As it was starting to get cold in the Northeast, a group of us snowbirded down to warm Florida for the CNS Summit.
Before the conference began, we participated in STARR Coalition’s annual meeting. STARR Coalition is a remarkable group whose mission is to create meaningful change by increasing communication, partnerships, and goodwill among stakeholders in the areas of treatment, advocacy, and clinical research with emphasis on consumer/patient mental health and well-being. Attendance and engagement at the meeting was fantastic – even with the large crowds watching the World Series in the background!
It was great to see representatives from sponsors, CROs, sites, and advocacy groups all collaborating together. Our Premier People were all over the place, with Krista Armstrong moderating a Stakeholders panel, Susan Kozauer moderating a site resources panel, and Tom Laage moderating a panel covering workgroups, legislation, and financing. And bonus, at the end of the night, STARR Coalition awarded us CRO of the Year for our involvement over the past year. A fantastic way to end the day. Thank you again!
The summit began Thursday with participants from pharma, biotech, investigative sites, CROs, and technology/service companies. We’ve been attending this meeting for years, and we always look forward to the synergistic spirit of this meeting. “Shaping the future” through collaboration, innovation, and technology was the theme of the meeting, and like any good conference, we were spoilt for choice for great sessions to choose from.
We ended day one with an evening reception for our sites to show our appreciation for their hard work and dedication. This event is one of our favorites, because we’re so fortunate to partner with amazing sites, and we relish the opportunity to show our gratitude for our shared success. Truly, the work we do is often challenging so it is wonderful when we can also catch-up and kick back together.
Never one to rest on our laurels, our Premier People were very busy at the meeting. Krista participated on a panel on the changing site landscape, sharing the stage with sites, sponsors, and other CROs, as well as an investor. The varying point of views, new site pathways, and the continued collaboration from all groups was enlightening.
Tom presented his first of two posters on Methodology and Management of Clinical Trials with Adaptive Designs in Neuroscience Studies, offering practical techniques for implementing and managing adaptive design clinical trials to preserve study integrity and validity. Tom’s second poster on Deuterium Drug Development, highlighted recent developments and challenges in using deuterium atom substitution to modify novel chemical entities, alter their metabolism, and therefore enhance the therapeutic effect of the parent compounds.
Whew. An eventful few days and we’re already looking forward to next year!!!