - PhD Mathematics, University of Canterbury, NZ
2001 - BPhEd Exercise Prescription, University of Otago, NZ
2000 - BSc Mathematics, University of Otago, NZ
Dr Humphries is a mathematician whose research areas include phylogenetics, graph theory, matroid theory, and number theory. His research also involves theoretical, discrete and general mathematics, along with combinatorics. Dr Humphries brings excellent writing and editing skills from his work experience as an English teacher, and more recently as an instructor and lecturer for university-level mathematics students. Dr Humphries began working with the Edanz Group in early 2009.
Dr Zhaleh Feizollahi
2010 - PhD Linguistics, Georgetown University, Washington D.C., USA
2007 - MS Linguistics, Georgetown University, Washington D.C., USA
2000 - BA Linguistics, Georgetown University, Washington D.C., USA
Dr Feizollahi is a lecturer in Linguistics at Rhodes University, South Africa. She teaches phonetics & phonology, the linguistics of sign language, computational linguistics, semantics and pragmatics. Although linguistics is generally a field of the humanities, her research focuses on acoustic phonetics and she therefore has knowledge of the physical sciences, quantitative experiments and statistical presentation of results. Dr Feizollahi carries out acoustic studies as well as supervising student research projects. Her research is well published and she has presented her studies at academic conferences. Dr Feizollahi’s background in computational linguistics and natural language processing (NLP) has supported her work for Sony, Microsoft Speech Labs and LiveOps in the speech and NLP industries. She also has an interest and studies in the fields of economics and international law. Dr Feizollahi, a native speaker of English, is multilingual, being fluent in Spanish with an understanding of Turkish, Norwegian, German and Farsi. She began working as an editor for the Edanz Group in 2011.
Ms Katie Stallard
2000 - LLB Law, Victoria University, Wellington, NZ
1992 - BA History & Psychology, University of Canterbury, NZ
Ms Stallard has six years’ legal experience working as a solicitor. Her areas of interest are commercial, employment, criminal, and family law. She also has a BA, majoring in history and psychology. Ms Stallard has extensive writing and editing experience, spanning 14 years. She joined the Edanz Group as an editor in 2007.
Mr Geoffrey Brehaut
2002 - GradDipVocEd&Training, Charles Sturt University, Australia
1975 - BA Econ. and Govt. , University of Melbourne, Australia
1966 - BE Electrical, University of Melbourne, Australia
Mr Brehaut has more than thirty years experience in Information Technology and Systems Engineering. His various roles in industry have included Systems Engineer, Program Manager, IT Manager, Consultant, Methodologist and Trainer, culminating in his appointment as Chief Architect and subsequently Director of Consulting for CSC Australia. One of Mr Brehaut’s roles at Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) was Co-Lead of the world wide Architecture and Design Expert Group. The resultant report The Architecture Revolution, for which Geoff was the primary contributor and an editor, is available at: http://www.csc.com/lef/ds/56385-previous_lef_reports. During the period 1999–2001, Mr Brehaut presented papers at International and Australian conferences on aerospace joint venture program management and satellite data communications, respectively. He joined Edanz Group as an editor in 2011.
Ms Alison Holmes
1973 - BSc (Hons) French and German, University of Salford, UK
1977 - Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, UK
Ms Holmes is a senior academic, recently retired from the position of Director of the University Centre for Teaching and Learning at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. As a qualified Chartered Surveyor, she practiced and taught surveying for many years, before moving into research and development support for academics in their teaching careers. This cross disciplinary role exposed her to working with academics from all disciplines across the University. She has published in the fields of education, surveying and academic audit and has been on national selection panels for the allocation of research and development funding both in the United Kingdom and New Zealand. With her diverse background in languages, surveying and education, Ms Holmes edits in the fields of environment, engineering, business, geography and general science, and bring specialist knowledge to the editing of grant and academic position applications. She began working with the Edanz Group in 2010.
Mr Stephen Forster
1976 - BSc Zoology and Geology, University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK
Mr Forster worked as a research assistant at the Max Planck Institute for Immunogenetics in Tübingen, Germany, before leaving to work as a freelance translator and copy editor of medical books and journals, primarily for Springer Verlag. He became an in-house editor with Springer in Heidelberg before moving to Tokyo to work in Springer's Tokyo office. For the past 20 years, Stephen has worked mostly in journalism and as a freelance writer and editor for such journal publishers. Mr Forster joined the Edanz Group as an editor in 2010.
Ms Tara Van Dervort
1987 - BA Philosophy and English Literature, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA, USA
Ms Van Dervort's career in medical editing began at W.B. Saunders Company (Elsevier), where she worked as a production editor, overseeing the copyediting and production of more than 3,000 journal pages each year. She also trained new editors and served as liaison between manuscript authors and editors-in-chief. Her experience in medical publishing covers the biomedical and life sciences fields. She joined the Edanz Group as an editor and medical writer in 2011.
