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Arveen Bajaj – Staff Writer

Arveen has been working as a staff writer on Vital for three years, writing features and also the News and Marketplace sections – a job for which she is uniquely qualified, as she is also News Editor for the BDJ. She has a background in journalism and worked on local newspapers and a business to business finance publication before joining the BDJ team. Arveen lives in North London with her husband and baby son, who understandably takes up most of her spare time! She manages to juggle the pressures of work and motherhood very well, however, and says that if she wasn't a journalist she would be a party planner because ‘stressful as that might be, I love to organise!’

Esther McKeown – Production Editor

Esther has worked on Vital and the BDJ for a year and a half and was promoted to Production Editor in August this year. Her role is to manage the production of each issue, laying out the editorial content on the pages and preparing them for print. It is the creative aspects of this process that Esther finds most rewarding, and she says that coming up with imaginative ideas for the Vital page layouts is one of the best parts of her job. When she's not at work Esther enjoys visiting bars and restaurants around London with her friends and she also spends as much time as possible with her one-year-old niece and three-year-old nephew.

Rowena Milan – Staff Writer

Rowena joined the BDJ team in December 2005 as Journal Editor of the BDJ and began writing articles for Vital at the same time. Most of her time is spent on the BDJ, where she is involved with the development of the Journal, manuscript peer review, editing, and proof reading, as well as managing the editorial team. Rowena moved to North London from Cambridge in February and is enjoying discovering the many things London has to offer. Her first love is zoology, however – she is interested in everything from bugs to birds to basking sharks and loves being in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by wild countryside.

Melissa Cassem – Art Editor

A graphic designer by trade, Melissa is heavily involved with the layout of Vital and is responsible for many of the most visual articles we run and also for organising our all-important cover shoots. She has worked on Vital and the BDJ for nearly three years and still loves the moment when a new issue arrives fresh from the printers. As a child, Melissa had an inch-long fang growing between her front teeth, so she is used to the dental anomalies that sometimes crop up in our articles! She lives with her husband in Greenhithe, Kent, just 15 minutes from where she grew up in Sidcup, and when she's not having dinner with friends or spending time with her nieces she also loves baking – although she doesn't get the time to do it very often!

Kate Maynard – Editor

Kate was promoted to Editor of Vital in March this year and was previously a staff writer. She is also Assistant Editor for the BDJ, so her workload is large and varied! As Editor of Vital she is responsible for planning and managing the content of the magazine, commissioning and writing articles, editing copy and working closely with the staff writers, freelancers and the production team. Kate lives in South London but is originally from Cumbria and she also spent eight years of her childhood in Qatar. Her busy and varied work schedule is mirrored by her life outside the office, where amongst other activities she enjoys swimming, baking, yoga and flamenco dancing.