2nd DECENTRALIZED & HYBRID CLINICAL TRIALS WORLD CONGRESS 2026 EUROPE
Redefining Clinical Research Through Decentralization, Technology, and Collaboration
Day 2 - Thursday 26th February 2026
Stephen O’Farrell, Executive Director, Patient Engagement, Spectrum Science
Frida Forya, Scientific Alliance Director – Medical Affairs, Roche
- Fostering community engagement and build trust
- Designing a patient-centric, inclusive trials
- Cultivating an inclusive research environment
- Leveraging technology and data
- Adopting regulatory requirements and institutional support
Moderator:
Ify Osunkwo, Chief Patient Officer Rare Disease, Novo Nordisk Rare Disease
Panellists:
Emily Pickering, Patient Engagement in Clinical Development Service Lead, NIHR
Faith Smith, Health Innovation Network, England
Ron Hillel , Associate Director, Clinical Representativeness, Patient Engagement, Novartis
Emma Sutcliffe, Trustee Board Member, SL61A
Anthony Mason, Chief Executive Officer , Sickle Cell Care Manchester
(DCT Congress Attendees, please proceed to Cambridge Suite)
Robert Mitchell-Thain, CEO, PBC Foundation
TECHNOLOGY, OPERATIONS AND FUTURE OUTLOOK
- Turning sustainability goals into measurable action requires, more than intent, it demands collaboration, innovation and integration across every stage of the clinical trials process.
- This presentation and panel discussion brings together leaders from across the clinical research landscape to explore how environmental consideration are being embedded into trial operations in practical, scalable ways.
- The session will explore how to use available tools, such as the clinical trials carbon calculator to assess and reduce trial emissions, discuss how to decarbonise the patient journey from recruitment to retention and build cross-sectoral partnerships to scale sustainable solutions.
Moderator:
Fiona Adshead, Chair, Sustainable Healthcare Coalition
Panellist:
Carly Santer, Strategic Initiatives Project Leader & Sustainability Activator, Bayer UK
Joanna Bell, Project Manager, Sustainable Healthcare Coalition
Hugh Whetherly, Sr Consultant, Product Sustainability Team, ERM
Senior Representative, NovoNordisk
- Identify structural barriers to recruitment and retention in clinical research.
- Develop strategies to enhance recruitment and retention of individuals.
- Feasible approaches to improve patient retention in clinical trials.
Mohamed Sharaf, EMEA Regional Senior Medical Advisor (Immunology), J & J
- This talk explores what it really means to undertake inclusive research in practice, drawing on the work of EDIRA the Equality, Diversity and Inclusive Research Association. Building on three EDIRA events, it traces a journey from
EDIRA-23 Barriers to Inclusion, to EDIRA-24 Building Trust, to EDIRA-25 Book of Doers who are changing how
research is conceived, designed, and delivered - The focus for EDIRA-26
- Throughout, the session the underlying theme will be based on a central question: “Whose voice is it anyway?” challenging delegates to examine whose voices are centred, whose are marginalised, and how lived experience can be recognised as core research expertise rather than an optional add on.
Dr Sondra Butterworth CEO & Founder, RareQoL (Rare Quality of Life) and EDIRA (Equality Diversity and
Inclusive Research Association)
- How electronic healthcare record (EHR) data from UK primary care practice has been used to find and recruit eligible patients for clinical trials, provide follow-up data to ascertain clinical trial outcomes, support safety monitoring and for external control arms.
- Key regulatory considerations around data quality when using EHR data to support clinical trials.
Puja Myles, Director, Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD), M H R A
- This presenation will focus the major challenges clinical trials are facing and how we can turn these challenges into solutions to implement for future trial design.
- This will include learnings from actual patient engagement projects and present how implementing patient perspecitives into DCT and future trial design might be the way forward for DCT and drug development.
Rasmus Hjorth, Head of Communication, James Lind Care
- The session focuses on how participants experience trial burden, support, and value, and why these factors directly impact recruitment, retention, and data quality.
- The session concludes with practical guidance on how sponsors can operationalise patient preferences to move from patient-informed to truly patient-ready trial design and delivery.
Alexandra Charge, CEO and Co-Founder, ISPEP
- This talk will explore how patient insights can guide the design and implementation of decentralized and hybrid clinical trials from early development stages.
- By incorporating the patient perspective, sponsors can adapt endpoints, visit schedules, and participation burden to better reflect real-world needs, improving recruitment, retention, and overall patient satisfaction.
- Practical examples will be shared demonstrating how decentralized approaches — including digital tools, telemonitoring, ePROs, and wearable devices — can be leveraged to enhance efficiency, accessibility, and engagement.
Laura Risueño Ayerbe, Global Patient Affairs, Patient Engagement R&D, Servier
- How are decentralized trials evolving from pilot initiatives to Europe’s new research standard?
- How can decentralized models be effectively integrated with national healthcare systems?
- How can AI and real-world data enhance adaptive and data-driven study design?
- How can transparency and data ownership strengthen patient trust and engagement?
- How will decentralized trials become a core pillar of the European Health Union?
Moderator:
Puja Myles, Director, Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD), MHRA
Panellists:
Lorna Pender, Medical Director, AOP Health Alexandra Charge, CEO and Co-Founder, ISPEP
Dr Sondra Butterworth CEO & Founder, RareQoL and EDIRA
Robert Mitchell-Thain, CEO, PBC Foundation
Co-located with Patient Centricity & Collaboration World Congress 2026 Europe.
Joint Networking & Exhibit Area.
