10 Jan The Year Ahead in Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities for Clinical Trial Sites
Views from ACRP Members
Topics highlighted include diversity and inclusion, decentralized clinical trial (DCT) elements, workforce challenges, and a possible role for sponsors and contract research organizations (CROs) in supporting outreach by sites based in diverse communities.
Nadege Gunn: Need for study-agnostic funding for sites in diverse areas
“The need for improved diversity of all kinds among trial participants will continue in 2024, with sponsor and CRO support critical to success,” said Nadege T. Gunn, MD, CPI, Gastroenterology/Hepatology, Medical Director, Senior Scientific Advisor, Velocity Clinical Research.
“Staffing at sites in underserved geographic areas will still be an issue, with high turnover and loss of site staff to CROs, sponsors, or sites in locations with more competitive salaries,” according to Gunn. “Improving workforce diversity at these sites would be helpful, since this is known to support recruitment of diverse study participants. A promising approach is to recruit early-career staff from non-traditional backgrounds. These recruits might include high school graduates with an interest in becoming pharmacy technicians or nursing assistants, who can be given fast-track introductory courses to clinical research, and then advanced through ACRP certification.” Read more…