Clinical Trial Podcast | Conversations with Clinical Research Experts

Diabetes Clinical Trials with Dr. Stayce Beck

To learn more about clinical trials in diabetes, I invited Dr. Stayce Beck, Global Vice President of Clinical Affairs at Dexcom Inc. on the podcast.  Dr. Beck currently oversees clinical operations, clinical strategy and science, biometrics and human factors at Dexcom Inc, a leading manufacturer of continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) Prior to joining Dexcom, Dr. Beck worked at Food and Drug Administration for over ten years, spending time as a scientific and regulatory reviewer, a chief o...

Access to Novel Medical Products with Dr. Alison Bateman-House

Providing patients access to novel medical products can be challenging to navigate for sponsors and trial participants alike.  To learn more about expanded access, compassionate use, Right to Try laws, I invited Dr. Alison​ ​Bateman​-​House​, ​PhD​, ​MPH, MA​, ​an​ ​Assistant​ ​Professor​ ​in​ ​the​ ​Division​ ​of​ ​Medical Ethics​ ​at​ ​NYU​ ​Grossman​ ​School​ ​of​ ​Medicine​.  Dr. ​Bateman​-​House​ ​is​ ​co​-​chair ​of​ ​the​ ​Working​ ​Group​ ​on Compassionate​ ​Use​ ​and​ ​Preapprov...

Clinical Research as a Profession with Erika Stevens

Unlike an electrical engineer or a plumber, clinical research roles are not explicitly defined or categorized as such, in government employment databases. There are no certification or degree requirements to work as a clinical research professional either. To explore the topic of clinical research as a profession, I invited Erike Stevens on the podcast. Erika advises life sciences, academic medical centers, hospitals, cancer centers, foundations and health systems process improvement i...

Community Engagement in Clinical Trials with Chris Komelasky

To learn about community engagement in clinical trials, what it means, recent regulations and guidance documents, I invited Chris Komelasky, CEO and Co-founder of SiteBridge Research, on the podcast.  SiteBridge Research is an Integrated Research Organization (IRO). Chris and his team help connect physicians and their patients to clinical trials and facilitate the process by reducing barriers for sites and participants. Prior to the launch of SiteBridge, Chris has held various leadership...

Community health system-based research with JoAnne Levy

Community health system-based research continues to become an important focus area for pharmaceutical and medical device sponsors given the recent FDA guidance on diversity in clinical trials.  Our guest for this episode is JoAnne Levy, Vice President at Mercy Research, a part of Mercyhealth.  Mercy Research is one of the largest fully integrated, community health system-based research organizations in the United States with more than 40 acute care, managed, and specialty hospitals, conv...

Postmarket Surveillance Studies with David Rutledge

In this episode, we’re going to talk about Postmarket Surveillance Studies.  In light of the EU Medical Device Regulation (MDR), medical device manufacturers are required to implement a Postmarket Surveillance (PMS) plan, which in turn may require them to conduct Postmarket Surveillance Studies.  The importance of such studies has grown in recent years as regulators want to know about the safety and effectiveness during the lifetime of a medical device.  To learn about Postmarket Surve...

Human-centered design role in clinical trials with Bruce Hellman and Ben James

In this episode, we explore the role of design in clinical trials. Most clinical research professionals are so focused on protocol design, data collection, and analysis that it’s easy to overlook the importance of well-designed technology that supports clinical trials. One such technology product is electronic Patient Reported Outcomes or ePROs. ePROs are surveys that are presented to and completed by clinical trial participants as part of the study requirements.  To learn more about e...

Clinical Trial Site Networks with Christian Burns

There are advantages and disadvantages when it comes to being a standalone clinical trial site.  Standalone clinical trial sites enjoy the freedom of running their own operations. But they may face challenges with executing some parts of a clinical trial.  This is where site networks come in.  For example, a site can run more efficient marketing campaigns, be more systematic in its clinical trial operations, or share patient recruitment and retention resources by being part of a site n...

