Say It Loud: Clinical Research Needs New Voices
By Dan Schell, Chief Editor, Clinical Leader
I first met Denali Rose at the Save Our Sites conference in Oklahoma City last year. Although she’s the VP of Sales & Strategy, Site Solutions at Veeva, I’ve gotten to know her more through her role as co-host — alongside Brad Hightower — of the Note to File podcast and livestream. She’s opinionated, unfiltered, and blunt, but always well informed — and I love that about her. So, when I caught up with her at the Clinical Leader booth on the exhibit hall floor at SCOPE, it felt less like an interview and more like two industry friends shooting the shit and just continuing an ongoing conversation about how poorly our industry communicates, who gets heard, and why the same challenges keep resurfacing.
Rose has become one of the more candid voices pushing for broader dialogue across sponsors, sites, vendors, and regulators. And, she’s very vocal about women’s rights, especially when it comes to participation in clinical trials.
Podcast Or Industry Forum … Or Both?
Hightower started “Note to File” as an ad hoc project during COVID. Rose says her on-air debut was accidental. While backstage during an episode, guest Denise Bronner coaxed her to join the conversation. Moments later, she was introduced as co-host — and the role stuck. “I’m not an AV person,” she joked. “I’m the project manager, type A — I keep everybody on track.”
Today, the show livestreams regularly and features guests from across the clinical research ecosystem — vendors, site leaders, sponsors, regulators, and patient advocates all appear — not to sell, but to share ideas.
The goal isn’t polish or promotion. It’s perspective. “We have a lot of talking heads in our industry who say a lot of the same things,” Rose said. “If it’s a sales pitch, this is not for you.
[On this show], “We try to bring voices forward who maybe aren’t always heard.”
Avoiding The Echo Chamber
The livestream’s tone is informal, but its intent is serious: disrupt the industry echo chamber. Rose acknowledges that conversations often circle familiar frustrations — slow progress, operational friction, misaligned incentives — but she sees value in repeating them until change occurs. “We’re saying the same things over and over again because shit’s not changing,” she said. “But if we don’t talk about it, it’s not going to change either.”
Having two hosts helps maintain balance and keep discussions grounded. If a guest drifts into marketing mode, the hosts redirect. And the audience knows they will. “People know that we’re not shy,” she said.
Some of the show’s most memorable guests come from outside traditional clinical research circles. Rose pointed to former FDA Commissioner Robert Califf as a standout. (See my video interview with Califf, which actually came about as a result of him appearing on NTF.)
“Bringing people in who aren’t necessarily just clinical trials … they come with a different perspective. And that’s fascinating,” she said. As an example, she cited healthcare analyst Matthew Holt — known as the “healthcare curmudgeon” — as another guest who challenged conventional thinking.
Signs Of Progress — Or Optimism?
Despite the industry’s slow pace of change, Rose does see signs of improvement in communication. “You see more sites talking to sponsors. More sponsors talking to sites,” she said. She adds that vendors are collaborating more openly, and patients are becoming more involved. Even competitors are speaking with each other. “I can go talk to a competitor here, and that’s OK,” she said. “It’s not like we’re mortal enemies.”
Whether that represents measurable progress or cautious optimism remains to be seen. But the willingness to talk — candidly, publicly, and across silos — may be the most meaningful shift of all. And if conversations like those on Note to File continue to amplify voices that would otherwise go unheard, the industry might finally start hearing itself.