Walking the Patient Path: Integrating the Voice of Patients to Optimize Study Design, Recruitment and Retention

Today, both clinical trial challenges and regulatory pressure are driving the need for patient centricity. These include:

• Increase in protocol complexity
• Failure to meet recruitment targets
• Trials needing to be extended
• Decreasing number of eligible patients

In this complimentary webinar, experts from PPD and Evidera will discuss capturing the patient voice and applying it to the successful design and execution of clinical studies.

Now, more than ever, it’s critical to understand that patient experience encompasses far more than the endpoints and outcomes that are typically measured by clinical trials. Patients want to know whether a treatment — or a trial — will improve their quality of life and not impose an undue burden on their daily routine. In fact, the patient perspective is now recognized as an integral part of designing and executing studies that deliver real-world value for patients.

Register for this free webinar and learn how having a holistic patient lens optimizes strategic product development. The session will conclude with an open question and answer discussion.

Speakers

Rhonda Henry, Vice President, Patient-Centered Trials, PPD

As a breast cancer survivor, Rhonda Henry, vice president of patient-centered trials at PPD, is committed to improving access to clinical trials and removing potential barriers to participation. She works closely with patients, caregivers, sites, advocacy organizations and industry to improve clinical trials for all involved. Henry leads an advisory board aimed at engaging with patients/caregivers as partners in the clinical research process. Key areas of focus are enhancing patient awareness, increasing patient diversity, developing new clinical research sites and giving patients a voice. Henry has 28 years of industry experience, being appointed to several leadership positions within PPD’s clinical operations and commercial organizations while remaining committed to building enduring collaborations that accelerate drug development and ultimately improve the health and well-being of others. Henry has a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of North Carolina Wilmington and currently serves on the board of two non-profit organizations.

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Erem Latif, Director, Patient Engagement, Patient-Centered Research, Evidera

Erem Latif is an expert in patient engagement strategy and implementation, leading strategic and scientific advice within Evidera and more broadly in cross-functional programs across PPD. Latif has spent the past eight years supporting the commercial development, launch and implementation of innovative pilots to improve patient engagement and clinical adherence, leveraging patient-centric strategies, targeted data sets and integrative health care tactics. Latif is a dynamic patient-engagement and integrative health executive with more than 18 years of distinguished implementation of strategic initiatives across three diverse sectors: clinical research, pharmaceutical/medical devices and payer pharmacy benefit management – addressing multiple stakeholder needs. Latif received an MBA in health care management from the Florida Institute of Technology and a Master of Science in human physiology from Georgetown University. Prior to that, she received dual undergraduate degrees from Emory University – a bachelor’s degree in business administration in marketing and business communications, as well as a bachelor’s degree in biology.

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Sara Ashenfelter, Patient and PPD Employee

The tools and methodologies which Sara Ashenfelter uses to accomplish process improvement and change management initiatives at PPD have also been valuable in her journey as a rare disease patient. After multiple episodes of weakness, difficulty breathing, and recurring infections, she spun between a broad array of specialists and endured hundreds of lab tests, scans, surgical procedures, and biopsies. Many years later, doctors identified the sources of the problems: a rare interstitial lung disease, a rare primary immunodeficiency, and a variety of other autoimmunity disorders. Her journey to diagnosis and ongoing challenges in accessing appropriate clinical trials have inspired her to share her story with others. Ashenfelter has a bachelor’s degree from Guilford College and 20 years of industry experience.

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