Heart Failure Clinical Trials with Sonna Patel-Raman

In this episode, I’m excited for you to learn about Heart Failure Clinical Trials for medical devices. Our guest today is Sonna Patel-Raman. Sonna is currently the President at NuPulse Inc, an early stage medical device company responsible for developing the first minimally invasive, long-term, ambulatory counterpulsation device that works in sync with the heart. At NuPulse, Sonna is responsible for developing and executing on strategic initiatives for the company, building a diverse and...

Medical Imaging for Clinical Trial Sites with Kelie Luby

To learn more about site reads and the role of medical imaging software, I invited Kelie Williams Luby, Vice President of Clinical Trials at Mint Medical.  Kelie has 24 years of experience as a clinical trial researcher, first as a medicinal chemist, and for the past 19 years as a clinical trialist in medical imaging-based endpoints. She is passionate about optimizing clinical trial designs while reducing the cognitive burden placed on healthcare providers treating patients in those clinic...

Risk Management for Clinical Investigators with Bijan Elahi

This is a special episode on risk management. It is important to understand what dictates the work we do as clinical research professionals and how our work fits into the bigger picture of medical product development. This episode serves exactly that purpose. You’ll be introduced to ISO 14971 Application of risk management to medical devices and learn about its relationship to ISO 14155 Clinical investigation of medical devices for human subjects — Good clinical practice. You’ll also und...

5 Strategies for Investigator and Steering Committee Meetings with Kunal Sampat

In this episode, I’m excited to share with you 5 Strategies for planning and conducting investigator and steering committee meetings.  Now that the world is starting to re-open after the COVID-19 pandemic, more sponsors are conducting in-person meetings with key opinion leaders (KOLs).  These meetings are exceptionally critical to the success of any medical product development. The purpose of these meetings is to discuss the clinical trial strategy, clinical investigational plan, patient e...

Clinical Trial Outsourcing with Anca Copaescu

Complexity in Early Phase Clinical Trials with Dr. Oren Cohen

When a new drug or device undergoes “first in human” experience, the primary focus is on participant safety. How will the drug or device interact with the human body? And will this interaction be safe? To answer these two questions, regulatory authorities around the world require medical product manufacturers to conduct Phase I, also known as early phase clinical trials. To learn more about the complexities in early phase clinical trials, I invited Dr. Oren Cohen, President of Clinical P...

Patient Recruitment in Phase I Studies with Dr. Graham Wood

Phase I trials are generally conducted in healthy participants or in patients with no treatment options such as oncology patients. Unlike late phase trials, Phase I (also known as early phase) studies have different patient recruitment challenges. To learn more, I invited Dr. Graham Wood, Executive Vice President, USA at Nucleus Network. Dr. Wood is a leader in the conduct and design of clinical pharmacology studies having held senior executive roles in a number of the top clinical res...

Medical Imaging in Clinical Trials with Elizabeth Dalton

Medical Imaging in Clinical Trials with Elizabeth Dalton In this episode, I’m excited to talk about medical imaging in clinical trials.  We’ll discuss the role of a medical imaging CRO, imaging endpoints in clinical trials, expensive mistakes to avoid as a trial Sponsor/ CRO, saving money on medical imaging services, imaging data collection process, and more. The guest for today’s show is a long time friend of mine, Elizabeth Hartunian Dalton, Vice President at Calyx.   Liz is a seas...

Clinical Research Data Transparency with Darshan Kulkarni

Who owns the clinical trial data generated in industry sponsored or investigator initiated clinical trials? What responsibilities do Sponsors, CROs, or Sites have when it comes to sharing clinical trial results with patients? Should a Sponsor get access to patient data collected outside a clinical trial setting? To answer these questions and more, I invited Darshan Kulkarni to the show. Darshan is a regulatory attorney specializing in FDA law, professor, author, and speaker. He is ...

Launching an NIH Funded Study with Dr. Manish Shah

In the fiscal year 2021, the National Institute of Health (NIH) funded only 16,959 out of 80,878 research project grants.  In other words, the success rate was 21%. And the total funding amount was $8,827,444,624. The question I had was, “What does it take to get grant approval and launch an NIH funded research project?” To answer this question, I invited Dr. Manish Shah,  Professor of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine and Attending Physician in the Texas Children’s Hospital E...

