Damiana Chiavolini and J. Kelly Byram, founders of Evergreen Biomedical Communications Group, LLC, are longstanding collaborators with a passion for science and communication, multifaceted professional experiences, and complementary skills.
Please read on for their brief bios (with links to their longer bios on LinkedIn), testimonials from learners and clients, and a list of their previous collaborations.
J. Kelly Byram, MS, MBA, ELS
Co-founder
Kelly is a writer, editor, and biologist who works with teams to develop their sprawling technical concepts into clearly stated ideas, logical plans, readable prose, and fundable proposals. She has written or edited just about everything in the 30+ years she has practiced, but now focuses on funding proposals, articles for academic journals, and professional education materials, as well as the occasional book project.
Learn more about Kelly here.
“[Kelly] was excellent and very knowledgeable.”
– AMWA 2023 Attendee
“Kelly was an engaging speaker, both knowledgeable and entertaining!”
– AMWA 2023 Attendee
“She has a very relaxed and confident speaking style, which I appreciate. She is obviously very
– AMWA 2023 Attendee
knowledgeable about her subject.”
“Great speaker – interesting, fun, informative.”
– AMWA 2023 Attendee
“Incredible wealth of knowledge and a fantastic sense of humor to boot! Thoroughly enjoyable
– AMWA 2023 Attendee
presentation on a complex topic.”
“Kelly has the poise and experience to navigate the myriad processes of FDA grants. She guides you along with her creativity and tenacity, and at the end knows more than the PIs! I would never consider writing a grant without her counsel.”
– Perry Calias, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer, Head of R&D at Cerecor, Inc.
“Kelly was amazing. I look forward to working with her again.”
– Gregory Whitman, MBBS, LLM, MPH, The University of Sydney Law School
Damiana Chiavolini, MS, PhD
Co-founder
Damiana is a microbiologist, writer, editor, and instructor who transitioned from academia to biomedical communications. She currently works as a freelance writer, authoring features about health topics for non-expert audiences and editing content as a subject matter expert for higher education platforms (textbooks, online courses). Damiana currently serves as the Career Outreach Chair for the American Medical Writers Association (AMWA) Southwest Chapter.
Learn more about Damiana here. View her health writing portfolio here.
“Damiana consistently delivers clear, thoughtful, and well-researched content that resonates with our audience. Her strong attention to detail and ability to distill complex topics into engaging, accessible articles have been invaluable to our work. Her commitment to accuracy and quality has made her a trusted long-term contributor.”
– Carolyn S., Director of Research and Digital Media (2025)
“Damiana was outstanding! She was everything I needed in a science development editor. She was incredibly thoughtful, thorough, and on time with her work, not to mention warm and easy for everyone to work with.”
– Mary P.H., Company Founder and CEO (2025)
“Damiana engaged with the audience, so we could hear about many different experiences in the field from others.”
– AMWA 2024 Proofreading Workshop Attendee
“[Damiana] was open to discussion and provided practical exercises and hands-on examples we could apply to the job.”
– AMWA 2024 Proofreading Workshop Attendee
“[Damiana] created a comfortable and inclusive environment where people of all backgrounds and experience levels could learn and contribute in their own way.”
– AMWA 2023 Proofreading Workshop Attendee
“Damiana was enthusiastic and engaged with the group. That really made the workshop time go by so quickly and we had great discussions.”
– AMWA 2022 Proofreading Workshop Attendee
“[Damiana] was very knowledgeable and personable.”
– AMWA 2022 Proofreading Workshop Attendee
“[Damiana] was fantastic and engaging and helped to relate the topic to ALL areas of medical writing (academia, journals, regulatory pharma).”
– AMWA 2022 Proofreading Workshop Attendee
“Damiana was excellent! Very engaging and approachable and gave so much practical advice.”
– AMWA 2022 Proofreading Workshop Attendee
Collaborations
Entering, navigating, and thriving in the field of medical communications
J. Kelly Byram, MS, MBA, ELS, Theresa E. Singleton, PhD, Damiana Chiavolini, MS, PhD
October 26, 2023, Baltimore, MD – AMWA 2023 Medical Writing & Communication Conference
The quick and the dirty: best practices for writing and editing under tight timelines
J. Kelly Byram, MS, MBA, ELS, Theresa E. Singleton, PhD, Damiana Chiavolini, MS, PhD
October 27, 2021, Virtual – AMWA 2021 Medical Writing & Communication Conference
Lessons learned in transitioning to writing and editing careers
J. Kelly Byram, MS, MBA, ELS, Damiana Chiavolini, MS, PhD, Anne Murray, PhD, Sahar Freedman, MA, ELS
April 25, 2020, Virtual – AMWA Southwest Chapter Conference
How to write strategic grant proposals for research collaborations
J. Kelly Byram, MS, MBA, ELS, Damiana Chiavolini, MS, PhD
November 8, 2019, San Diego, CA – AMWA 2019 Medical Writing & Communication Conference
Interviewing potential employers and clients
Damiana Chiavolini, MS, PhD, J. Kelly Byram, MS, MBA, ELS, Anne Murray, PhD
November 7, 2019, San Diego, CA – AMWA 2019 Medical Writing & Communication Conference
Interviewing potential employers and clients
Damiana Chiavolini, MS, PhD, Anne Murray, PhD, J. Kelly Byram, MS, MBA, ELS
March 16, 2019, Dallas, TX – AMWA Southwest Chapter Conference
Identifying experience and expertise to succeed as a medical writer
Damiana Chiavolini, MS, PhD, J. Kelly Byram, MS, MBA, ELS, Anne Murray, PhD
October 31, 2018, Washington, DC – AMWA 2018 Medical Writing & Communication Conference