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The MRCT Center is delighted to announce a 5 part virtual conference series to advance the design, review, oversight, and conduct of global pediatric clinical trials. Ensuring all children have access to safe and effective medicines is contingent upon the conduct of trials that include them. For many pediatric conditions, disease incidence is low and the pool of potential participants small; conducting multisite and multinational pediatric studies is necessary to secure sufficient enrollment for completion. Given the dearth of relevant data and the challenges of working across jurisdictions, harmonized approaches for pediatric research are necessary.
To ensure wide global relevance and participation, each conference will be offered twice to better accommodate individuals across international time zones, each with the same general agenda but different speakers to hear a variety of opinions.
A special thank you to the dedicated members of the webinar series planning committee.
This conference series is supported by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by FDA/HHS, or the U.S. Government.
The first conference in the series was a three-hour webinar that focused on applying lessons learned—those sustained and those abandoned– during the COVID-19 pandemic to future work with children in clinical trials. We were delighted to host the keynote speakers:
| October 6, 2021
Keynote Speaker: 📄October 6, 2021 session Agenda |
October 7, 2021
Keynote Speaker: 📄October 7, 2021 session Agenda |
We would appreciate feedback on these webinars. Please complete the survey to help us plan future webinars in this series that are both informative and convenient.
We invite you to browse the Day 1 & Day 2 speakers’ brief biographical details.
Each keynote speaker was followed by two moderated panel discussions to:
- Deliberate the appropriateness and timing of initiating trials in children, and the different age groups within the broad scope of “children,” using lessons learned from COVID-19 and applying that learning to future pediatric trials.
- Address infrastructure, both new and adaptations to existing structures, needed to conduct efficient and ethical pediatric clinical trials on a global scale.
This project is supported by the FDA (R13) Scientific Conference Grant Program.
The second conference in the series, “Time to Listen: Hearing from Young People in Clinical Research,” focused on the perspectives of young people and the adults who care for them in clinical research and product development. The two hour webinar featured a moderated panel and was hosted twice, from 9-11 am EST and 8-10 pm EST, with similar content but different speakers and panelists, to allow for wide attendance and global participation.
| SESSION 1 February 2, 2022 (9-11 AM EST) Keynote speakers
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SESSION 2 February 2, 2022 (8-10 PM EST) Keynote speakers
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Time to Listen – Hearing from Young People in Clinical research
Prioritizing Young People’s Voices in Clinical Research: Part 1
We invite you to browse the Session 1 & Session 2 speakers’ brief biographical details.
Each keynote speaker was followed by:
- The premiere of a short video featuring several youth who address their involvement in clinical research and what they want adults to know.
- A 1 hour moderated panel where experts responded directly to the issues and concerns raised by young people.
- Concluding comments and introduction of new MRCT Center resources for international pediatrics research.
This series is supported by an FDA Scientific Conference Grant.
Special thanks to Dr. Gianna “Gigi” McMillan and International Children’s Advisory Network (iCAN) for their collaborative efforts in creating impactful videos that will be featured at each webinar.
The third conference in the series, “Assent and consent in the field: culture, context, and respect,” focused on the cultural context of assent and the challenges and solutions encountered on the ground. The 2-hour agenda featured a moderated panel of experts who shared their experiences with assent around the world, including how to manage the tension between an (ideal) ethical framework and cultural context. The webinar was hosted twice on 28 June 2022 at 9-11 am EDT & 29 June 2022 at 8-10 pm EDT with similar content but different speakers and panelists, to allow for wide attendance and global participation.
| SESSION 1 June 28, 2022 (9-11 AM EDT) Keynote speakers
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SESSION 2 June 29, 2022 (8-10 PM EDT) Keynote speakers
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We invite you to browse the Session 1 & Session 2 speakers’ brief biographical details.
Each keynote speaker was followed by:
- The premiere of a short video featuring several youth who address their involvement in clinical research and what they want adults to know.
- A 1 hour moderated panel where experts shared their experiences with assent and consent in the field.
This series is supported by an FDA Scientific Conference Grant.
Special thanks to International Children’s Advisory Network (iCAN) for their efforts in creating impactful videos featured at this and future webinars.
The fourth conference in the series, “Facilitating Pediatric Medicines Development: Models of Global Cooperation,” focused on global regulatory cooperation with an eye to building on existing models to strengthen the global regulatory ecosystem for pediatric drug approval. This two-part webinar took place on 29 November 2022 at 9-11:30am ET and 30 November 2022 at 9-11am ET; participants were encouraged to attend both parts of this virtual meeting as Part 2 built on Part 1.
This series is supported by an FDA Scientific Conference Grant.
| PART 1 November 29, 2022 (9-11:30 AM EDT)📄 PART 1 Agenda |
PART 2 November 30, 2022 (9-11 AM EDT)📄 PART 2 Agenda |
Prioritizing Young People’s Voices in Clinical Research: Part 3
The fifth and final conference in the FDA-supported virtual conference series “Promoting Global Clinical Research in Children: Informing the Future” showcased select resources and materials from the larger body of work created, and the four webinars held, throughout the work of the MRCT Center pediatric working group initiative.