Introduction to Coverage Analysis with Kelly Willenberg

Clinical Data Management with Mariam Mirgoli

Clinical Research Billing for Small to Medium Sites with Kristi Etchberger

A big part of managing clinical research at any site is managing clinical research billing. If you don’t keep track of your research finances, it can end up costing you a lot of money in the long run.  To understand clinical research billing, how to manage billing activities, the role of a clinical trial management system (CTMS), differences between cash and accrual based accounting, and more,  I invited our guest, Kristi Etchberger, on the show.   Kristi founded Clinical Research Billing in ...

Integrating EHR and EDC Systems with Hugh Levaux

Software Solutions for Clinical Research Sites with Ryan Jones

As the clinical research ecosystem becomes more site and patient centric, I was curious about what an ideal software stack looks like for clinical research sites. It goes without saying you need a laptop and stable internet connection to do business in this day and age. But what else do you need to keep yourself organized as a clinical research site?  How can a clinical trial site bring most value to their research participants, run a profitable research operation, and not overwork emp...

Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity in Clinical Research with Barbara Bierer, M.D.

Dr. Bierer is the Director of the Regulatory Foundations, Ethics and the Law Program of the Harvard Clinical and Translational Science Center and the Director of Regulatory Policy, SMART IRB.  Previously she served as senior vice president, research, at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital for 11 years, and was the institutional official for human and animal research, for biosafety, and for research integrity.  She initiated the Brigham Research Institute and the Innovation Hub (iHub), a foc...

Patient Recruitment Failure in Clinical Trials

This podcast episode highlights the top reasons for patient recruitment failure in clinical trials from an investigator perspective.   The podcast episode will help you understand how Sponsor and CRO personnel including software vendors can best support investigators meet or exceed their patient recruitment.    The goal is to bring more awareness on how to prevent patient recruitment failure and complete enrollment as planned.   Initial funding insufficient to reimburse recruiting...

Regulatory Affairs for Medical Device Clinical Trials with Priya Jagasia

Clinical trials are conducted in compliance with regulations.  Simply stated, you need a clinical and regulatory strategy when it comes to conduct of clinical trials for medical devices. As a clinical researcher, there have been times I’ve felt lost because I did not understand the regulatory framework. To close this knowledge gap, I thought it would be great to invite Priya Jagasia, Divisional Vice President (DVP) of Regulatory Affairs at Abbott Vascular on the show. In this episode...

Decentralized Clinical Trials with Derk Arts

The pandemic has helped fast track the adoption of technology in clinical research. This has been a much needed change and we’re headed in the right direction.  The change in turn has led to an increased focus on decentralized clinical trials (DCTs).  But what exactly is a DCT?  To learn more, I invited Derk Arts, Founder & CEO of Castor.  Derk has over fifteen years of experience in medicine, research and technology.  His company, Castor, provides useful technology for sponsors ...

Psychedelic Clinical Trials with Rebecca Matthews

My guest for this interview is Rebecca Matthews, Chief Clinical Operations Officer at Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) Public Benefit Corporation. In this interview, Rebecca shares with us what it takes to conduct clinical trials investigating the use of MDMA, a psychedelic drug, in conjunction with psychotherapy to treat patients with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD can occur after a person experiences a significant trauma, like a sexual assault, ...

Diversity and Inclusion in Clinical Trials with Jennifer Jones-McMeans, Ph.D.

Do you want to enroll a diverse patient population in your clinical trial?  Are you a sponsor looking to develop a solid clinical trial strategy? Are you looking to develop foundational skills as a clinical research scientist? If you answered “Yes” to any of these questions, then this interview with Jennifer Jones-McMeans will serve you well. Jenn currently serves as the Program Director for cardiovascular studies at Abbott Medical Devices.  She has played a key scientific role in ...

Clinical Trial Readiness with Joel Selzer

One of the biggest challenges in clinical study start-up and conduct is “training.” A few factors that impact training include the clinical site personnel’s ability to retain and understand key study information, staff turnover at the site, individual learning style and preferences and much more.  With many clinical research and trial activities going virtual, having an online platform to train research staff on the protocol and trial operations is useful and necessary. In this podcast...

