The HRA is launching a new series of podcasts to explore innovative trial design and delivery - working with the Experimental Cancer Medicine Centre (ECMC) and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).
The podcasts look at changes to the clinical research landscape as clinical trials evolve to find new, faster and more efficient ways to bring new treatments to patients. A new episode will be released every Wednesday during July and August.
Designed for anyone with an interest in complex or innovative trials – including researchers, Research Ethics Committee members and patients - they feature a range of experts including experienced researchers, patients, an ethics committee chair and members of the HRA. They are also a great resource for those who are keen to understand how innovation in trial design and delivery can play a key role in fast-changing, real-world situations – like the global COVID-19 crisis.
Available on the HRA's SoundCloud, the podcasts in the series are:
Already live
- Week 1: Emma Lowe, Department of Health and Social Care, discussing the definition of complex innovative trials and on the role of the Department of Health and Social Care
- Week 2: Professor Pam Kearns, Professor of Clinical Paediatric Oncology, Director of the Cancer Research UK Clinical Trials Unit and Institute of Genomic Sciences in Birmingham, discussing what a Complex Innovative Design (CID) trial is and why we should do them
- Week 3: Louise Brown explains what a Data Monitoring Committee does, why it is important and how it makes decisions about CID trials
- Week 4: Professor Pam Kearns discusses the importance of transparency and publication of data when an arm in a CID trial closes
- Week 5: Debbie Keatley, Patient Representative from the Independent Cancer Patients’ Voices, speaks about what information is important to patients and their families when considering taking part in a CID trial
- Week 6: Stephanie Ellis, Chair of the Hampstead and Cambridge Central Research Ethics Committee, discusses what ethics committee members need to know from applicants about CID trials
- Week 7: Stephanie Ellis, Chair of Hampstead and Cambridge Central Research Ethics Committee, and Debbie Keatley, Patient Representative from the Independent Cancer Patient Voices, talk about how to write patient facing documents that make sense
- Week 8: Will Navaie, Engagement Manager at the Health Research Authority, talks about Complex Innovative Design trials from the HRA’s perspective
Going live later this summer
- Week 9: Reaching a Consensus on CID Trials
- Week 10: Designing CID Trials
- Week 11: Platform Trials in Clinical Oncology
The podcasts were produced in response to recommendations made in a published paper; Effective delivery of Complex Innovative Design (CID) cancer trials- a consensus statement, published by the ECMC, NIHR, HRA and partners in the British Journal of Cancer, earlier this year.