Scope of Things

SCOPE 2025, Participant Engagement Award Winners, How AI is Helping Trials, and More

Feb 13, 2025

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In this episode of the Scope of Things, host Deborah Borfitz provides the latest on new criteria for defining and diagnosing obesity, the case for including pregnant women in vaccine trials, the subtyping of osteosarcoma, an inert gas being tested as an Alzheimer’s treatment, and more. Joining the conversation is David Sall, president and CEO of Patient Enrollment Advisors, who talks about the origins of the Participant Engagement Award at SCOPE 2025 and how the conversation around participant engagement has changed over time (and the changes that still need to happen). Finally, we have Allison Proffitt, editorial director of Clinical Research News, interviewing Trân Lê and Sohit Gatiganti, co-founders of Grove AI and the winners of the Participant Engagement Award at SCOPE 2025.

Show Notes

News Roundup

Definition & diagnosis of obesity

Pregnant women and the bird flu

  • Review in Emerging Infectious Diseases

AI to make cancer trials more efficient

Could osteosarcoma subtyping spell trial success?

  • Article in Briefings in Bioinformatics

Inhaled xenon for Alzheimer’s

Cost of new drug development

Guests
David Sall, president and CEO, Patient Enrollment Advisors
Trân Lê and Sohit Gatiganti, co-founders of Grove AI

GUEST BIOs

David Sall, President and CEO, Patient Enrollment Advisors
David Sall is a marketing and engagement specialist with a focus on the healthcare industry. He was graduated with honors from The George Washington University with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and a concentration in Business Marketing. David started his career in national broadcasting sales by representing hundreds of the nation’s top radio properties. As the media industry hit the technology revolution, David continued his career by building and managing the New York office of Hiwire, one of the original pioneers in digital streaming technology. With the opportunity to bring this knowledge to the traditional media space, David joined CBS Broadcasting’s management team and handled the flagship terrestrial radio news properties as well as the many digital assets of the Tiffany network. David is now the CEO and President of Patient Enrollment Advisors, which focuses on the recruitment and retention of qualified participants in medical clinical trials. This venture was born out of a clear need for the industry to approach the business of clinical trials with a unique set of eyes. “Our company takes a patient-focused strategy to help the healthcare industry quickly and safely bring products to market for those in need. Patient Enrollment Advisors not only finds qualified patients, but we also listen to them.” This humanistic approach makes the clinical trial process a better experience than ever before - for everyone involved - which ultimately helps pharmaceutical companies meet their research goals. Patient Enrollment Advisors reaches qualified trial candidates, retains them, and ensures they fulfill all requirements to bring a clinical trial to a successful, complete end. David is very excited to be a partner with SCOPE for the Participant Engagement Awards, and especially excited to highlight the innovation of engagement with study participants. He lives and works in New York City with his wife and two children.

Trân Lê and Sohit Gatiganti, Co-Founders, Grove AI
Tran Le and Sohit Gatiganti are co-founders of Grove AI. Diagnosed with multiple chronic conditions, Tran experienced firsthand the frustrations of enrolling in clinical trials. Previously, Tran was an AI researcher at Stanford Medicine, where she developed AI systems to enhance patient engagement and operational efficiency. Sohit was an AI researcher at Stanford Medicine where he developed multiple cutting-edge AI software, including a clinical trial search engine that significantly improved and accelerated how doctors find the appropriate trials for their patients. While working at Stanford Medicine, Sohit saw the difficulties doctors, researchers, and participants faced in trying to find clinical trials and committed his career to developing a more efficient, participant-centric solution. At Grove, Tran and Sohit leverage their expertise and collaborate with a top-tier team of clinical research leaders and AI engineers to deliver personalized experiences to participants seeking clinical trials. They both hold a BS in Computer Science (AI) and an MS in Management from Stanford University.