Clinical Research Soft Skills with Ed Hogan

Many people tout about technical skills in clinical research. You need to know Microsoft Excel. You need to understand Good Clinical Practice. You need to memorize the FDA guidance documents. Have you ever heard someone talk about soft skills in clinical research? I realized the importance of soft skills after joining Abbott in 2007 as a Clinical Project Manager. When you work with a diverse team, you must master soft skills. Soft skills, also known as “real skills”, help you l...

Patient Support Programs in Middle East and North Africa (MENA) with Maha Dakhloul

In this episode, I had an opportunity to speak with Maha Dakhloul on the topic of Patient Support Programs (PSPs) in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA region). Maha does a great job of explaining with us how PSPs are set-up, how one can develop a PSP, the lesser known components of a PSP, how to measure a successful PSP, how to evaluate a PSP provider, the interdependence of clinical trials and PSPs in the MENA region and much more. This interview was recorded shortly after the expl...

Career Development in Clinical Research with Chris Lewis

Starting a career in clinical research with little or no experience can be difficult. Equally challenging is for hiring managers to find candidates that are a cultural fit for the organization. In this interview, I invited my close friend and mentor Chris Lewis to talk about his process of attracting, hiring, and retaining talent in clinical research.  We talked about the future of the CRA role and what skills are needed to succeed in today’s marketplace.   Chris has over 20 years’ e...

Solving Patient Recruitment Challenges with Maya Zlatanova

I’m always excited to speak with software entrepreneurs in clinical research and this episode is no excpetion. Our guest on today’s show is Maya Zlatanova, CEO of FindMeCure.  Maya and her team are creating a “google” for clinical trials.  She is on a mission to make it easy for patients to find ongoing clinical trials She wants to solve patient recruitment challenges enabling patients and doctors to connect with each other She believes in the power of stories, not just facts, somet...

Patient Centricity in Clinical Trials with Craig Lipset

Managing and Communicating Clinical Trial Finances with Blake Peters

Clinical trial finance is a key area of clinical trials and clinical research.  Human beings are innately not good with numbers and clinical trial finance is no exception.  Creating study budgets, forecasting clinical trial costs, and managing trial finances are essential skills for any clinical research professional.  This is true for sites, vendors, CROs, and Sponsor personnel, irrespective of whether they have direct responsibility for clinical trial finances.  In this episode, I ...

Virtual Clinical Trials with Mike Novotny

Today we’re in the midst of the pandemic and virtual clinical trials are likely going to be a big part of our post-COVID-19 world.  In this interview, I had the pleasure of speaking with Mike Novotny about virtual trials i.e. decentralized trials.  Mike is the founder and CEO of Medrio. Mikes brings over 20 years of experience in research and software to his eClinical SaaS vision.  Prior to founding Medrio, Mike was president of Ninaza, an EDC software company, and had previously held ...

CTP 027: Virtual Clinical Trials with Mike Novotny

Today we’re in the midst of the pandemic and virtual clinical trials are likely going to be a big part of our post-COVID-19 world.  In this interview, I had the pleasure of speaking with Mike Novotny about virtual trials i.e. decentralized trials.  Mike is the founder and CEO of Medrio. Mikes brings over 20 years of experience in research and software to his eClinical SaaS vision.  Prior to founding Medrio, Mike was president of Ninaza, an EDC software company, and had previously held ...

Conducting Clinical Research in Egypt with Ahmed Hamouda

In this interview, I had the opportunity to speak with Ahmed Hamouda.  Ahmed is the Head of Clinical Operations at RAY-CRO in Egypt and a certified clinical research professional with more than 10 years of experience within the clinical research field. I’ve been intrigued and fascinated by the Middle East and have wondered how trials are conducted in the region.  If you’ve been site and country selection meetings trying to determine whether you want to conduct trials in Egypt but have ...

CTP 026: Conducting Clinical Research in Egypt with Ahmed Hamouda

In this interview, I had the opportunity to speak with Ahmed Hamouda.  Ahmed is the Head of Clinical Operations at RAY-CRO in Egypt and a certified clinical research professional with more than 10 years of experience within the clinical research field. I’ve been intrigued and fascinated by the Middle East and have wondered how trials are conducted in the region.  If you’ve been site and country selection meetings trying to determine whether you want to conduct trials in Egypt but have ...

