The 2023 Global Site Solutions Summit successfully brought clinical trial sites, sponsors, CROs, and vendors together to express concerns and develop comprehensive solutions.

Like most of you, I’ve attended many conferences related to the clinical trial industry. Some would say too many! But anyone expecting this year’s Society for Clinical Research Sites Global Sites Solutions Summit to be just another conference was in for a nice surprise. That includes me.

The Society for Clinical Research Sites organized a refreshing summit (held in Hollywood, Florida, October 6-8) that kept the attendees engaged and informed. One of the benefits was the enormous participation from clinical trial sites. It’s important to remember those on the front lines, facing patients’ concerns every day. Sites listen to the patient’s needs, understand their concerns, and guide them through successful participation, all in the hope of working toward effective new treatments and devices.

A Unique Opportunity to Talk

There isn’t always a perfect alignment between sponsors, CROs, vendors, and sites. The summit provided these key stakeholders the rare opportunity to sit at the same table and express everyone’s why and why nots. Most of the attendees don’t have direct contact with sites on a regular basis, so it’s actually hard to put ourselves in their shoes. That was a big part of this conference.

I was able to hear directly from sites from around the world, which obviously have different needs, and try to understand what I can do to facilitate. If the sites can’t recruit patients and keep them engaged throughout the duration of the study, everyone loses. It’s up to all of us to make sure the sites have what they need to be successful.

Effective Clinical Study Materials for Research Sites

Imperial’s Team at the Site Solutions Summit

At Imperial, we focus on providing sites with the highest quality study and site materials for patient enrollment and retention. Examples include patient-facing materials such as flyers, posters, brochures, visit procedure guides with enticing approachable designs to foster interest, along with professional materials such as inclusion-exclusion cards, mini protocols, referral letters, and study fact sheets to inspire referrals.

Patient materials and sometimes also professional materials are translated into different languages and local dialects to meet clinical trial regulations and the needs of the patients and professionals. And let’s not forget how important it is to reach diverse populations with different approaches customized to connect in a meaningful way.

Interacting over these three days with sites from across the globe reinforced for me the importance of the materials we develop. Sites are faced with responsibilities that can sometimes be overwhelming. Seeing that they have the right resources, at the right time, for the right patients is a job I never take lightly.

Kudos to All

I want to congratulate the organizers for their hard work pulling together sponsors, CROs, vendors, and clinical research sites. And my compliments on the location and venue: The Diplomat Beach Resort is beautiful and inspiring, and as a Florida resident, I’m happy that people from around the world were able to experience what I now call my backyard.

This was my first Society for Clinical Research Sites summit, and it won’t be my last. I’m looking forward to seeing you there next year.