Professionals working at contract research organizations need to keep abreast of an evolving marketplace, finding new ways to expand their offerings, digitize their processes and maximize data. Consequently, learning and professional development remain an ongoing activity for clinical research practitioners. One way to keep learning is to attend relevant industry conferences. Here’s our pick of the top global CRO conferences in 2020.
Patients as Partners US
Philadelphia
March 16-17, 2020
With the theme “Demonstrating How Patient Engagement and Involvement Gets Done,” attendees at the annual Patients as Partners conference will hear from key stakeholders in pharma and biotech, patient advocacy and the FDA.
Core to the event will be exploring how to boost patient involvement throughout the development of clinical therapies and the life cycle of drugs. The conference looks at strategies and implementation processes CROs and pharma organizations can employ to maximize patient involvement and participation for better clinical outcomes.
Speakers include:
- Chip Bell, Ph.D., customer service consultant and author of “Kaleidoscope: Delivering Innovative Service That Sparkles.”
- Joanne Waldstreicher, chief medical officer at Johnson & Johnson.
- Darryl Sleep, SVP, global medical and chief medical officer at Amgen.
11th Proactive GCP Compliance
Philadelphia
March 16-18, 2020
ExL’s Proactive GCP Compliance conference is aimed at senior-level clinical quality and clinical operations executives. Together, they will discuss strategies to ensure global GCP compliance, manage risk and cost, improve patient safety and research quality.
The 11th annual conference will offer a new tracked program so attendees can optimize their learning ambitions. They will also be able to attend workshops and investigate case studies.
Speakers include:
- Reetu Dandora, executive director, MRL, quality assurance at Merck.
- Angela Repa, director, proactive clinical excellence at Bluebird Bio.
- Shelly Weeks-Townsend, director of quality assurance at Zynerba Pharmaceuticals.
The AMIA 2020 Informatics Summit
Houston
March 23-26, 2020
The AMIA 2020 Informatics Summit will focus on research in four key areas: translational bioinformatics, clinical research informatics, implementation informatics and data science.
Researchers working in these fields will share their work and discoveries, hoping to stimulate collaboration and innovation. Attendees, who will include students, educators, academics and industry players, will enjoy research presentations, keynote speakers, panels and pitch presentations.
Speakers include:
- Dr. Atul Butte, Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg Distinguished Professor and inaugural director of the Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute at the University of California, San Francisco.
- Janina M. Jeff, senior bioinformatics scientist at Illumina.
- Terrence Adam, pharmacist/physician, clinical informaticist, associate professor at the University of Minnesota.
Data Integrity Inspection Readiness Summit
Philadelphia
March 30-April 1, 2020
Attendees at the Data Integrity Inspection Readiness Summit will hear about the rise in the number of FDA warning letters and how these can be reduced through improved data integrity.
Warning letters list interrupted, missing, deleted and lost data as key areas to fix, along with inadequate risk records, inappropriate controls, poorly validated software, and incomplete audit trails. CROs and sponsors need to guarantee compliance procedures, and will learn about protocols and actions to avoid regulatory action.
Speakers include:
- Matthew LaPierre, data integrity specialist.
- Lelia Scott, executive director, global quality systems at Charles River Laboratories.
- Phil Jarvis, commissioning and qualification lead for Europe at AbbVie.
CHI’s 9th Annual Clinical Trial Innovation Summit
Cambridge, Massachusetts
April 6-8, 2020
Clinical operations professionals and leaders from pharma, biotech and academia will gather at this year’s annual Clinical Trial Innovation Summit to discuss best practice, learn new developments and connect through networking. Attendees will be exposed to case studies, workshops, panels and roundtable breakout discussions, along with an exhibition hall.
Expect to connect with thought leaders from big and small pharma, biotech, device/diagnostic sponsor organizations, technology companies, start-ups, patients, advocacy community members, regulators, and VC/investors among others.
Speakers include:
- Alik Farber, professor and chief, division of vascular and endovascular surgery at Boston Medical Center.
- Annick de Bruin, director of research services at the Center for Information and Study on Clinical Research Participation (CISCRP).
- Jonathan Rowe, Ph.D., associate principal at global professional services firm ZS; formerly head of clinical development quality performance and risk management at Pfizer.
