Foundations of Scientific Writing for Staff Members, Fall 2026

Workshop Overview

The goal of this workshop series, presented by the Duke AI Health Community of Practice and the Duke CTSI Workforce Development Pillar, is to support academic and health system staff members in gaining experience with scientific writing and dissemination. This learning opportunity, which has previously been offered to Duke staff,

Enrollment in this workshop is limited to staff employees of NCCU, DTCC, and Duke. A total of 25 seats will be available for this year’s session and a wait list will be maintained in the event of any withdrawals or cancellations. There is no fee to participate.

This will be the fourth year that we present the Foundations of Scientific Writing for Staff Members. Curious about how the workshop could benefit you? Learn more about how past participants strengthened their scientific writing skills and confidence:

Participation Details

Participants in the workshop will engage in 6 sessions total: 4 virtual sessions and 2 in-person sessions held between October – December 2026.

Each of the virtual workshop sessions will be 90 minutes in length and will be held virtually via Zoom. Participants will be asked to be on-camera and actively interacting during class sessions, which will be held on the following dates in 2026:

Virtual session Thursday, October 15, 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM
Virtual session Thursday, October 22, 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM
Virtual session Thursday, October 29, 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM
Virtual session Thursday, November 5, 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM

The series will also feature two in-person components:

In-person Jam Session on Thursday, December 3 from 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM
In-person Poster Presentation (approximately 2 hours) during the week of December 7

The first of these, an informal “jam session” that will give participants the opportunity to practice presenting their posters and receive feedback, is scheduled for the first week of December. Attendance at this session is highly encouraged but not mandatory.

The second component is a culminating poster showcase at which participants will present their completed posters to an audience and take part in discussion about their work. Attendance at this session, scheduled for the second week of December, is a required element of the course. Additional specifics regarding dates, times, and venues will be provided as these details are finalized.

There is a deadline of November 20, 2026 for completion of the final project to allow sufficient time for individual feedback and final preparation of posters.

We ask registrants to commit to attending all sessions in the course. This is because the series is designed to build on knowledge gained in each workshop, to culminate in a product to be shared with others during the poster session, and a final session to reflect on experiences and provide a path for forward development.

Participants are also asked to contribute to the pre-course and post-course surveys. These important activities help to support course development (from information gleaned in the pre-course survey) and maximize knowledge around the course structuring and impact (from insights of the post-course survey).

Topic Selection and Development Tracks

As a new offering this year, we are offering optional virtual sessions in September centered on specific tracks. Participants can indicate their interest during registration, and sessions are coordinated based on demand.

Tracks offered in September:

Developing topics with health data platforms, including the Duke FCAP (Federated Clinical Analytics Platform) system and the SEED Health Atlas
- The FCAP system was the focus of our May 11 NCCU-Duke workshop, and this track may be of particular interest to prior participants (although prior participation is not required); read more about that workshop at https://aihealth.duke.edu/2026-nccu-fcap/
Developing topics around experiences in AI workflows and efficiency

Who Should Attend?

We encourage staff members at any level of seniority and experience to participate. This includes coordinators, project managers, project leaders, and analysts, from beginners through advanced, at Duke, NCCU, and DTCC. Clinical staff from the Duke University Health System (DUHS) and technical staff from Duke Health Technology Services (DHTS) are also welcome and encouraged to participate. No previous experience in scientific writing is required.

Each participant will be asked to confirm their manager’s approval for them to participate in the workshop series. We encourage managers to consider this participation as potentially valuable in an employee’s training plan.

Why is this workshop not open to students? The reason is because we’ve designed it to focus on the unique roles of staff members and their contributions to project teams, with opportunities for mentoring and networking. For undergraduate and graduate students interested in scientific writing, we encourage them to leverage the resources that are available to them through dedicated offerings like Duke’s Thompson Writing Program or NCCU’s Writing and Speaking Studio.

Workshop Structure

Each of the virtual workshops will include lecture-based elements covering important concepts and background information, as well as interactive group discussions.

Participants will be asked to attend each session live and should be prepared to be on-camera and actively participating during the interactive portions of class. Although lectures will be recorded and available to participants as a reference, the interactive components will not be recorded. Lecture slides, references, and in some cases, additional supplemental material will be made available after each class.

“Learning By Doing”

In this workshop series, we will use the AI Health Community of Practice model of “learn by doing” for participants to grow confidence in scientific writing through hands-on experience. Each participant will develop a poster using formal scientific writing conventions, including topic selection and refinement, organization, content development, visual elements (including an introduction to basic elements of visual rhetoric and data visualization and display), ethical practices in co-authorship, use and management of references, acknowledgements, and other best practices. We will also address issues surrounding the use of AI tools in research and scientific authorship.

Scientific posters are a widely used basis for articulating key programmatic and scientific accomplishments and results. When prepared with rigor, a poster is a “miniature manuscript” that can then be developed into a full paper. The topic of the poster will be chosen by each participant and their manager, and we will encourage participants to write about topics where they have experience and interest. This can include operational topics, processes, program descriptions, communication and dissemination, ethics, and the challenges and opportunities of translational science.

Please note: collaborative projects involving multiple class attendees are welcomed, but please let the instructor know as soon as possible if you wish to pursue this option. Alternatives to scientific posters, such as public web resources, in-depth articles, scientific papers, etc. may be allowed on a case-by-case basis. Please inquire with the program instructor (Jonathan McCall; jonathan.mccall@duke.edu) if you wish to pursue an alternative final project.

Registration

Please join our waitlist below.

https://duke.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5hGDtqRfOP5lAwe

Program Leadership

The workshops are taught by Jonathan McCall, MS, Director of Communications for Duke AI Health.
This opportunity is produced by Shelley Rusincovitch, MMCi, FAMIA, Managing Director of Duke AI Health and Co-Director, CTSI Biomedical Informatics & Data Science (BIDS) Pillar and Amanda McMillan, MPH, MA, Co-Director, CTSI Workforce Development Pillar
Jessica Johnstone is the project manager for the series
Whitney Welsh, PhD, is the qualitative scientist providing evaluation for the series
Faculty oversight and direction is provided by Steve Grambow, PhD, Co-Director of the CTSI Workforce Development Pillar

Please email aihealth@duke.edu if you have any questions.