Free Webinar on Implementation Research

Opportunity for Sharing Knowledge on Implementation Research Through A Free Webinar, 28 November 2024 – 13:00-15:00 GMT

Pharmalys Ltd is Committed in Strengthening the Clinical Research Ecosystem

For the past twelve years, Pharmalys Ltd has worked closely with health research authorities, ethics committees, commercial and academic sponsors, Product Development Partners, research centres, researchers, students, funders, and non-profits. Our goal has been to raise awareness, identify gaps, build skills, strengthen infrastructure where needed, and establish high standards for data excellence across those who undertake, regulate, conduct, and manage clinical trials. To further support these efforts, we created CREDO (Clinical Research Excellence and Development Opportunity), a non-profit organisation originally supported by Pharmalys Ltd. CREDO’s mission is to foster a productive research environment to improve health outcomes in Africa. It achieves this by sharing knowledge and experiences in health research through various media, including expert interviews, articles, and webinars aimed at health and clinical research professionals.

Clinical Research Excellence and Development Opportunity Events

The inaugural CREDO event was an hybrid conference held in September 2022, hosted within the Infectious Diseases Department of the main teaching hospital in Dakar. Titled “Clinical Trials in Africa: Impact, Know-how and Perspectives” , the conference began with an introduction to clinical trials and subsequently focused on vaccine trials in Africa, exploring the impact of clinical research on health systems, as well as its social, societal, and economic implications on the continent. Panellists included A. Dicko from Mali, G. Mombo-Ngoma from Gabon, M. Seydi from Senegal, S.B. Sirima from Burkina Faso, S. Sow from Mali, and S. Viviani from Italy. Approximately one hundred attendees participated in the event. Feedback from the audience was overwhelmingly positive, with many describing the event as a high-level conference featuring renowned panellists delivering cutting-edge insights. Encouraged by this response, we have decided to organise a scientific event every two years. The next CREDO event will be a fully digital webinar scheduled for 28 November, 2024, from 13:00 to 15:00 GMT. This free public webinar, conducted in English, will address the topic ‘Implementation Research: What Is It About and What Is Its Value?’. Read more: https://pace-cr.com/news/opportunity-for-sharing-knowledge-on-implementation-research-through-a-free-webinar-28-november-2024-1300-1500-gmt/

Protection of Healthy Volunteers in Clinical Trials: A Crucial Ethical Commitment

 

Clinical trials are fundamental to advancing medical knowledge, allowing for the evaluation of the efficacy and safety of new treatments before they are made available to the public. However, the involvement of healthy volunteers in these trials raises significant ethical concerns, particularly regarding the prevention of exploitation and harm. To address these issues, the VolREthics initiative, spearheaded by Inserm (the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research), was created. This article highlights the progress of this global project, which led to the publication of an international ethical charter in June 2024 – a comprehensive code of conduct designed to safeguard the rights, well-being, and safety of healthy volunteers in biomedical research.

VolREthics: An International Partnership

Launched in 2022, the VolREthics initiative seeks to foster collaboration and discussion on best practices for protecting healthy volunteers in clinical trials. Through a series of plenary and regional meetings, this initiative brought together experts from over 40 countries to identify the risks faced by these volunteers and propose various solutions. The first plenary meeting, held in Paris in February 2022, attracted more than 150 experts who discussed the key ethical challenges surrounding healthy volunteer participation. These discussions underscored the vulnerability of certain groups, particularly in low-resource countries or among younger and vulnerable populations. Following this meeting, regional workshops were organised to explore how these issues varied based on local circumstances in Africa, Asia, North America, Latin America, and Europe. Read more: https://pace-cr.com/news/protection-of-healthy-volunteers-in-clinical-trials-a-crucial-ethical-commitment/

Women in Medicine: Analysing Trends in High-Paying Specialties from 2008 to 2022

 

Recent statistics indicate a significant shift in the demographics of medical students in the United States. In 2023, women made up 55% of incoming medical students, yet they represented only 38% of the physician workforce in 2022. This disparity highlights an ongoing issue: women are still underrepresented in high-compensation specialties, contributing to broader gender inequities in healthcare compensation. A recent study examined the trends in the proportion of female applicants and matriculants to residency programmes in both surgical and nonsurgical high-compensation specialties from 2008 to 2022. By exploring these trends, the research aims to identify the barriers women face in entering these lucrative fields.

Study Overview

The study utilised data from the National Graduate Medical Education Census and the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) to assess the sex composition of applicants and matriculants in Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-accredited residency programmes. Of the 26 specialties analysed, 14 were classified as high-compensation specialties according to Doximity’s national physician compensation survey. The research separated these specialties into surgical (nine specialties) and nonsurgical (five specialties) categories to better understand gender representation in each area.

Key Findings

Notably, the proportion of female matriculants in high-compensation specialties rose significantly from 32.7% in 2008 to 40.8% in 2022 (P=0.003), although this still lagged behind the proportion in non-high-compensation specialties, which remained relatively stable. Read more: https://pace-cr.com/news/women-in-medicine-analysing-trends-in-high-paying-specialties-from-2008-to-2022/