Lesley Earl

Through my freelancing business, Onoclea Communications LLC, I provide science and medical communications support, as well as accessibility consulting services.

• Developed press releases, blog posts and news highlights to publicize basic, preclinical, and clinical study results for infectious, inflammatory, and degenerative conditions; created accompanying images, video and social media materials

• Worked with internal and external stakeholders to ensure accuracy and timeliness for press packages and coordinated communications campaigns, complying with brand and style requirements for NEI and NIH

• Collaborated with staff across NIH institutes to promote neuroscience findings and tools to the vision research community

• As NEI Section 508 Coordinator, coordinated automated and manual web testing, reviewed new ICT acquisitions, developed trainings for staff, reviewed documents for technical conformance, and oversaw contracts and contract deliverables

• Served on numerous cross-NEI teams enhancing accessibility for staff and external stakeholders

• Wrote press releases, blog posts, and news highlights, along with related health content for web, on nutritional supplements for degenerative eye disease, treatments for diabetic and autoimmune eye conditions, development of tools for people with vision loss, the neuroscience of vision, and other vision research topics

• Created reusable 2D illustrations and animations of the eye that allowed NEI communications staff to easily generate new visuals for press packages and other public information

• Led and expanded NEI’s Section 508 (accessibility) program; created live and recorded trainings related to document, web and multimedia accessibility

• Provided presentation and communications support to senior NEI leaders, including slide decks, talking points, speeches, and other materials

• Supported NEI’s Director’s Awards ceremony each year; collecting materials from staff, generating nominator videos, managing event flow, and hosting the event in virtual, hybrid, and in-person formats

• Created press release packages with innovative scientific visuals and multimedia about comparative drug studies, rare diseases, novel eye imaging technologies, and basic vision science

• Wrote custom scripts to identify and classify press releases funded by NEI, increasing NEI’s annual coverage of external news and leading to expanded partnerships with grantee institutions

• Drafted talking points, slide decks, presentations, and internal communications collateral for NEI senior leaders

• Managed scientific and communications projects and collaborated with an interdisciplinary team resulting in 12 co-authored manuscripts; articles included original research, reviews, and book chapters spanning HIV biogenesis and transmission, 3D structure of small proteins by cryo-EM, and cryo-EM methods

• Maintained content on 3 websites and managed social media channels

• Mentored students at the high school, undergraduate, and graduate level, advising on scientific research methods, data analysis, and the creation of scientific manuscripts

• Designed and maintained external websites and managed content for the NCI Biophysics Section and the Living Lab for Structural Biology in NCI’s Drupal CMS

• Co-authored scientific manuscripts on 3D electron microscopy and structural analysis of the HIV virological synapse

• Published articles on a variety of health and scientific topics for general audiences during a 3-month detail to NIH’s office of communications

• Used confocal microscopy, flow cytometry, and biochemical analyses of fruit fly tissues to investigate the role of mucins (sugar-bearing proteins) in tissue development