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October 5, 2026

10:00 am ET - 12:30 pm ET

Location:

What’s Mine Is Mine and What’s Yours Is Mine: Data Ownership and Sovereignty 

October 5, 2026 @ 10:00 am – 12:30 pm

Topic: What’s Mine Is Mine and What’s Yours Is Mine: Data Ownership and Sovereignty

Abstract: As big data and AI become more widespread, concerns about data privacy and security have intensified, with many countries restricting access to their citizens’ data (and, in some settings, to data stored in those countries, regardless of citizenship). International ethical guidelines, such as the Declaration of Taipei, state that individuals are entitled to control the use of their personal data. But most people fail to appreciate how much of their data is already publicly available, how much of their data they can no longer control, and how extensive their digital footprint is. When they do learn, individuals feel excluded from decisions about their information and express the desire to determine how their data is accessed and used. Are data ownership, consent, and permissions to control one’s existing data still realistic? Are there other ways to demonstrate respect when obtaining consent is not possible? Are there data governance models that can provide oversight for participant concerns or wishes?  What actions, beyond consent, should be taken to respect or benefit the participants who contributed their data?

This meeting is open to sponsors of the MRCT Center Bioethics Collaborative and select invited guests. For more information about the Bioethics Collaborative and how to become a sponsor, click here.

October 21, 2026

8:00 am ET - 2:00 pm ET

Location:

MRCT Center 2026 Annual Symposium

Meeting

October 21, 2026 @ 8:00 am – October 22, 2026 @ 2:00 pm

JOIN US! MRCT Center 2026 Annual Symposium

The MRCT Center Annual Symposium returns to Boston for a full day of discussions on ethical, actionable, and practical solutions to today’s global clinical research challenges. Free and open to all, in person or online.

Keynote: Karim Mikhail, Director, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), U.S. Food and Drug Administration

We are pleased to welcome Karim Mikhail as this year’s keynote speaker. Director Mikhail will give an update on Operation TrialBlazer, the HHS roadmap for maintaining U.S. leadership in early clinical research and development, and the initiatives planned under it. He brings more than two decades of leadership across industry and FDA.

Panel 1 | Response to Keynote: Ideation to Implementation and Scale

Leaders from industry and academic medicine respond to the keynote and discuss how Operation TrialBlazer’s planned initiatives can move from roadmap to practice.

Panelists: Ginny Beakes-Read, Johnson & Johnson; Karen Hartman, Mayo Clinic; Jennifer Sheller, Merck

Moderators: Barbara Bierer, MRCT Center; Mark Barnes, Ropes & Gray and MRCT Center

Panel 2 | Returning Summary Results to Participants: Lessons from the EU and UK Experience: Optimizing for US Application

NIH has released a draft policy on sharing summary-level study results with participants, with comments due October 26. Participant, researcher, and regulator voices from the EU and UK join NIH to discuss what they learned returning aggregate results, what they would do differently, and what they recommend for those just getting started.

Panelists: Adam Berger, U.S. National Institutes of Health; Johanna Blom, University of Modena, Italy; Clive Collett, Health Research Authority, UK; Veronica Popa, EURORDIS

Moderator: Sylvia Baedorf Kassis, MRCT Center

Panel 3 | Post-Trial Obligations: An Integrated Decision Model for Clinical Trial Placement

This panel explores the circumstances that challenge trial placement, when durable access is achievable in a host country or community, and when reciprocal benefits are acceptable if it is not. Panelists will also discuss the MRCT Center’s draft Integrated Decision Model for Clinical Trial Placement, developed by its Post-Trial Responsibilities Task Force to guide sponsors.

Panelists: Ginny Acha, Merck; Joseph Ali, Johns Hopkins University; Karla Childers, Johnson & Johnson

Moderator: Sarah White, MRCT Center

MRCT Center Updates

Select initiatives from across our portfolio:

  • AI and the Administration of Research
  • Childhood Cancer Academic–Industry Collaborative Platform Trials (C3PT)
  • Proportionate Oversight in Decentralized Clinical Trials
  • TRACE

Thursday, October 22 | Data Sharing

The second day focuses on data sharing and is co-organized with Vivli. Attend one day or both, in person or virtually. Please click here to view the draft agenda.

Agenda

October 27, 2026

11:00 am ET - 12:00 pm ET

Location:

Virtual Event

Returning Summary Results to Participants: Lessons from the Research Community

October 27, 2026 @ 11:00 am – 12:00 pm

Virtual Event

Some research teams began returning summary-level study results to participants long before the NIH released its draft policy. This Health Literacy Month webinar asks three of them what they did, why, and what they learned in very different settings: community-based clinical studies, a complex platform trial still underway, and a population biobank in Italy designed to run for decades. The panel covers the practicalities of results return, and attendees will leave with concrete lessons they can apply to their own studies, even with limited resources.

Join Barbara Bierer, Faculty Director of the MRCT Center, and Sylvia Baedorf Kassis, MRCT Center Program Director, for a panel discussion with Lawrence Appel, C. David Molina Professor of Medicine, Epidemiology, and International Health at Johns Hopkins University; Abby Gregory, Program Manager, Scientific Publications, at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO); and Deborah Mascalzoni, Research Group Leader at the Institute for Biomedicine, Eurac Research, and Associate Professor of Biomedical Ethics at Uppsala University.

Deliverables

Projects

November 5, 2026

1:00 pm ET - 3:30 pm ET

Location:

hybrid

Meeting of The Research, Development, and Regulatory Roundtable (R3)

November 5, 2026 @ 1:00 pm – 3:30 pm

The Research, Development, and Regulatory Roundtable (R3) is a forum to discuss pre-competitive issues in drug and device development, regulatory oversight of clinical trials, and human subjects research. Meetings convene policymakers, legal counsel, academicians, industry representatives, and global regulators. The R3 is a cooperative endeavor coordinated by the MRCT Center and Ropes & Gray LLP.

This hybrid meeting is open to sponsors of the Research, Development, and Regulatory Roundtable.

Topic: TBD

For more information, please email at MRCT@BWH.HARVARD.EDU

Deliverables

December 1, 2026

1:00 pm ET - 3:00 pm ET

Location:

Joint Task Force for Clinical Trial Competency (JTF) Global Biannual Meeting

Meeting

December 1, 2026 @ 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm

The Joint Task Force for Clinical Trial Competency (JTF), anchored at the MRCT Center, develops and disseminates standards and practices for the global clinical research workforce. By fostering a cohesive and collaborative approach, the JTF ensures that professionals have the competencies to conduct clinical trials ethically and effectively.

Our international team of investigators, educators, and clinical research professionals has developed and/or utilizes a framework that defines the knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary for conducting safe, ethical, and high-quality clinical research.

Join us on December 1, 2026, 1:00-3:00 PM for the Joint Task Force for Clinical Trial Competency (JTF) Biannual Global Meeting to hear about global perspectives on implementing the JTF Framework.

To learn more about the JTF Framework: https://mrctcenter.org/clinical-trial-competency/framework/overview/

All registrants will receive slides and a meeting summary after the meeting. This event is free.

December 8, 2026

10:00 am ET - 12:30 pm ET

Location:

Meeting of the Bioethics Collaborative

December 8, 2026 @ 10:00 am – 12:30 pm

Topic: TBD

This meeting is open to sponsors of the MRCT Center Bioethics Collaborative and select invited guests. For more information about the Bioethics Collaborative and how to become a sponsor, click here.