On Monday, Peter DiBiaso, MHA, director of clinical trial recruitment services for Pfizer, chaired the session: "Championing the Patient Perspective in Clinical Study Recruitment and Retention: The Role of Sponsor, CRO, and Vendor in Successful Strategy Development."

Joining Peter in the discussion were David Davenport-Firth, director of creativity and behavioral medicine at Ogilvy Health and Janet Jones, PhD, director of global patient access and retention for Kendle.

All three speakers stressed how important it is to understand the perspective of a potential trial participant and the value that is gained when one steps in the shoes of patients, who, as Peter DiBiaso pointed out, "are our parents, our brothers and sisters, and children." 

Suggestions discussed during the session for overcoming the obstacles that plague recruitment and retention include: early internal planning, looking at the protocol from the target's perspective, focusing on potential participants' family and friends, using the right tools to connect with patients.