Emma Nichols bought a medical dictionary with her own money as a teenager in London. “I don’t know where that idea came from. There were no doctors in my family. Back then, I didn’t even know medical writing was a thing.” She also knew she wasn’t somebody who could be told what to do. “That’s a trait that has stuck with me, probably to my advantage.” Dr. Nichols has worked in medical writing and communications for 16 years since graduating with a Ph.D. in Nutrition and Health Sciences from Emory University.