February 12, 2019 | As the Director of Client Delivery at Cenduit, Andrew Rohrbaugh oversees a group of project managers, developers, and validation engineers who work on Interactive Response Technology (IRT) projects as part of a customer-aligned team. In his role, Andrew works with customers to develop enterprise level solutions including standards, integrations, and overall governance, resulting in true partnerships between Cenduit and their customer companies.

On behalf of Clinical Research News, Lee Yuan spoke with Rohrbaugh about the joys and challenges of his job, as well as what excites him the most in clinical research as he looks five years ahead.

Editor’s Note: Lee Yuan, a Conference Producer at Cambridge Healthtech Institute, is planning a track dedicated to Clinical Supply Management at the upcoming Summit for Clinical Ops Executives, SCOPE, in Orlando, February 18-21. Andrew will be speaking on the program. Their conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Clinical Research News: What is the best part of your job?

Andrew Rohrbaugh: I would say the best part of our job is also the piece that's easiest to miss on a daily basis. In IRT, we work with numbers and data every day, and it can be possible to lose sight of the fact that those numbers represent people; patients in clinical trials who are seeking treatments to improve, or even extend their lives. What we do is such a small part of the big picture, but at the end of the day, we are part of this industry working to bring safe drugs to market for patients that need them the most.

That's really the piece that I enjoy the most, knowing the impact that the work we do has for patients. Like so many other people in our industry, I've been very closely impacted by the result of clinical trials. My father is still with us today due to a breakthrough immunotherapy that has so far added 2 additional years to his life.  It’s something that is always in the back of my mind, which I pass on to our teams and new hires, to keep the focus on why we do what we do on a daily basis.

What do you consider your biggest challenge?

I think the biggest challenge that we currently have is the evolution of our industry as a whole. Technology worldwide is evolving faster and faster. IRT today is still very similar to what it was 10 years ago – we still randomize patients, and we still focus on drug supply management. That said, the processes and technologies behind it, the “how” we go about our work and the “how” we work with our partners is constantly evolving to get things to move faster and take advantage of technology.

While that is one of our biggest challenges, it is also potentially one of the most rewarding. Being able to take advantage of those technologies and evolve, and change, and adapt is what is allowing us, and so much of the pharma industry to be successful today.

What are you most excited about in clinical research when you look ahead five years?

I think the most exciting space that I'm keeping an eye on at the moment is really the start up or Venture Capital area. Whether it's a true startup company that's funded by VC money that's trying new technologies or new focuses within the space, or several of the larger pharma companies on their own or as a part of a partnership, that are starting different incubators to look at new technologies and new processes. They’re looking at how we can take different approaches to drugs, drug development, and overall really breaking that status quo in terms of what the clinical trial process is, what it looks like, focusing on patient centricity, and really putting patients at the center of our trials and the way we work.