Stephen (Steve) N. Palmer, PhD, ELS, the manager of the Department of Scientific Publications for The Texas Heart Institute, has been elected as the new President of the Board of Editors in the Life Sciences (BELS) for the 2024-2025 term.

Previously serving as chair of BELS’s Nominations Committee from 2020 to 2021 and chairing the Appeals Committee from 2021 to 2022, Dr. Palmer became President-Elect in 2023. He has been a member of BELS since earning his ELS certification in 2004.

For over 20 years, Dr. Palmer has dedicated his career to The Texas Heart Institute, where he leads a talented team of writers and editors who provide publication support to those throughout The Institute and to its over 100 Academic Professional Staff members.

Dr. Palmer earned his PhD in social and health psychology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and he holds a BA from Wesleyan University. Before joining The Institute, he worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Symptom Research at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and served as a research interviewer for the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) Homeless Project in the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago.

Driven by his love for writing and the English language, Dr. Palmer embarked on a profession in medical writing and communication. He is a Fellow of the American Medical Writers Association (AMWA), where he has held various leadership roles, including President, Secretary, Administrator of Awards, Annual Conference Coordinator, Pocket Trainings Subcommittee member, Administrator of Chapters and Membership, and a member of the Constitution and Bylaws Committee. His workshop, “Usage: Choosing the Right Word for the Job,” has been an annual event at the AMWA national conference.

Throughout his career, Dr. Palmer has had the opportunity to travel and speak professionally in countries around the world; on several occasions, he has taught a week-long science writing seminar to graduate students at Stockholm University in Sweden. In his leisure time, he enjoys cooking, biking, playing Xbox games with friends, and writing for fun. Currently, he is working on an urban fantasy novel.

“We’re proud to congratulate Steve on his latest accomplishment as a professional writer and editor. He is incredibly generous with his expertise and dedicated to helping our researchers, trainees and Academic Professional Staff members clearly communicate their scientific and clinical findings,” said Keri Sprung, MBA, The Institute’s Vice President for Education.