Decentralized clinical trials have emerged as a promising approach to overcome traditional barriers, enhance representation, and improve the quality of research by bringing biomedical studies directly into communities. However, recent policy changes under the Trump administration, including the removal of FDA guidance on clinical trial diversity, have raised concerns about the future of inclusive research.
Read more about decentralizing clinical trials here.
In this webinar, Ray Dorsey, M.D., professor of neurology and the director of the Center for Human Experimental Therapeutics at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York, and Ramita Tandon, Chief Clinical Trials Officer at Walgreens, discuss how decentralization is reshaping clinical research. They explore the potential of pharmacy-based trials and strategies for increasing patient engagement.
Tune in for this insightful conversation on the future of clinical trials and what it means for patients, researchers, and the healthcare industry.
Jyoti Madhusoodanan
AHCJ Civic Science Fellow
Jyoti Madhusoodanan is AHCJ’s Civic Science Fellow, covering race in health algorithms as part of a year-long fellowship funded by the Doris Duke Foundation. She is an independent science and health journalist who regularly covers biomedical research, health equity, clinical trials, and the translation of basic research into clinical care. Her reporting on race adjustments in clinical algorithms was supported by a 2020 project fellowship from the MIT Knight Science Journalism program; reporting on other topics has received fellowship support from the Alicia Patterson Foundation, the GSA Journalists in Aging program, and others. Madhusoodanan is a senior contributor to Undark magazine and her work regularly appears in Nature, Scientific American, and other outlets. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Science Writers.
Lara Salahi
AHCJ Health Equity Beat Leader
Lara Salahi is AHCJ’s health beat leader on health equity. She’s an award-winning, independent health journalist based in Boston, whose work has appeared in local, national and international television and digital news outlets. She is also the Distinguished Professor of Journalism at Endicott College in Beverley, Mass.
Ray Dorsey, M.D.
Professor of Neurology, University of Rochester
Ray Dorsey, M.D., is the David M. Levy Professor of Neurology at the University of Rochester and one of the world’s most read, cited, and followed neurologists. With his colleagues, he wrote “Ending Parkinson’s Disease: A Prescription for Action,” a book that provides a prescription for preventing and ending the world’s fastest growing brain disease.
Dorsey previously directed the University of Rochester’s Center for Health + Technology, was elected chair of the international Huntington Study Group, led the movement disorders division and neurology telemedicine at Johns Hopkins, and consulted for McKinsey & Company. He completed his undergraduate degree at Stanford University and pursued his medical education and neurology training at the University of Pennsylvania where he also earned an MBA in healthcare management from the Wharton School.
In 2015, the White House recognized Dorsey as a “Champion for Change” for Parkinson’s disease.
Ramita Tandon
Chief BioPharma Services Officer, Walgreens
As Chief BioPharma Services Officer at Walgreens, Ramita Tandon is responsible for leading and driving growth for the Company’s biopharma services, which includes Walgreens Clinical Trials. In her role, Ramita works across the healthcare and life sciences industries to enable next-generation clinical trials, with the goal of making treatments equitable and accessible to patients.
Ramita brings more than 25 years of leadership and operational experience across a portfolio of industry-leading businesses in real-world evidence and patient-centered health outcomes. Since spearheading the launch of Walgreens Clinical Trials in June 2022, Ramita and her team have been working to make clinical research an inherent care option for patients across the nation when the standard of therapy is not a viable option.
Through its tailored efforts and collaboration with biopharma companies, Ramita and her team have connected with more than 17 million people for potential recruitment into a sponsor-led clinical trial, with that number growing daily. Research shows that only 5% of the U.S. population participates in clinical trials and nearly 80% of trials fail to meet their enrollment goals in the timeline presented, which often contributes to delays in getting novel therapies to patients.
Ultimately, Ramita and her team’s main goal is to bring community pharmacy-led clinical trials to patients quicker by meeting them where they want to be met…in their own communities.