CTP 025: Role of Field Clinical Engineer (FCE) in Medical Devices with Ravi Shankar

Ravi Shankar is the founder of FCE Source, a boutique CRO that serves as a strategic partner to medical device companies looking for field clinical engineering support. FCE, which stands for Field Clinical Engineer, is a specialized role that specifically serves medical device trials.  FCE is a medical device expert who knows exactly how the medical product needs to be used in the medical setting. In many ways, an FCE is a right hand to the physician.  In this interview, Ravi does a fa...

CTP 024: Using Medical Records to Pre-Qualify for Clinical Trials with Komathi Stem

Using Medical Records to Pre-Qualify for Clinical Trials with Komathi Stem The traditional model involves sponsors and CROs contracting with trial sites and hoping the sites will find and enroll eligible patients.  Through her work at monARC Bio, Komathi Stem is flipping the traditional model upside down.  In this interview, Komathi shares how patients can now share medical records for clinical research purposes.  Pharmaceutical and medical device companies can then leverage this dat...

CTP 023: Clinical Research In New Zealand

In this interview, I had the honor of speaking with Richard Stubbs, who is the President of the New Zealand Association of Clinical Research.  Throughout my career, I’ve always been fascinated by clinical trials conducted in the Asia-Pacific region. Richard pulls the curtains for us today and shares with us how easy and valuable it is to conduct clinical trials in New Zealand.  Richard is a surgeon by training and also the managing director of P3 Research that is composed of three clinic...

Clinical Research In New Zealand

In this interview, I had the honor of speaking with Richard Stubbs, who is the President of the New Zealand Association of Clinical Research.  Throughout my career, I’ve always been fascinated by clinical trials conducted in the Asia-Pacific region. Richard pulls the curtains for us today and shares with us how easy and valuable it is to conduct clinical trials in New Zealand.  Richard is a surgeon by training and also the managing director of P3 Research that is composed of three clinic...

Clinical Project Management with Antoinette (Torres) Frankum

In this episode, I had the opportunity to speak with Antoinette Frankum, who currently serves as the Vice President/Executive Director of Clinical Research at CROMSOURCE, a global Clinical Research Organization (CRO). Antoinette has over 20 years’ experience leading teams and managing complex clinical trials in the biopharma and medical device industry.  At CROMSOURCE, she is part of the executive team responsible for the US and international clinical operations.  Antoinette graduated fr...

CTP 022: Clinical Project Management with Antoinette (Torres) Frankum

In this episode, I had the opportunity to speak with Antoinette Frankum, who currently serves as the Vice President/Executive Director of Clinical Research at CROMSOURCE, a global Clinical Research Organization (CRO). Antoinette has over 20 years’ experience leading teams and managing complex clinical trials in the biopharma and medical device industry.  At CROMSOURCE, she is part of the executive team responsible for the US and international clinical operations.  Antoinette graduated fr...

CTP 021: Getting Intro Research and CRO Partnerships with Jessie Coe

In this episode, I had an epic conversation with an amazing human being who has been a force behind my clinical research knowledge and training. Jessie is a Project Director at Abbott. She has led several important clinical programs including the approval of Abbott’s flagship medical device, the XIENCE V drug-eluting stent in the United States and Japan. Jessie is a wizard in clinical research processes and can systemize any broken process. She is also a world-class expert in the selecti...

Getting Intro Research and CRO Partnerships with Jessie Coe

In this episode, I had an epic conversation with an amazing human being who has been a force behind my clinical research knowledge and training. Jessie is a Project Director at Abbott. She has led several important clinical programs including the approval of Abbott’s flagship medical device, the XIENCE V drug-eluting stent in the United States and Japan. Jessie is a wizard in clinical research processes and can systemize any broken process. She is also a world-class expert in the selecti...

CTP 020: 17 Strategies to Increase Patient Recruitment in Clinical Trials

CTP 019: Managing Clinical Inventory with Rust Felix and Joy Jurnack