Becoming a Sponsor/CRO of Choice: The Site Perspective

Kristen Jonathan Bennett, Associate Director, Client Delivery, The Avoca Group

A member of the Avoca Group’s integrated consulting and Avoca Quality Consortium® workstreams, Kristen Bennett provides consulting services to top pharmaceutical, biotech, and contract research organizations, and oversees client deliverables, systems, and processes across The Avoca Group. Kristen has 12 years of clinical trial experience with expertise in clinical trial execution, process development, and strategic management. Her previous professional roles include project, data, and site management.

Kristen’s clinical research career began as a clinical research coordinator at a large academic oncology institution where she was responsible for the recruitment, intervention, data collection, laboratory, and data analysis for studies across multiple therapeutic areas. Kristen transitioned into a research supervisory role with the primary responsibility of developing and providing education, orientation, and continuing education programs relative to conducting research protocols. Kristen has also co-authored several scientific abstracts/poster presentations.

As project manager at various CROs, Kristen ensured operational excellence within the project management group across a portfolio of studies. She participated on the Steering Committee of each study to analyze trial progress and mitigate newly identified trial risks. She also developed and evaluated study performance metrics against agreed-upon budget deliverables and timelines. Additionally, Kristen managed and coordinated the efforts of cross-functional project teams to support milestone achievement while implementing continuous improvement activities for internal and external risk mitigation.

Kristen holds a bachelor’s degree in Biology from Kutztown University of Pennsylvania.

Jim Kremidas, Executive Director, Association of Clinical Research Professionals (ACRP)

Jim Kremidas is the Executive Director for ACRP, a nonprofit association that represents the clinical research enterprise. Prior to that, he conducted consulting services for a variety of clients, including support for investigator sites, academic institutions, sponsors and suppliers. He was the Senior Vice President of Patient Recruitment at two large CROs for more than six years, where he and his team were responsible for developing and implementing patient enrollment strategies for global clinical trials. Prior to that, he spent 24 years with Eli Lilly and Company.

Jim is on the advisory board of CISCRP (a nonprofit organization focused on enhancing patient participation in clinical trials) and is also a volunteer for the Clinical Trial Transformation Initiative (CTTI) with Duke and the NIH. He is a frequent presenter at industry conferences and his articles/papers have been published in a wide variety of trade journals.