By Allison Proffitt

February 11, 2019 | Finalists have been named for the third annual Participant Engagement Awards. This year projects from Data Cubed; Langland, Insync, Janssen, CISCRP, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Biogen have been chosen to present their project during the 2019 Summit for Clinical Ops Executives (SCOPE) next week in Orlando, Florida. The winner will be named after a live judging session with audience participation.

The Participant Engagement Award highlights creative work across the clinical research industry that helps better engage and understand research participants, explains David Sall, President of Patient Enrollment Advisors, and one of the co-founders of the awards program. The awards program is dedicated to the memory of Jerry Matczak, who won the first Participant Engagement Award in 2017.

The judges welcomed submissions from every aspect of the industry including sites, CROs, e-patient advisors, agencies, start-ups, and sponsors. All were invited to submit their best work in the Patient Recruitment and Retention communications field.

“Our goal isn’t to… only look at the sponsor perspective, or only the CRO perspective, or even only look at it from a patient perspective,” Sall explains. “We want to look at it from all perspectives, because innovation is coming from every aspect of the industry. The more we’re able to share that, the more each of these different stakeholders are able to integrate it into what they’re doing.”

And Sall and his colleagues do hope that the awards lead to action. Everyone always talks about innovation, Sall said, but often you’re left without any specifics. That’s one of the reasons Sall and Kelly McKee, Head of Patient Recruitment at Vertex, created the award.

“This award gives a deeper understanding to what those innovations are and gives all these stakeholders the opportunity to reach out to and talk directly to those innovators and be able to either employ them or incorporate some of those learnings into their engagement activities.”

The entries this year were evaluated by a panel of judges including Sall; McKee; Angela Radcliffe, R&D Practice Lead, Life Science, CapGemini Invent; Shwen Gwee, General Manager, Digital Accelerator, Novartis; David Fuehrer, CEO, GRYT Health, two-time cancer survivor; Joseph Kim, MBA, Senior Advisor, Patient Experience and Design Innovation, Eli Lilly; and Micah Lieberman, Executive Director, Conferences, Cambridge Healthtech Institute (CHI).

Over the past three years, judges have seen entries ranging from high tech to low tech, targeting patient communities as well as the public in general, Sall says. The 2017 winning project was a BuzzFeed article written by the Lilly TrialGuide team and designed to raise broad awareness of clinical trials. The 2018 winner was Clara Health, for their Breakthrough Crew, a grassroots effort to reach patient populations specifically.

Sall is pleased with the trends he’s seeing in entries as submissions come from both the technology sector and healthcare. “This year we’ve seen a lot more healthcare companies that are incorporating technology as far as submissions are concerned,” he said. “I think it’s an interesting evolution where tech led the charge, and then [healthcare] industry perfected or enhanced or implemented their own solutions. You’ll always have innovators outside of the sector, but ultimately it needs to permeate the sector itself in order to really see growth,” he says. “I’d love to see again, technology companies come in and say, ‘Hey, look at these new ideas!’”

Be part of the awards judging on Monday, February 18, at the Summit for Clinical Ops Executives. Or follow along on Twitter #BeLikeJerry #SCOPE2019 #SCOPEPEA.

2019 Finalists

DigiHUMAN Clinical from Data Cubed

Science Meets Gaming for Patient-Centric Clinical Engagement

The "DigiHUMAN Clinical" app is a next generation patient engagement and data capture solution using gamified mechanics and rewards-driven behavior to increase participation and improve retention. The app is visually engaging with bright illustrations and rich interactions to help reduce the clinical nature of traditionally boring activities, and injecting a little fun into capturing clinical assessments, diaries, and cognitive tasks.

Langland / Insync / Janssen

Beyond Awareness: Uncovering the truth behind study population bias and inspiring action

The participation of diverse populations in clinical studies remains low, leading to trials that don’t accurately represent the patients the intervention hopes to help. Addressing this challenge is of vital importance, because just as specific diseases can affect certain genetic makeups and ethnicities differently, so can the medicines developed to treat them. Although there is excellent evidence to show that the problem is more complex than a simple lack of awareness, a multi-faceted approach to uncovering and addressing the deeper issues is lacking. So, in partnership with Janssen, we set out to use proprietary methods built with proven techniques in social and cognitive research, to probe deeply into emotional, culturally specific patterns of perceptions, collective beliefs and aspirations that act as either motivators or barriers to recruitment and retention.

Journey to Better Health from CISCRP

The Journey to Better Health Campaign

CISCRP has launched a new initiative to bring healthcare education to patients in diverse communities. We built a first-of-its-kind experiential, recreational vehicle called Journey to Better Health, equipped with interactive tools, healthcare information and relevant resources, exclusive study data, and knowledgeable experts in the clinical research field. With support from Janssen Research & Development, Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson and Wondros, CISCRP piloted this traveling, interactive experience in Los Angeles in May 2018; looking ahead at 2019, we hope to bring the program around the country to 10 new cities.

BMS Study Connect

Industry-leading patient engagement platform

Through global expansion and innovative digital approaches, BMS has created an industry-leading patient engagement platform dedicated to increasing clinical trial awareness, participation and engagement. BMS Study Connect (www.BMSStudyConnect.com) is a comprehensive clinical trial resource for patients and caregivers to learn about and find clinical trials, and connect with others. The platform delivers an experience that empowers patients, provides transparency, and supports patients and caregivers before, during and after a clinical trial. Study Connect is available in 14 countries both in English and local language with 3 additional EU countries launching shortly.

Biogen, H.E.A.L and IQVIA

Starting at the Grassroots to Increase Diversity in Clinical Trial Populations

Biogen and H.E.A.L developed simple, cost effective and engaging educational seminars tailored to African American (AA) congregations to break down barriers (e.g., lack of awareness; feelings of mistrust towards medical research; and access to trial sites) effecting AA clinical trial participation. With support from local AA Baptist churches and clinical trial investigators in Atlanta Georgia, over 300 AA participants attended two educational seminars targeted at raising awareness about Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and clinical trial opportunities. This event was conducted in three parts: 1. A Congregational Health Awareness Survey was independently conducted prior to the seminars by the church and HEAL, (e.g., results showed congregation had an interest/concerns about AD); 2. An educational seminar was scheduled with interested members of the congregation (logistical support provided by IQVIA). The first session, led by HEAL, aimed to demystify Clinical Research; while a second session led by medical doctor/clinical trial investigator from the community provided specific AD, clinical trial awareness. 3. At the end of the educational seminar the participants were polled by HEAL, including their potential interest in clinical trial participation.