Amplifying Participant Voices: Crafting Respectful, Inclusive and Understandable Patient Resources

October 23, 2023 @ 12:00 pm 1:00 pm

Virtual Event

As we celebrate Health Literacy Month , we invite you to join us on October 23, 2023, from 12-1 PM ET to explore actionable strategies to incorporate participant perspectives to craft patient-facing materials that are accessible, culturally competent, and easy to understand — the key tenets of health literacy. This approach enhances engagement, empowers patients, improves communication, and addresses knowledge gaps, paving the way for improved health outcomes and enriched participant experiences.

Click here to register.


Deliverables

Projects

Update on the GDPR & Ensuring Integrity of Clinical Trial Data

December 13, 2023 @ 2:00 pm 4:30 pm

Hybrid: In-person (Boston) and Virtual (Zoom)

800 Boylston St.
Boston, MA 02199

Topics: 1) Update on the GDPR, including discussion of the EU/US data privacy framework; 2) Considerations for ensuring accurate clinical trials data

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

GDPR: This session will involve a panel discussion exploring developments occurring in the past year related to the effect of the European Union’s privacy law, the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), on clinical research. GDPR was the topic of a one-day meeting held in conjunction with the MRCT Center annual meeting in December 2022, and the intent of this panel is to explore what has changed in the intervening 12-month period. Topics to be addressed will include the Trans-Atlantic Data Privacy Framework, the UK-US Data Bridge, ongoing litigation in the EU regarding the definition of anonymization, and the latest relevant European Data Protection Board guidance. The panel will include representatives from leading life sciences companies who advise on data privacy issues as well as a representative of the U.S. Department of Commerce who worked on the Trans-Atlantic Data Privacy Framework.

Ensuring Integrity of Clinical Trial Data: Clinical trials are most often conducted at sites contracted to perform clinical trials. Historically, trials have most often been sited at organized clinics or hospitals, which have reliable systems of ensuring quality of care and creating and maintaining accurate medical records. Yet in recent years, clinical trials have been sited at stand-alone, for-profit research sites that lack the quality assurance infrastructure of clinics or even physician group practices; and in the wake of COVID, clinical trials have often become “remote” or “decentralized.” This session will explore the challenges in this new clinical trial environment to ensuring accurate recording and retention of data, and whether and how monitoring processes should be revised and enhanced.


This meeting is part of the MRCT Center’s 2023 Annual Meeting in Boston on December 13-14 and is open to all registrants at no cost. Guests are welcome to attend the entire program or individual sessions. While in-person attendance is encouraged, virtual participation is welcome.

Click here to register.

Click here for the full schedule and FAQs.

Deliverables

Returning Individual Research Results and Data: Digging Deeper into Genetic Results and Secondary Findings

Webinar

Presented on: September 21, 2023

Presented at: Virtual

The MRCT Center released a series of case studies describing research stakeholder experiences of returning individual results to participants at a recent webinar in May.  Given the interest and number of questions we received, we offered three virtual “Digging Deeper” sessions to foster additional discussion and learning about topics that can be challenging to navigate. 

This webinar was the third of the three webinars in the Digging Deeper series. Megan Frone of the National Cancer Institute discussed a case about returning genetic/genomic results and secondary findings.

Returning Individual Research Results & Data: Digging Deeper into Genetic Testing Secondary Findings webinar recording

Related Resources

ACMG/AMP Recommendations for Return of Secondary Findings
NASEM Returning Individual Research Results to Participants

Case Study: Responsibly Returning Secondary Findings
May 2, 2023 webinar: Returning Individual Research Results and Data to Participants
July 27, 2023 webinar: Digging Deeper into Pfizer’s Patient Data Return Solution
August 17, 2023: Digging Deeper into IRB/HRPP Responsibilities
Return of Individual Results website

Defining “recklessness” in research misconduct proceedings

Publication

Published on: September 5, 2023

Published in: Accountability in Research

Mark Barnes, co-faculty director of the MRCT Center and Partner at Ropes & Gray, colleagues Minal Caron and Sarah Dohan at Ropes & Gray, and Barbara Bierer addressed the definition of “recklessness” in research misconduct proceedings, reviewing its history and application, and proposing a framework and factors to consider in recklessness determinations.

JTF Framework: Available in Nine Languages

This is an image of the English translation of the JTF Framework Competency Domains for the Clinical Research Professional

The Joint Task Force for Clinical Trial Competency (JTF) is an international team of investigators, educators, and clinical research professionals that has developed a framework that defines the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary for conducting safe, ethical, and high-quality clinical research.

We are delighted to announce that the Joint Task Force for Clinical Trial Competency (JTF) Core Competency Framework for Clinical Research Professionals is now available in Chinese.

Other available translations: English, Spanish, French, Japanese, Thai, Bahasa IndonesiaItalian and Vietnamese

MORE ABOUT THE JTF FRAMEWORK: DOMAINS AND LEVELED CORE COMPETENCIES

The JTF Core Competency Framework is made up of 8 Competency Domains, which are broad categories of knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary for conducting clinical research.

Each Domain contains specific competency statements expressed at a Fundamental, Skilled, and Advanced level.

  1. Fundamental: Can perform the task and/or exhibit the knowledge at an essential or fundamental level; may require some coaching or supervision.
  2. Skilled: Can perform tasks or skills independently, consistently, and accurately and has a moderate level of expertise. Efficient and high-quality work; able to independently navigate resources and use tools well.
  3. Advanced: Demonstrates advanced skills and knowledge and the ability to teach, coach, or supervise others. Consistently applies critical thinking and problem-solving.

The JTF Core Competency Framework (JTF) has been utilized widely and internationally by academic institutions, corporate entities, and professional societies to improve the quality, accuracy, and safety of clinical research. The JTF has compiled a listing of representative publications, presentations, and weblinks to provide examples and references for those entities wishing to utilize the framework to meet their own needs. 

Click here to learn more about how to use the JTF Framework.

Returning Individual Research Results and Data: Digging Deeper Webinar Series

Webinar Series

Presented on: July 27, August 17 and September 21, 2023

The MRCT Center released a series of case studies describing research stakeholder experiences of returning individual results to participants at a recent webinar.  Given the interest and number of questions we received, we offered three virtual “Digging Deeper” sessions to foster additional discussion and learning about topics that can be challenging to navigate.  

Covid-19 Clinical Research Flyers: I am a Healthy Adult: Should I Join a COVID-19 Research Study? URDU

Flyer / Tools

Developed on: February 2022 

Developed by: MRCT Center Health Literacy Workgroup

Thank you to Dr. Farah Asif and colleagues at the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital And Research Centre, Lahore, Pakistan for helping us translate, adapt text, and provide these flyers in Urdu.

Related Resources