Leaders across the medical research sector convened in Boston on July 12, 2017, for the initial Partnering for Cures meeting hosted by FasterCures, examining systemic reforms to accelerate drug development and clinical trials.
Evaluating Patient-Centricity and Return on Engagement
As healthcare organizations invest significant resources into gathering patient input across the research and development continuum, stakeholders increasingly demand measurable outcomes. According to FasterCures, a dedicated panel on July 12, 2017, explored the quantitative and qualitative metrics required to determine the actual value of patient engagement. Moderated by FasterCures Managing Director Kimberly McCleary, the session evaluated how patient-centricity impacts development speed, regulatory considerations, and payer decisions beyond standard industry goodwill.
Panelists included Joe Selby, Executive Director of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI); Michael Goettler, Global President at Pfizer; Theresa Mullin, Director of the Office of Strategic Programs at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research; Tania Simoncelli, Executive Director of Count Me In at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; and Laura Sol, Chief of Staff to the CEO at the American Heart Association. The speakers analyzed how institutions can transition patient engagement from isolated focus groups into an integrated component of product approval and research priority setting.
Embracing Real-World and Scruffy Data
Traditional clinical trials rely heavily on pristine, highly controlled data sets, but modern researchers increasingly utilize non-clinical information, including real-world evidence and wearable device metrics. According to program disclosures from FasterCures, a workshop titled “Sharing ‘Scruffy’ Data” addressed the complexities of combining fragmented data sets and sharing them with non-academic partners, such as citizen scientists and patient organizations.
John Wilbanks, Chief Commons Officer at Sage Bionetworks and Senior Fellow at FasterCures, moderated the discussion. The expert panel featured Patricia Brennan, Director of the National Library of Medicine and Interim Associate Director for Data Science at the National Institutes of Health; Len D’Avolio, CEO and Co-Founder of Cyft; Harlan Krumholz, Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology and Public Health at the Yale School of Medicine and PCORI Board of Governors member; and Heidi Rehm, Associate Professor of Pathology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. The participants debated whether the primary objective should be standardizing disordered data or embracing its imperfections to uncover meaningful medical insights faster.
Transforming Recruitment and Clinical Research Engagement
Expediting clinical trial recruitment remains a critical bottleneck in medical research, prompting institutions to adopt disruptive engagement models. According to conference scheduling details, stakeholders at the Boston meeting emphasized that waiting until the clinical stage to engage patients is inefficient. Modern technological tools are actively altering how patients connect with foundations, commercial developers, and researchers to streamline trial enrollment, lower overall research costs, and secure faster pathways toward therapeutic cures.
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