Clinical Research as a Care Option 2020
Raleigh, North Carolina
April 27-28, 2020
Clinical research as a care option or CRAACO marks a significant intentional shift: Connect patients to clinical research by making clinical trials a care option. The result will be improved patient participation and better outcomes, along with cheaper care costs. Patients win with better care and pharma wins by connecting with larger population pools.
The CRAACO 2020 conference aims to connect relevant stakeholders — pharma, patient advocacy, payors, regulators, change agents and innovators — in order to successfully navigate clinical research as care options. The conference will also explore various research and healthcare systems. Attendees will learn of CRAACO case studies and how to reduce barriers that both researchers and patients need to overcome to access this form of clinical research.
ACRP 2020
Seattle
May 1-4, 2020
ACRP 2020 is one of the most important educational and networking events for clinical research professionals. Strategies and creative solutions for improved clinical trial quality will be addressed. The event also connects senior management and support staff from sites, sponsors and CROs.
Key is the ‘Women in Leadership’ element of the conference, where delegates will hear what it takes to succeed as a woman at the highest levels in clinical research.
Speakers include:
- Cynthia Verst, president of design and delivery innovation for research and development solutions at IQVIA.
- Virginia Nido, global head, product development industry collaborations at Genentech.
- Patricia Leuchten, founder and CEO at The Avoca Group.
Global Clinical Trials Connect 2020
London
May 13-14, 2020
The theme of the Global Clinical Trials Connect 2020 conference is “Collaboration, Innovation and Enhancing Quality in Clinical Trials,” featuring workshops and an expo. Delegates will look at futuristic advancements in clinical trials.
Key themes to be discussed include bioethics, regulations, patient recruitment, site selection, real-world data, data integration and strategy, outsourcing, vendor management, quality (QbD) in trial conduct, risk-based monitoring, and clinical auditing and financial planning.
Speakers include:
- Vladimir Anisimov, principal data scientist at Amgen.
- Tamzin Blagbrough, sourcing consultant at Eli Lilly.
- Sol Yates, associate director of regulatory affairs development at Grunenthal.
The event is co-located with the 4th Digi-Tech Pharma and AI 2020 which will explore novel technologies and developments that are reforming the pharmaceutical industry.
The Annual Meeting of the Society for Clinical Trials
Baltimore
May 17-20, 2020
The 41st Annual Meeting of the Society for Clinical Trials will be attended by a broad selection of industry professionals, including those from academia, pharma and medical device industries, government agencies, medical groups and clinical research entities. This year’s theme is “Enhancing and Enabling the Clinical Trials Ecosystem through Interdisciplinary Collaborations.”
Attendees can expect a mixture of plenary sessions, workshops and presentations, along with exhibits from vendors, research discussions and a student scholarship competition.
Advanced Clinical Trials and Clinical Research
Melbourne, Australia
July 22-23, 2020
CROs are increasingly providing varied and multiple services to pharma organizations. These include biopharmaceutical development, biologic assay development, commercialization, preclinical research, clinical research, trials management, and pharmacovigilance.
At the 5th World Congress on Advanced Clinical Trials and Clinical Research, attendees will learn more about how their own CRO role is changing and how to form better working relationships with sponsors. Areas covered include using clinical bioinformatics, research software and databases.
BioTech Week Boston
Boston
September 21-24, 2020
BioTech Week Boston features 15 events that clinical research professionals can attend. It’s a festival of events covering drug development, scientific research and business developments. Those who attend will meet with thought leaders and potential partners working in drug discovery, financing, manufacturing and clinical trials.
There are more than 15 leading events, 300 exhibits, 500 keynotes, presentations and case studies with over 2,500 one-to-one partnering meetings.
2020 Annual SOCRA Conference
Las Vegas
September 25-27, 2020
The three-day 2020 Annual SOCRA Conference will see more than 1,000 industry professionals from around the world. Attendees will discover new tools and practices to ensure quality and compliance in clinical research. The event features more than 100 academic sessions, a peer-driven poster session and an exhibit program.
Attendees can earn continuing education credit hours, which include pre-conference registration, sessions, workshops and examination starting on September 23, 2020.