9 questions that still need to be answered about technology in clinical trials

Over the last six months we have spoken to dozens of industry experts about every aspect of technology in clinical trials. One thing that has stood out is that there are more questions than answers around the tech revolution at the moment. Here we have gathered some of the biggest questions and how industry leaders are attempting to answer them.

1) Which technology platforms are most shaping the way trials are run? We asked four leaders from different areas of clinical research about the platforms they are most excited about - including Matthew Zachary, Founder/CEO of Stupid Cancer, and Dr David Fajgenbaum, Executive Director of Castleman Disease Collaborative Network.

2) Are clinical trials ready for mHealth adoption in 2017? Technological implementation has been slower than many had hoped for. Will 2017 be the breakthrough year for integration?

3) How is mobile health aiding patient-centricity? Sarah Iqbal from Biotaware explores how mHealth and wearables are making the patient experience in research more positive, helping to improve recruitment and retention.

4) What is the past, present & future of wearable technology? How were wearables born, what stage are we at now and how will they impact the clinical trials of the future?

5) What issues are there with the legality, privacy and accuracy of wearables? In this exclusive interview, Matthew Simmons, Head of the Drug Development Unit at the Sarah Cannon Research Institute, explains how he thinks ‘too much weight is placed on FDA approval of wearables’.

6) What applications does IoT have in clinical trials? The Internet of Things is everywhere at the moment - from cars, to home appliances. Sarah Iqbal looks how an IoT system with proper connectivity with devices, patients and study protocols allows for quality assessments of key activities, patient self-reporting, and enhanced patient engagement.

7) What exactly is Big Data and how is it impacting clinical research? Norman Goldfarb, Managing Director of First Clinical Research, explains the buzzwords appearing around Big Data and how they will be shaping clinical trials.

8) How can Big Data be used in personalized medicines? Virgil Simons, President at Prostate Net Europa, explores how Big Data is going to drive personalized medicine and make it applicable on a broader scale.

9) How is predictive modeling changing clinical research? David Lee, Chief Data Officer at Medidata explains how the confluence of new data sources and new predictive modeling methods is revolutionizing clinical trials and the development of experimental therapies.