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Did you know that the ACRP Board of Trustees includes a public member whose role is to champion the public or consumer interest in the drug and device research and development enterprise? They are chosen to bring new ideas and goals to the table, contribute an unbiased perspective, encourage consumer-oriented positions, and offer additional public accountability and responsiveness. We asked Toni Willis, MD, FAAPMR, the current ACRP Public Member, to share some background on her career and how she came to serve in this volunteer role.

While risk-based quality management has gained increasing acceptance across the clinical research enterprise, quantitative evidence on its financial impact has been limited. A new analysis coauthored by experts from CluePoints and the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development addresses this gap.

Clinical research professionals operate in an environment of constant change. New regulations, evolving guidance, increasing enforcement activity, and emerging technologies continue to shape how research organizations manage compliance and protect research participants. Keeping up requires more than reviewing regulatory updates. It means learning from experienced compliance leaders, connecting with peers facing similar challenges, and gaining practical strategies that can be applied immediately. 

If one takes the view that the tenets of patient centricity in healthcare include supporting not only patients but also the people who stand closest to them, then supporting the clinical research coordinators (CRCs) who have the most patient-facing role in clinical trials should be a critical focus, according to the creator of an award-winning poster presented earlier this year at ACRP 2026 in Orlando.

No one is saying that clinical trial sites, sponsors, and contract research organizations (CROs) can’t symbolically gather 'round the campfire and get along with one another. In fact, they can and must, if the clinical research enterprise is to keep running on all cylinders. So it is that, in the forthcoming August issue of Clinical Researcher, we consider the theme of “Better Together: Getting Sites, Sponsors, and CROs All on the Same Page” by way of a variety of contributors who address the nuances of these potentially rewarding and potentially fraught ties between research partners.