Ms Elaine Monaghan
2005 - PGCert Biological Recording (Collection & Management), University of Birmingham, UK
1974 - BSc (Econ) (Hons) International Politics, University College of Wales, Aberystwyth, UK
Elaine Monaghan has spent 20 years working in freshwater research organizations. She was scientific officer in a continuously updated reference collection of illustrations and taxonomy of terrestrial, brackish and freshwater algae from locations across the world. She has contributed to published international projects on microbial distribution, and has a particular interest in Linnaean botanical (particularly phycological) taxonomy. Ms Monaghan has extensive editing experience, editing manuscripts on phycology, international water management, international organizations, sustainable development, corporate social responsibility and horticulture. She joined the Edanz Group as an editor in 2011.
Mr Timothy Hacksley
2008 - MA English, Rhodes University, South Africa
2006 - BA Hons English, Rhodes University, South Africa
2005 - BA English, Latin, Greek, Rhodes University, South Africa
Timothy Hacksley read English, Latin, and Greek at Rhodes University in South Africa, and has a Masters degree in English. In his thesis, he examined the poetry of 16th Century recusant and priest smuggler, Henry Vaux, and produced a critical edition of the poems with extensive commentary. While teaching at Rhodes, he published several review articles relating to Renaissance and South African literature. He is currently an English teacher and educational writer. Mr Hacksley joined the Edanz Group as an editor in 2011.
Ms Meghan Collins
2011 (expected) - MSc. Marine Ecology and Policy, University of Victoria, Wellington, NZ
2007 - BA&Sc. Environmental Science and Marine Ecology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Ms Collins' academic background is in marine ecology, but draws from several disciplines including economics, theoretical ecology, and marine policy. She was one of the first at McGill University to graduate with the dual-degree of Bachelor's of Arts and Science, focusing on marine ecology and fisheries economics. Ms Collins’ master's thesis, currently underway, explores the relationship between aquaculture development and environmental outcomes such as benthic habitat and water quality in New Zealand. She has also worked as a professional editor for the Sustainable Future Institute think tank in Wellington, NZ. Ms Collins began editing for the Edanz Group in 2011.
Ms Anna Fried
1980 - BA English Literature and Journalism, University of Queensland, Australia
1963 - Diploma of Pharmacy (Materia Medica), University of Sydney, Australia
Ms Fried, a qualified pharmacist, is a medical editor with more than 20 years’ editing experience. She has edited articles in a range of fields with special interest in general medicine, gastroenterology, gastric cancer, rheumatology, health and life sciences. Ms Fried was also an in-house copy editor in Springer Verlag’s Tokyo office. In Tokyo, she edited books in various medical fields for Springer Verlag and for the University of Tokyo Press. She has also been a trainer for business-writing. Ms Fried joined the Edanz Group as an editor in 2011.
Mr John Hare
2011 - PhD (ABD) History, University of Saskatchewan, Canada
1995 - MA British Intellectual History, Carleton University, Canada
1985 - BA (Hons), Canadian History, Dalhousie University, Canada
Dr Hare has been editing professionally for 13 years, the past 7 in academic editing. Dr Hare edits manuscripts from a language-based perspective and has edited over 1300 papers in fields as diverse as humanities and the social sciences, medicine, health and the physical sciences, and engineering. He is presently writing a guide to writing and editing entitled “The Communicative Train: Writing that Effectively Conveys and Successfully Delivers its Message.” Dr Hare began working as an editor with the Edanz Group in 2010.
Mr Chad Walker
2005 - PhD (candidate) Human-Environment Studies, Kyushu University, Japan
2000 - MA Human-Environment Studies, Kyushu University, Japan
1996 - BA Japanese & Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, US
Mr Walker was awarded a United States Fulbright Fellow Scholar for study and research in Japan, 1996–1997, and then a Monbushou (Monbukagakushou) Research Scholarship from Japan’s Ministry of Education, 1998–2003. He has also been awarded a Korea Foundation Scholarship for Language Training at the Yonsei University, Korean Language Institute, Seoul, 2005–2006. Mr Walker is a linguistics expert and fluently reads and speaks Japanese and Korean, as well as reading and speaking Mandarin. He has worked as a part-time manuscript editor for Edanz Editing since 2003, becoming full-time in 2006, and specializing in areas of psychology, and social and environmental studies. Mr Walker is presently the Chief Editor and Director of Edanz Editing’s Beijing office, Liwen Bianji.
Ms Laura DesBrisay
2001 - BSc Health Education, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada
Ms DesBrisay is resident in Halifax, Canada, where she works as a proof-editor and childbirth support professional. She writes and edits in the fields of individual and community health and well-being, and community development theories and models. Her Health Education degree included a strong focus on effective and accurate writing for scientific reports. She has also worked in the disease prevention field in the Dominican Republic, and has conducted HIV-AIDS prevention adolescent-focused field research in poor neighborhoods in Lima, Peru. She began work as an editor in medical and health-related fields for the Edanz Group in 2006, and is now also part of our quality control team.
Ms Bethany Olson
2010 - MA Journalism & Mass Communication, Point Park University, US
2007 - BA English, California State University, Northridge, US
Ms Olson has served as a production editor in the social science journals department at SAGE Publications, where she was responsible for production deadlines and consistency in language and style. Her work has focused on communications, psychology, cultural studies, ethnography, gender studies, attention disorders, education, and the armed forces. Currently, Ms Olson is a translations coordinator supervising translations for clinical trials using electronic patient-reported outcomes. She joined the Edanz Group as an editor in 2009.



