Dan Schell articles

  1. The Rare Trials Summit Wants To Produce More Than Conversation 8/3/2026

    The Rare Trials Summit returns to Boston this September with a mission that extends beyond traditional conference presentations. Through interactive workshops and working groups focused on regulatory guidance and pediatric trials, organizers hope to produce practical solutions that help advance rare disease clinical research.

  2. When One Trial Leads To Rethinking Them All 7/22/2026

    A chance observation during the COVID-19 pandemic led physician-scientist Dan Nicolau to question one of clinical research's oldest assumptions. I spoke with Nicolau about the trial that changed his perspective and why he believes continuous trial analytics could reshape the future of clinical development.

  3. From The Lab To Regulations As An IRB Specialist 7/17/2026

    In this 8-question Q&A, Ribu Goyal, an IRB specialist and scientific reviewer at the Mayo Clinic Office for Human Research Protection, talks about everything from the details of her job to how sponsors could improve their collaboration with their IRBs. 

  4. A Role-Play Conference Session That Reframes The Data Manager's Job 7/14/2026

    A theatrical skit at the Clinical Trials Technology Congress (CTTC) in London imagined clinical data managers working alongside specialized AI agents by 2030. But the real takeaway wasn't about the technology. It was about how much of today's data manager role is work that shouldn't exist in the first place.

  5. CTTC Opens With A Reality Check On AI 7/7/2026

    I expected the Clinical Trials Technology Congress opening plenary to focus on AI's latest capabilities. Instead, speakers challenged attendees to think about the harder work that comes first: connecting data, redesigning workflows, and helping people embrace new ways of working. It was a refreshing reality check on what AI adoption really requires.

  6. Why "Steady Evolution" Best Describes AI's Future 7/1/2026

    I hosted a panel of clinical development veterans to separate AI hype from reality. Their message was clear: AI will change clinical trials, but success will depend less on the technology itself than on adoption, culture, and realistic expectations.

  7. Where Are We With Clinical Trial Tokenization? 6/19/2026

    In January 2024, I interviewed Tom Dougherty about a topic many clinical research professionals had heard mentioned but few could confidently explain: tokenization. I wanted to get caught up on any progress that has been made, so I completed this Q&A with Dougherty, who is Real-World Data Strategy Director, CMR - Clinical Data Science & Evidence at Novo Nordisk.

  8. What ClinOps Gets Wrong About Pediatric Trials 6/12/2026

    Pediatric cancer advocates Brian Burkhardt and Andy Shepperd believe clinical research still confuses retention with relationships. Their lessons on trust, community, and patient support offer valuable insights for clinical operations teams across every therapeutic area.

  9. 3 Views From Inside FDA's RTCT Pilot 6/5/2026

    The FDA's RTCT pilot promises to bring clinical trials into the real-time era, but questions remain about governance, oversight, and implementation. We asked three organizations participating in the initiative what they see as the opportunities, challenges, and realities behind the FDA's most ambitious modernization effort in years.

  10. The Patient Recruitment Debate Nobody's Having 6/2/2026

    A conversation with patient recruitment consultant Paul Ivsen turns into something much bigger: a candid look at why recruitment vendors all sound alike, why sponsors still struggle to evaluate them, and why the industry avoids debating what actually works.