Having been a health journalist for 30 years, I’ve worked on hundreds (perhaps thousands!) of first person stories, for women’s magazines, newspapers and books. That includes a book I wrote of 23 women’s fertility stories: "IVF: An Emotional Companion". I’m a sensitive interviewer who loves talking to people about their inner world. I can cover difficult topics while supporting the interviewee – and getting the story. In that 30 years, I’ve been lucky to see the concept of health explode from something that was only the remit of doctors into a society-wide conversation on how we can all be empowered to take charge of our own health. I feel I’ve played a small part in this, by writing on a huge variety of health topics, from nutrition and fitness to genetics and neuroscience. One of my favourite parts of my job is writing titles, headlines, coverlines and finding angles for each article. I’m well-versed in interviewing doctors and researchers and get a buzz out of writing up medical information so it not only gets the approval of the expert but makes sense to a lay reader. I get excited when I learn about new research findings and breakthroughs from the scientists making them. I see my job as using clear, concise and engaging words to bring these complicated medical concepts and scientific data to life. Although I don’t have a science degree, I’ve learnt to read scientific papers (taught by Professor Nutt). I’m mathematically literate: one of my A-levels was in Maths with Statistics and my first degree was in Economics. I did a post-graduate diploma (CPE) in law and have kept up with the law as it relates to publishing.