2nd DECENTRALIZED & HYBRID CLINICAL TRIALS WORLD CONGRESS 2026 EUROPE
Redefining Clinical Research Through Decentralization, Technology, and Collaboration
Day 1 - Wednesday 25th February 2026
- What are the main internal and external barriers to achieving genuine patient centricity?
- What are the key elements for creating an authentically patient-centric company culture?
- What are the challenges and opportunities in shifting to a patient-centric mindset?
- How can a patient-centric culture improve patient access and transparency?
- How can patients be meaningfully involved in the drug development process, from early research to post-market surveillance?
Moderator:
Rosanna Forrest, Director, Patient Engagement, Spectrum Science
Panellists:
Tom Croce, Vice President, Global Patient Advocacy, Jazz Pharmaceuticals
Matthew Reaney, Head of Global Science & Analytics, Patient Centered Solutions (PCS), IQVIA
Danielle Drachmann. Senior Patient Partnering Manager, Thermo Fisher Scientific
Daniel Newman, Patient Advocate, Trueheart International
Jasmine Malone, Group Director for Patient Engagement Content and Storytelling, OPEN Health
Maddie Yorke, Advocacy Services Senior Manager, PPD
(DCT Congress Attendees, please proceed to Cambridge Suite)
Regulation, Collaboration, and Patient Engagement
Amelia Hursey, Strategic Director, Parkinson’s Europe
- MHRA patient involvement strategy
- Current landscape and regulatory considerations
Khadija Rantell, Senior Statistical Assessor, MHRA
- Decentralised elements in Clinical trials
- Industry’s perspectives in adopting DCT elements in Clinical Trials
- How European regulators are enabling DCT adoption
- EFPIA Recommendation Paper on Advancing the Use of Decentralised Elements in Clinical Trials
Elizabeth Theogaraj, Regulatory Senior Group Director, Roche
- Understanding patient challenges: The barriers VWD patients face in clinical research and why their experiences matter.
- Co-creating research from the start: How early patient input ensures trial endpoints reflect what truly matters to the community.
- Making trials more accessible: How decentralized and hybrid models reduce burden and enable broader participation.
- Empowering patients through PPIE: VWD Alliance’s new Patient and Public Involvement & Engagement group gives the community a voice in trial design and decision-making
Cat Wilder, Chair, Von Willebrand Disease Alliance
- Understanding the challenges of delivering rare disease studies
- Study design that considers patient needs
- Where DCT elements offer the most impact
- Looking to the future of DCTs
Catherine Jervis, Head, DCT Market Development – EMEA, MARKEN
- Governance, regulatory and clinical frameworks
- Ethical perspectives
- Operational feasibility
Emma Kinloch, CEO, Salivary Gland Cancer UK
- Scientific rigour and regulatory needs are critical considerations when designing clinical trials and creating protocols.
- How well, though, do we really strike a balance between these needs and the associated burden and complexity they place on our patients and clinical trial sites?
- An exploration of this balancing act, and how we – as a clinical research community – might strive to achieve it through tried and tested methods e.g. patient councils, as well as using disruptive innovations, such as protocol simulations.
Dr Sachin Shah, Clinical Innovation and Digital Solutions Lead, UCB
- A five letter code: what a diagnosis unlocks
- Building momentum: patients, science, collaboration
- From repurposing to personalised medicine: progress, promise, and barriers in ultra-rare treatment development
- Why speed matters: the cost of waiting
Melanie Dixon, Trustee, Cure DHDDS
- Blending virtual and in-person interactions to enhance experience
- Supporting patients through multilingual, digital, and in-clinic channels
- Ensuring safety, adherence, and satisfaction in hybrid environments
- The path toward a unified, inclusive European patient-centric model
Nadya Isack, Patient and Public Involvement (PPIE) Advocate, Founder, Empower Health Initiative CIC,
Person living with Obesity
- Harnessing national participant experience data for real-world patient insights.
- Proactively co-design protocols to minimise participant burden.
- Activating NIHR Agile teams for out-of-hospital delivery.
- Navigating community logistics with dedicated Settings Leads.
Emily Pickering, Specialist Commercial Services Lead, Patient Engagement in Clinical Development, NIHR
Research Delivery Network
- Monitoring acute kidney injuries in nephrotoxic regimens.
- Monitoring fatigue in early phase cancer clinical trials
- Remote PROMs for early phase cancer clinical trials.
- Involvement of patients as co-researchers in remote digitally enabled studies.
Hannah Frost, Clinical Research Scientist, CRUK National Biomarker Centre
Amelia Hursey, Strategic Director, parkinsonseurope.org
Co-located with the Patient Centricity & Collaboration World Congress 2026 Europe.
Joint Networking & Exhibit Area.
