ACRP in the News: Clinical Trials Day, Ride4DEI, and Annual Conference Make Headlines

With three of its most high-profile annual events happening hot on each other’s heels in springtime, the Association of Clinical Research Professionals (ACRP) has again this year captured attention for its educational and outreach initiatives from a variety of industry and social media platforms.

Clinical Trials Day, which is organized by ACRP and celebrated each May 20 by an ever-growing number of organizations around the world, this year was featured in such media as:

  • Clinical Trials Arena, which noted how in 2023 it is “highlighting the many ways that clinical trials are evolving and how technology is shaping the future” in its article on “Celebrating Clinical Trials Day.” “The adoption of decentralized clinical trials is arguably one of the biggest changes in the clinical trials space in recent years and artificial intelligence (AI) is helping with patient recruitment, identification, and participant retention,” according to author Catherine Longworth. “Digital twins, a new technological frontier in the AI space, [are] also challenging the conservative nature of clinical trials.”
  • HCA Healthcare Today, which, in recognition of Clinical Trials Day, focused on how the HCA Healthcare Research Institute is moving medicine forward through clinical trials and research. HCA says that the institute “has conducted more than 500 industry-sponsored trials and enabled service and business lines to conduct high-quality clinical research across our sites of care, including interventional (device, pharma), non-therapeutic (early detection, screenings), and records-based (outcomes, real-world data).”
  • Walgreens Newsroom, which lifted up the “Together We Can” motto of this year’s Clinical Trials Day as the pharmacy chain served as a supporting partner with ACRP for the overall event. Attendees of the company’s own event in Chicago “heard from keynote speakers and listened in to panel discussions that highlighted the advances in clinical trials while also shedding light on the challenges that have contributed to a lack of awareness, access, and representation,” according to Walgreens. “Additional topics speakers featured during the day included elucidating and mitigating biases, guidance on decentralized clinical trials and health technologies, and what’s worked in terms of expanding access to clinical trials.”

Meanwhile, ACRP’s latest Ride for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (Ride4DEI), which saw three cyclists in the eastern U.S. and one on the west coast ride approximately 355 miles as a fundraiser to promote educational opportunities for underserved populations in the clinical research workforce, was featured in blogs on the Velocity Clinical Research and Holston Medical Group websites. Donations were accepted for this year’s Ride4DEI through Wednesday, May 31, and the campaign raised a total of $79,375 from individual donors and corporate sponsors.

Last but not least, writing for CenterWatch Weekly, reporter James Miessler covered a session of the recent ACRP 2023 conference in Dallas on “Know and Show Your Organization’s Worth to Attract Job Candidates,” presented by Brad Sibbald, senior vice president of Kelly Science & Clinical. “With the clinical research workforce dwindling, it’s never been more important for sites and sponsors to ‘sell’ themselves to job candidates, according to one talent acquisition expert who advocates knowing your organization’s true value,” Miessler wrote.

Edited by Gary Cramer