Decentralized clinical Trials (DCTs) bring some or all elements of a clinical trial closer to patients. Consent, screening, treatment administration, and more can be administered through digital technologies and local health care providers, expanding accessibility for patients who face barriers to participation in traditional single site trials. In this episode, CANCER BUZZ speaks with Erin Pierce, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, Associate Clinical Investigator and Nurse Practitioner at HonorHealth Research Institute, and Kristen Kipping-Johnsson, MPH, Director of Network Research Operations at the University of Chicago, about how each of their cancer programs are approaching DCT implementation. Their discussion explores how decentralized components, such as community-based treatment delivery, centralized research infrastructure, and hybrid trial designs, can increase participation opportunities for patients in both community and academic settings.

Guests:

Erin Pierce, MSN, APRN, FNP-C

Associate Clinical Investigator

Nurse Practitioner

HonorHealth Research Institute

Scottsdale, AZ

Kristen Kipping-Johnson, MPH

Director of Network Research Operations

University of Chicago

Chicago, IL

"APPs are really poised to step into that role [of investigator] and help, not take the place of physicians, but work alongside our physician colleagues and enable us to expand the abilities of research." —Erin Pierce, MSN, APRN, FNP-C

"Quality of life, being able to keep patients treated closer to home, allow them to stay with the physician that diagnosed them...Those are the things that are really important to me when it comes to decentralization." —Kristen Kipping-Johnson, MPH

Resources

• HonorHealth Research Institute's First Steps to Approaching Decentralized Clinical Trials (DCTs)

• University of Chicago's Path to Operationalizing Decentralized Phase 1 Trials Across a Regional Network

• ACCC's Community Oncology Research Institute White Paper: Bringing Cancer Research to the Community: Strategic Approaches to Representative Oncology Clinical Trial Design

This podcast was created in partnership with the Decentralized Trials & Research Alliance, with support from Eli Lilly and Company, Gilead Sciences, and Merck.