23rd Annual Symposium on Clinical & Pharmaceutical Solutions through Analysis (CPSA USA 2020)
Mary Ann Diliberto, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
“We need to find better ways to connect to get work done.” – Mary Ann Diliberto, The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Marry Ann Diliberto describes many of the challenges for clinical research since the onset of the pandemic. During March 2020, all clinical research stopped, creating difficulties for patients and important studies. In Mary’s group, they had over 25 studies, managed by 15 staff members – all had to be shut down. She describes the feeling and thoughts during the onset of the pandemic: When can we resume research safely and efficiently? We need to be helping these patients. We need to be able to see the patients! After these initial challenging times, Mary and her teams have worked together to implement new protocols and systems, within the reality of the new normal.
“Giving control back to the patient is going the change everything.” – Matthew Barfield, Roche
Matt Barfield discusses his passions that drive him everyday – in life and research. He looks to help his family, and everyone’s families, while advancing patient centric medicine, alleviating suffering and pain. Matt also wants to help deliver faster results for drug discovery – where sometimes the drug does not pass phase III. He understands clinical trials and looks to break through the mistrust of families, changing the paradigm of how we sample. Smaller samples are less uncomfortable and less painful, especially for children with diseases like Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy. Instead of hiding behind barriers that don’t exist, why not use micro sampling now?
“There were never TV shows that showed success (to the underrepresented). It was all of the other cultures.” – Ute Gerhard, The University of Hertfordshire
Ute Gerhard is on the frontline, training the next generation of students for the future of health care. She has one passion – developing education models so that students leave as professionals and credible scientist, so that they may have good careers. Being in a unique position, she works to train those that are underrepresented in the field of healthcare. Her passion extends to those that have different cultural backgrounds, and to truly give them the chance to be successful. Furthermore, she works to set-up strong role models for these students, including programs at the university and with pharma companies. Mentorship is one of the most important aspects of early career development, and Ute’s dedication is a model for all to follow.
