About
Andrea Rahkola, BA, ELS, is the Production Editor of the Neurology® journals at the American Academy of Neurology. Andrea joined the Neurology® journals in 2013, and has since acquired over 10 years of professional experience in scholarly medical-research publishing. She began with coordinating peer review and other editorial processes; she now manages production processes, leading an in-house production team of three and maintaining relationships with several vendors.
Andrea has a keen attention to detail and an eye for design. She is recognized for her ability to learn quickly, troubleshoot successfully, and produce reliable results. Andrea is also seen as an empathetic leader who modifies her leadership style to meet the needs of her employees.
Andrea is driven to help achieve effective scientific communication and increase health literacy. She is passionate about growing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in scholarly publishing, medical research, and public health.
In 2023, Andrea began pursuing a Master of Public Health in public health administration and policy at the University of Minnesota. Her studies have illustrated the central role of equity in public health, that health is a human right, and that people, animals, and ecosystems must be viewed with a One Health lens to obtain the long-lasting positive health outcomes.
Andrea is particularly interested in health policy, health communications, and management.
Experienced & Certified
Work Experience
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Production Editor for the Neurology® Journals at the American Academy of Neurology. Manages Neurology Journals’ content from acceptance to online and print publication; collaborates with editors to realize vision of each issue within the family of publications; closely aligns with all internal teams to organize additional layers of content-led features; communicates with publisher to produce error-free content according to style and deadlines while maintaining the high quality and premier reputation of the journals; leads in-house production team, directly supervising 3 employees.
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Production Editor of Neurology® at the American Academy of Neurology. Wrote issue-feature pages, summarizing ≥200 articles annually, to the Editor-in-Chief’s specifications; compiled 48 issues per year, conforming to budgetary parameters and journal scope; kept in-house production process on track for weekly journal; managed letter-to-the-editor section: implemented new initiatives and streamlined processes.
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Editorial Associate for the Neurology® Journals at the American Academy of Neurology. Coordinated and copyedited letters-to-the-editor section; led copyright infringement review; revised figures for journal style; reviewed page proofs for journal style and errors; and researched, suggested, and solicited peer-reviewers .
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Editorial Assistant for the Neurology® Journals at the American Academy of Neurology. Coordinated and copyedited letters-to-the-editor section; led copyright infringement review; revised figures for journal style; reviewed page proofs for journal style and errors; and researched, suggested, and solicited peer-reviewers .
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Contract Writer/Editor at The Creative Group, a Robert Half company. Reviewed page proofs for journal style and errors; researched, suggested, and solicited peer-reviewer; and performed copyright infringement review.
Education
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A current School of Public Health graduate student at the University of Minnesota. Completed 13 of 42 credits, thus far, for the Executive Public Health Administration & Policy MPH program. Graduation expected Spring 2026.
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Graduated magna cum laude from the College of Letters and Science at University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point with a major in English, a double minor in creative writing and history, and a focus in publishing.
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Graduated from Apple Valley High School and the School of Environmental Studies.
Volunteer Experience
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Professional Development Committee Co-chair for the Council of Science Editors (CSE). Understood CSE strategic objectives, budget, and resources assigned to committee; recruited committee members; oversaw committee activity and ensured objectives were met.
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Professional Development Committee Member for the Council of Science Editors (CSE). Participated in committee activity and worked to meet objectives.
Awards
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Recognized by the Council of Science Editors (CSE) for "service to CSE, especially on the CSE Website Task Force, leading intensive efforts over a brief period to enhance CSE’s web presence."
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Awarded by the College of Letters and Science at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point for "outstanding accomplishments... their high academic achievement and pursuit of an education focused on the Humanities, Social and Natural Sciences."
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Awarded by the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) for "academic achievements, athletics accomplishments and involvement in other campus activities, organizations and community service projects."
Certification
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Certified by the Board of Editors in the Life Sciences (BELS) after applying to, qualifying for, and passing a test of scientific editing in English.
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Trained to provide initial help to someone experiencing a mental health or substance use challenge.
Courses & Programs
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Public Health Institute course, PUBH 7214, described as "[covering] key concepts of risk communication theory as well as their practical application to the collection and sharing of information in support of individual and community decision-making about public health issues."
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Graduate University of Minnesota course, PUBH 7720, described as "designed to develop skills related to the practice-based application of data to drive public health decision-making."
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Graduate University of Minnesota course, PUBH 6020, described as "[covering] theories of behavior change, program and policy development, community engagement, and policy implementation and advocacy."
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Graduate University of Minnesota course, PUBH 7710, described to "develop the skills required to define researchable policy questions, critically analyze policy issues and problems, articulate relevant policy options, and bring research and data to help frame decision-making."
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Completed the Short Course on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility as offered by the Council of Science Editors.
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Completed the Principles of Supervision (CERT X001) course as offered by the University of Minnesota’s College of Continuing & Professional Studies .
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Completed the Short Course on Publication Ethics as offered by the Council of Science Editors.
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Completed the Short Course on Publication Management as offered by the Council of Science Editors.
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Undergraduate University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point course, ENGL 379, described as "[explore major] theories about what rhetoric is and how it should be used, emphasizing classic texts and theories by Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, and Quintilian and their influence on modern thought."
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Undergraduate University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point course, ENGL 349, described as "the history of twentieth-century environmental politics in the United States."
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Undergraduate University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point course, ENGL 342, described as "[examine and analyze] the major grammatical structures of English."
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Undergraduate University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point course, ENGL 349, described as "[w]riting, editing, and preparing materials for publication, including consideration of reader/editor appeal, and ways to market manuscripts."