Editorial Perspectives On Patient Recruitment

1. Wanted: More Women For Clinical Trials 3/13/2026

   A new national survey from UPMC’s Center for Connected Medicine examines why women remain underrepresented in clinical trials. The research highlights key barriers such as fear of side effects, time and travel burdens, and limited awareness about how trials work. In a conversation with UPMC’s Nicole Ansani, we explore what sites and sponsors can do to make trials more accessible and appealing to women.

2. Why Africa Could Be The Next Frontier For Clinical Trials 3/6/2026

   Africa hosts only about 3% of global clinical trials despite representing roughly 20% of the world’s population. Tariro Makadzange, founder and CEO of the Africa Clinical Research Network (ACRN), explains how the organization aims to build a continent-wide clinical trial platform and increase that share to 15% over the next decade.

3. How Keenova Reignited A Stalled Trial 3/3/2026

   When a difficult-to-enroll Phase 3 study stalled, Keenova found momentum not through new technology but through relationships, collaboration, and fair site support. By listening to site feedback, rethinking communication, empowering peer learning, and revisiting compensation, the team transformed engagement and enrollment. 

4. AI Trial Matching Comes Of Age At City Of Hope 2/19/2026

   City of Hope has embedded an internally trained AI platform into oncology care and research workflows, helping clinicians summarize complex patient histories and match patients to clinical trials in real time. By reducing manual review and accelerating feasibility assessments across its national network, the system is improving trial access, easing clinician workload, and shifting more time back to patient care.

5. Informed Consent Isn't Broken — But It's Barely Working 2/9/2026

   Former FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf has been blunt about what’s wrong with informed consent in clinical trials. In this article, we offer a high-level look at his three-part Substack series, exploring how consent became more about legal protection than patient understanding — and what needs to change.

6. When Clinical Trials Don't Stop For War 1/23/2026

   When war halted clinical trials in Ukraine, sites adapted instead of shutting down. Dr. Anna Titkova explains how patients, investigators, and sponsors kept research moving when conditions were anything but stable.

7. The Case For Research-Naive PIs 1/9/2026

   Carrie Lewis, executive director, clinical program optimization, at Keenova (formerly Endo) explains why research-naive PIs may improve trial quality, challenge assumptions about ROI, and help fix a shrinking investigator pipeline.

8. Funding Diversity Where It Starts — At The Site 11/3/2025

   After crossing paths with retired family physician and researcher Dr. Bryce Palchick at two conferences, I learned about ACRO’s new Diversity & Inclusion Site Resource Grants Program — an effort funding community sites like Bryce’s to make trial diversity more than a buzzword by supporting real, grassroots engagement.

9. When Survival Comes First, Trials Come Last 8/1/2025

   Infectious disease PI Dr. Claudia Martorell has long focused on recruiting underserved populations into clinical trials. But amid healthcare cuts, economic instability, and a retreat from DEI initiatives, she’s now watching access unravel. In this interview, Martorell shares what happens when survival takes priority over research — and why diversity in trials is once again at risk.

10. PI's CRAACO Model + AI = Rapid Enrollment 6/30/2025

    At Dr. David Almeida’s clinical trial site in Erie, PA, he practices the CRAACO model exclusively, relying on the revenue he makes from conducting clinical trials for eye-related diseases. To minimize his costs and speed up trial enrollment, he uses a proprietary AI system that has given him an 85% screen-to-enroll ratio.