4 Things I'm Looking Forward To At SCOPE 2024
By Abby Proch, executive editor of guest columns, Clinical Leader
SCOPE may be just a few weeks away, but let’s be honest: I’ve had my schedule nailed down for months. As soon as someone plopped that program (yes, a paper one!) on my desk, I combed through each page, each track, each talk, over and again until I arrived at what I hope will be the most perfectly planned and thoughtfully balanced itinerary around the Rosen Shingle Creek.
Yeah, right.
The more likely outcome? Me rushing to and from, snagging a coffee in between presentations, hopefully bumping into a few friends — though, with any luck, not spilling my coffee on them. No promises, though.
Best laid plans and impromptu chats all considered, here are the top talks and events I’m hoping my first-ever SCOPE attendance will bring:
1. Something new in the way of DCTs
Both Monday and Tuesday, I plan to attend a handful of talks in the DCT track. We cover DCTs — and so does everyone else — quite a lot here at Clinical Leader. We know what the upsides can be — increased patient access, meaning higher enrollments and better diversity. Not too long ago, a guest expert outlined all their potential downsides (ouch!). Often, the talk of decentralized trials centers on the use of tech and on in-home activities as ways to “meet people where they are” as opposed to bringing them into the office and handing them a stack of paperwork or making them sit in a snack-less waiting room.
But what piqued my interest are talks not covering those two items. Rather, from the looks of their summaries, these will be talking about involving other healthcare providers as a way to bring trials closer to patients. Back-to-back, Merck’s Associate Principal Scientist, Regulatory Affairs, Katherine Williams, PharmD, MSM, RPh will give a talk on “Leveraging Independent Pharmacies to Use DHTs in Decentralized Trials” and CVS Health Clinical Trial Services General Manager and Senior Vice President Tony Clapsis is slated to speak on “Enablement Models in Physician and Health System Space.”
The following day, there’s a lunchtime panel discussion on “Implementation Challenges for Decentralized and Hybrid Trials.” I’m curious to know whether it will affirm what we already know some of them to be (tech uptake by sites and patients, data collection and management issues, etc.) or if it will bring to light lesser-known challenges.
2. Something new in the way of DEI
Much like conversations around decentralized trials, talks about improving clinical trial diversity have been happening here, there, and everywhere (and rightly so). Most articles and social media posts declare it the “right thing” and a must-do, essentially because it’s key to being a decent human being and also to develop drugs that actually work and are safe in their patient populations. But what is sometimes lacking in these talks is the critical discussion of how, and that’s something I’m always trying to find and figure out when talking to industry experts.
Looking at the SCOPE program, it seems there are a few opportunities for folks to do just that. So with a hopeful heart and mind, I’m planning to attend an early-morning panel discussion: “Brainstorming to Break Down Barriers: Real Talk about What We Can Do Collaboratively to Move the Needle on DEI.” It’s carrying quite the line-up of speakers, including Adrelia Allen, PharmD, PMP, of Merck who’s written for Clinical Leader on patient enrollment, as well as DEI experts from EMD Serono, UCB Biosciences, Takeda, Amgen, and Biogen. LaShell Robinson of Takeda, also a speaker, has been on my shortlist of people I’d like to meet/chat with/feature on Clinical Leader.
Just a half hour into that talk begins another panel discussion on DEI, a conversation led by regular contributor Jimmy Bechtel, vice president of site engagement, Society for Clinical Research Sites, with guests Denise Bronner, Ph.D., of Janssen (featured here and here speaking on diversity), as well as top-tier reps from Eli Lilly, GSK, and Bayer. The bummer is that I’ll have decide whether to stick with one or split my time between both. (Anyone Harry Potter fans have a timeturner?)
3. Generative AI
Before you roll your eyes, hear me out. It seems most people have a love-hate relationship with generative AI platforms such as ChatGPT, Bard, and others. Namely, we love to use it (think idea generation or understanding a new concept) but hate when it’s used for us (like looking for actual valuable information and finding a person or website relied on AI to appease with us smart-sounding drivel).
But it’s here to stay, and its pervasiveness will only be rivalled by its ever-improving accuracy and thus usefulness. And so, I’m planning to attend “Use Cases of Generative AI in Clinical Trials: Beyond Can We… Where and When Should We?” AI experts from BMS, Pfizer, and Microsoft Research are slated to dazzle and dumbfound us (me?) with the ways in which this now ubiquitous tool can make our clinical trials better. I wonder if any will use generative AI to help draft their presentation.
4. The Superbowl Party
Alas, the Pittsburgh Steelers will not be putting toe to turf in this year’s Big Game. And because the Black & Gold will not be playing for their seventh ring, I’m happy to devote time spent watching the game to instead meet and mingle with all the clinical research professionals I’ve been Zooming with over the past year-plus. If you want to say hey, either Sunday night or anytime before I fly out on Tuesday, send me an email or LinkedIn message. Or just grab me by the arm if you see me. I’ll be the one clutching a coffee at all hours and probably donning just a bit of Steelers gear in memoriam.