Improve Clinical Trial Delivery by Leveraging AI Forecasting Tools (Broadcast 2)

Nikki McLean has a master’s degree in Clinical Pharmacology from the University of Glasgow where she then worked in population pharmacokinetic data analysis.  Nikki joined the CRO industry as a Clinical Research Associate in 1997, and then joined PPD in 1999 where she progressed to Project Management and Oversight with a small stint in the Project Manager Standards Group before transitioning to an Operational Strategy Lead in 2016.  Nikki has always been interested in system and software implementation, and was involved in the identification and roll out of a PPM system for managing resourcing and finances at PPD.  For many years now Nikki has been championing the need for better tools and analysis of start-up timelines and enrollment forecasting and has been involved in developing AI/ML tools for the last 6 years.  Since being involved in operational strategy she has put together strategies for 500+ RFPs over 130 different indications spanning neuroscience, ophthalmology and rare disease.

Outside of work Nikki loves travelling and live music as well as managing 3 kids and a husband.

Dave Hiltbrand has a Master’s degree in Analytics from the Institute for Advanced Analytics at NC State’s Graduate School. He worked in a biology research lab at UNCW, where he implemented novel machine learning models to aid rural farmers in developing countries in identifying the best crop hybrids. Dave joined the Clinical Innovation team at PPD as a Data Scientist in early 2019 and worked as a primary author on applications designed to aid in clinical study-site selection. His focus at Thermo Fisher is on using advanced machine learning models to predict study start-up timelines and patient arrival times. Dave is now an Associate Director of Data Science in Business Insights, overseeing a portfolio of projects ranging from feasibility site selection to bid/proposal forecast planning.