2025 DIA Global Annual Meeting: Putting Patients at the Center of Trial Design and Decision-Making
In an interview with ACT senior editor Andy Studna at the 2025 DIA Global Annual Meeting, Carie Pierce, SVP, global head of growth & business development, DIA, discusses the growing emphasis on meaningful patient inclusion in clinical trial design and the importance of cross-sector collaboration to drive innovation in the clinical research ecosystem.
ACT: What are some of the most exciting themes or trends in clinical research you’re looking to explore at this year’s Global Annual Meeting?
Pierce: I'm starting to hear more of an evolution, instead of patient-centric trials, but now like patient-included thought leadership, so getting patients to really be part of those clinical trial boards, helping to give advice on protocols, and not just doing it for the sake of saying, “Check the box that we had a patient,” but really making it a critical part. We heard the regulators talk about that this morning too, that there are many endpoints that they wouldn't even have thought to look at if it hadn't been for that really intimate involvement that they have with patients.
Then I think what's also very exciting is just that DIA gets to sit in the middle of this ecosystem, and we have innovators, academics, we have regulators, we have tech companies, we have folks like AWS and Microsoft and Oracle and all of these people really converging here, and we get to be that central nexus to understand what's happening, what's on all of their mind, and really be that bridge to helping to create those connections and ensuring that that ecosystem is talking to each other.
Funding Cuts Threaten Diversity in Clinical Research
June 27th 2025In this video interview, Kyle McAllister, co-founder, CEO, Trially, discusses how recent federal funding cuts are likely to undermine research focused on underrepresented populations, and why long-term investment in community-based studies is essential to closing persistent health equity gaps.
2025 DIA Annual Meeting: Why AI and Automation Are Set to Become the New Normal in Clinical Research
June 20th 2025Peter Ronco, CEO, Emmes, shares his long-term vision for artificial intelligence in clinical research, from making automation routine to improving drug discovery, transforming regulatory oversight, reducing animal testing, and promoting ethical, equitable data use worldwide.
