Anna began her career as a lab technician in a lipid lab of a research organization. The organization was affiliated with a large cardiovascular institute that included the lipid laboratory, a research site, a CRO, and an imaging core laboratory. While there, she moved into data management and became a database coordinator, overseeing a large data registry and physician-initiated studies. This role prepared her for her next professional move where she managed the CRO division of the organization. She was responsible for overseeing site management, monitoring, data management, and CEC/DSMB services.
Anna’s growing responsibilities exposed her to many different aspects of clinical research. This is also where she started working with Mednet, as both a client and a user.
We recently had the opportunity to hear from Anna as she reflected on her career and provided her perspective on the future of clinical trials.
What is your current role at Mednet?
I have been with Mednet for almost 5 years. I started as a senior project manager, and I now work as a technical project operations manager. I collaborate with clients on study builds and support study designers who are using iMednet. I also specifically support our CRO team, providing a direct liaison between technical project operations and sales to help ensure our customer projects are running smoothly.
How does your prior experience impact your work at Mednet today?
Working for an organization that included a site, a CRO, and a core lab allowed me to participate in many aspects of the clinical trials process. Understanding those day-to-day operations helps me to envision how studies will work, so I can collaborate with clients on effective solutions for their clinical trials.
How does your role impact/improve clinical trials for customers?
I have designed CRFs and studies for a variety of clients. I have seen a lot of ideas that work particularly well, and some that are not as effective. I can save a lot of time and effort for my customers when we collaborate and I can share this practical knowledge with their teams. I try to use my experience to provide guidance on a study design that will work well for the end users and yield well-structured datasets for the data team.
What are the biggest challenges your customers are facing today?
Right now, COVID-19 is the obvious answer. Beyond that, I think the lack of standardized processes continues to be challenging. Sponsors have different processes for managing data, so what works for one study is not always repeatable. Luckily, iMednet is highly flexible and can accommodate most scenarios.
Are you seeing any notable trends across the clients you serve?
Across the board, we are seeing more remote monitoring. Since the beginning of the pandemic, many companies have limited travel. Many clients have made modifications to their studies to facilitate remote source data verification (SDV), such as uploading redacted source files and implementing modified workflows.
What does the future of clinical trials look like?
I believe technology will add continued efficiencies in data collection and cleaning. I also think that it will continue to evolve to support more remote and risk-based trial management. Also, in the post-COVID era, I would anticipate increasingly more acceptance of remote patient participation via eConsent, ePRO and telemedicine. I can also see integrations reducing the duplicate data collection that exists across healthcare and research organizations.
What aspects of your work do you find most interesting?
I enjoy working with so many smart and creative people, all working on exciting ideas and focusing on advancements in medicine! It is interesting to see different approaches to protocols and trial designs, especially when positive results are reported, and we get to see the trials making a difference in the lives of real people.
What was your most memorable project while working at Mednet?
My most exciting project was my fastest study build for a client – we did it in less than 2 weeks, from beginning to end! For this study, we were able to utilize one of the client’s previously validated studies as a template. The replication cut the timeline down tremendously. The client was excited to get started so quickly and I was happy to be able to deliver a great solution that exceeded their expectations and saved significant time.
Anna’s varied clinical trial experience is an invaluable asset to Mednet. Her clients gain the benefits of her experience. As she collaborates with them, their goals become her goals. She employs her practical knowledge of clinical trials and the iMednet platform to fuel collaborations with clients, moving them more quickly toward their research goals.
Read More in our Mednet Minds Series:
Jean Brislance: Clinical Trial Experience Delivers Quality at Mednet
Sally Huebner: Hands-On Oncology Experience Delivers Customers’ Clinical Trial Success