Depression Clinical Trials: How Remote Methods Can Deliver Stronger Evidence

The adoption of hybrid decentralized clinical trial models is increasing in many therapeutic areas, and central nervous system (CNS) is topping the list: CNS studies represent roughly 26 percent of all DCTs conducted since 2015, according to GlobalData’s Clinical Trial Database.

Within CNS, depression has emerged as a prime candidate for the successful deployment of hybrid DCT models. In this webinar, the featured speakers will debunk misconceptions, address best practices and draw from their personal experiences, highlighting both the opportunities and the challenges of conducting depression clinical trials.

Social media recruitment is diversifying patient pools, and the convenience, discretion and regularity of reporting associated with remote participation is providing accurate clinical outcomes while reducing burden on patients. A small, but growing, body of evidence also points to decentralized trials’ facilitation of more truthful self-reporting on suicidality, which — when combined with remote patient monitoring — can make this method a potentially safer option for patients.

Yet many questions remain unanswered:

• How can study teams ensure that patients are being properly recruited, screened and consented into a decentralized study?
• How can remote participation be designed to benefit depression patients without jeopardizing data quality?
• Are the validated instruments commonly used in depression trials suitable for decentralized data collection?
• How is the placebo effect accounted for in decentralized study designs?
• What is the most accurate and ethical way to manage the placebo effect in depression clinical trials?

Register now to learn more about delivering stronger evidence in depression clinical trials.

Speakers

Taylor Major, MBA MPH, Senior Implementation Project Manager, ObvioHealth

Taylor Major has been at the forefront of optimizing decentralized clinical trials (DCTs) for ObvioHealth in APAC, leveraging 10 years of experience in the medical research and science fields to support increased access to clinical trials for all patients through eHealth technologies. Prior to joining ObvioHealth, Taylor worked with sites as a study coordinator before making the shift to managing much needed digital transformation in clinical research settings. Taylor is currently pursuing a doctoral degree at the University of Queensland, with a thesis focused on the feasibility of the decentralized clinical trial model in Australia.

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Jenny Ly, PhD, Senior Clinical Scientist, SPRIM Consultancy

Jenny Ly is a clinical psychologist specializing in neuropsychology, with over 10 years of experience in the design and management of central nervous system (CNS) clinical research. Dr. Ly has developed extensive expertise consulting on best practices for electronic clinical outcome assessments (eCOA) design and implementation, as well as the optimization of data quality through the development of training for site raters, patients and caregivers. She has authored over 15 manuscripts, led statistical methods courses, and is practiced in the assessment of patients with several neurologic and psychiatric disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, migraine, epilepsy, depression, anxiety, schizophrenia and autism spectrum disorder.

 

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Faith Matcham, PhD, CPsychol, Health Psychologist and Lecturer in Clinical Psychology, University of Sussex, UK

Faith Matcham, PhD, is a health psychologist and digital mental health researcher specializing in the use of commercially available technologies to improve the measurement and management of long-term illnesses and provide targeted, tailored interventions. Dr. Matcham is a lecturer in Clinical Psychology at the University of Sussex, where she leads a multidisciplinary research team dedicated to the use of digital technologies to improve health and well-being. She has published extensively and presented at international conferences throughout her career, while also delivering workshops and training to clinicians and researchers in the use of digital technologies to improve research protocols and clinical practice.

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