Are medical advancements closing or widening medical disparities? Eugene Manley, Jr., Ph.D., founder and CEO of the STEMM & Cancer Health Equity Foundation, breaks down why equity is still not completely measurable in clinical trials, what proper representation in studies is, and how certain demographics are at a disadvantage for biomarker tests compared to other groups with host Deborah Borfitz. Their conversation explores whether health equity in cancer trials is different compared to c...

Health equity is being reorganized, renamed, or quietly deprioritized. Ramona Burress, co-founder of Onyx Health Collective, and Cassandra O’Neal, founder of Illuminated Arc Consulting, join the Scope of Things podcast for a direct, practical conversation about health equity in clinical trials. They break down what “decision-grade intelligence” looks like for site selection and community integration, why marketing-style segmentation and better storytelling can improve outreach, and why health...

What will AI and clinical trials look like in the year 2030? Mike Sullivan, head of IT globally for development operations at Bristol Myers Squibb, joins The Scope of Things to discuss how creating value with AI depends on redesigning how clinical operations teams work. He covers the four pillars of what AI and clinical operations can look like in the next few years, as well as how AI will affect the job market. Plus, host Deborah Borfitz gives you the latest rundown on building the capacity ...

How can electronic capture of clinical outcome assessments (eCOA) help with the unique challenges of pediatric rare disease trials? Florence Mowlem, chief scientific officer of uMotif, joins The Scope of Things to offer her expertise on eCOA, share advice for companies on vetting technology providers, and discuss where sponsors are tripping up when it comes to pediatric rare disease trials. Plus, host Deborah Borfitz brings you the latest news on a possible probiotic for preventing immune sys...

Joining this month’s episode of The Scope of Things is Joseph Kim, chief strategy officer of ProofPilot, who talks about his company’s first-ever CORE Symposium, where pharma pros shared practical solutions to age-old trial challenges. Kim provides a pragmatic viewpoint on the problematic trio of clinical trials—study execution, recruitment, and engagement—and what change agents are needed to pave the way forward and find an exit from the bottlenecks. Plus, host Deborah Borfitz delivers the l...

Noninterventional studies in clinical research are underutilized in clinical research and inefficient. Dan Drozd, CMO of PicnicHealth, knows we can do better. With host Deborah Borfitz, Drozd discusses the issues and ramifications researchers face from the lack of noninterventional studies, offers tactics for raising the bar for evidence generation, and shares what he expects in the clinical research space in 2026 in this episode of the Scope of Things. Plus, Borfitz shares the latest news on...

Doug Bain, founder and consulting partner of ClinFlo, discusses his proposed regulatory blueprint for digital trials in the latest episode of The Scope of Things podcast. With host Deborah Borfitz, Bain delves into his strategy for turning 21 CFR Part 11 into a more practical regulation that streamlines rather than bogs down clinical trials, what would qualify someone to take on the role as a trusted third party (and what makes them trustworthy), and the new FDA administration’s modernization...

This episode of the Scope of Things features an exclusive panel at SCOPE Europe 2025 covering regulatory requirements for AI literacy training, featuring industry executives Jonathan Crowther, head of the operational design center at Merck KGaA; Janie Hansen, global development information management, business systems transformation at Daiichi Sankyo; Francis Kendall, head of statistical programming, digital and data sciences at Biogen; and James Weatherall, vice president and chief data scie...

For decades, clinical trial recruitment has been the biggest challenge in the industry. Christine Senn, senior vice president of Site-Sponsor Innovation at Advarra, offers insights into why the struggle continues, such as delays in getting regulations updated after a quarter of a century, and how to overcome the deadlock in clinical trial recruitment that is tied to current obsolete marketing guidelines. Also, host Deborah Borfitz shares the latest on beta blockers, low dose aspirin lowering ...

Joseph Mikhael, chief medical officer of The International Myeloma Foundation, and his organization are pulling all the stops to find a true cure for multiple myeloma, a rare and often fatal blood cancer. He shares the origins and mission of the Black Swan Research Initiative, a research project dedicated to preventing myeloma and finding a cure, and how global collaborators are contributing to multiple myeloma research. Also, host Deborah Borfitz delivers the latest news on ChatGPT determini...