About Jo Murray
I help healthcare professionals, expert witnesses and medical communicators make their words unambiguous, accurate and reader-ready.
Whether it’s a medico-legal report, a public-health document or a piece of medical communication, clarity matters. Confusion costs time, trust and sometimes even outcomes. My role is to make sure your writing serves your reader exactly as you intend.
Who I work with
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Expert witnesses and medico-legal teams
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Medical communications writers and agencies
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Healthcare organisations and public-health teams
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Clinicians and researchers preparing reports and educational content
Why working with an editor is important
Highly specialised writing is inherently complex. But complexity and clarity are not opposites. Precision and plain English can – and should – coexist.
An editor brings something the author cannot: distance. I approach the text without prior knowledge of what it is supposed to mean. So I notice where a sentence could be misread, where a term needs clarification, where structure obscures rather than supports the message.
I also bring editorial training and extensive subject knowledge to your text, so that meaning is unambiguous, structure is logical and language is reader-friendly.
My background
I’ve been editing, writing and proofreading since 1997. My editorial journey began in layout and proofreading before moving into freelance copyediting and proofreading for book publishers. I began specialising in medical editing in 2009, and since then I’ve worked on:
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2,000+ medico-legal reports
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Medical textbooks for academic publishers
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Medical communications and education materials across therapy areas
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Public-health articles and guidance documents for global health organisations
If you’d like the full story – including how I went from hairdressing to medical editing – you can read it here.
Why I love this work
I'm a lifelong reader – not just professionally but personally. I read everywhere (queues, waiting rooms, even between errands). The more I read, the more I see how structure, clarity and phrasing affect understanding and impact.
As Stephen King said, “If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time, or the tools, to write.” I believe this holds just as true for editors.
Qualifications
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BSc (Hons) Life Sciences (human biology)
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DipHE Health Sciences
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CertHE Natural Sciences
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CertHE Social Sciences
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DipHE Creative Writing
THE OPEN UNIVERSITY
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Medical Editing
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Copyediting
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Editing with Word
CHARTERED INSTITUTE OF EDITING AND PROOFREADING (CIEP)
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Editing
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Author Queries
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Adobe Tools for Editors
PUBLISHING TRAINING CENTRE (PTC)
It was an absolute pleasure to work alongside Jo. Her skills in medical copyediting and proofing are second to none. She has an excellent work ethic and was extremely efficient in what was a very busy and pressured environment. I would not hesitate in recommending Jo. Anyone working with her will benefit greatly from her skillset but perhaps even more so from being around her wonderful personality.
Gillian Smith, business owner at G.S. Virtual Assistants
Location
I'm based in Manchester, UK. However, you don't need to be local to work with me: I work with clients worldwide by phone, email and video calls.
Jo edits medico-legal reports for us and has done for many years. She works with our house style, is confident to make the decisions needed for the edit and has excellent proofreading skills. She is very organised, communicates well, and works to our deadlines. We are very happy to have her as part of our wider team.