EMWA is the European Medical Writers Association. EMWA was founded in 1992 by a small group of professional biomedical communicators with academic, industrial and journalistic affiliations. Their aim was to provide a forum to promote standards of excellence in medical writing by furthering the professional development of members and increasing awareness of medical writing throughout Europe. EMWA now has over 1000 members from 27 countries, and includes academics and professionals working in-house or freelance for pharmaceutical, medical device, and medical communications companies, research institutes and in the field of scientific journalism. EMWA has an extensive professional development programme, and runs workshops and other educational and social events at bi-annual conferences, one in Spring and the other in Autumn, both in European locations. The strategic objectives of EMWA are to build the profession of medical writing and communications, to expand its membership-base, to streamline and enhance its organisational structure and processes and to provide a forum for its members in which they can share their expertise.