This February, EmVenio team members, along with our parent company PCM Trials, attended the 16th annual SCOPE Summit in Orlando, Florida. We were excited to see familiar and new faces and share more about our innovations and success in clinical research.

At the conference, Jack Evans, Vice President of Site Operations at EmVenio, discussed the use of community-based research sites for recruiting participants in Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) studies in his presentation entitled “Transforming Recruitment: Harnessing Community Research Sites to Engage Rare CKD Populations.” He highlighted the strategic selection of site locations and the crucial role of community engagement in building trust and encouraging participation. By establishing research sites within diverse communities, we have effectively engaged underrepresented populations. This is especially significant for a disease in which individuals of African descent face a risk of developing kidney failure that is four times higher.

Jeff Huntsman, Chief Commercial Officer at EmVenio and PCM Trials, participated in a panel discussion with other healthcare leaders. The panel included Sasha Tyndale, Director of Diversity and Patient Inclusion at AbbVie; Patricia Roselle, Global Head of Patient Stakeholder Engagement at Sanofi; Jen Horonjeff, CEO and Founder of Savvy Cooperative; and Matt Smith, VP of Strategic Relationships at Heartbeat with Sarah Mckeown-Cannon, SVP and Head of Clinical Research at Heartbeat as the moderator.  Titled “Redefining Research Through Patient and Community Collaboration,” they dove into the topic of community research and how to be more inclusive with patient recruitment. Jeff shared his insight on how EmVenio and PCM Trials embody this philosophy throughout every clinical trial we conduct, at each stage of the process. He emphasized the importance of engaging local communities to build trust and ensure inclusivity in clinical trials. Jeff also highlighted patient-centric methodologies to reduce barriers like travel and time commitments and underscored the role of collaboration and technologies in enhancing trial efficiency and effectiveness.

Jonathan Ernst, Vice President of Business Development at PCM Trials, also presented at this year’s conference. His presentation, “The Road Less Traveled: Bridging the Research Gap in Rural and Tribal Communities,” focused on the challenges clinical trials face in rural and tribal communities and shared strategies for overcoming them. With 19.3% of the U.S. population living in rural areas, geographical and infrastructural barriers make it difficult for people to participate in clinical research. Jonathan emphasized the need for clinical trials to meet patients where they are, rather than expecting patients to come to them.

These presentations were timely, aligning with the increasing focus on community-based research and the push for greater inclusivity in clinical trials. Diversity in trials not only improves drug efficacy but also brings vital, potentially lifesaving care to those who might not have access otherwise.

With team members from both EmVenio and PCM in attendance at SCOPE, we were able to attend a vast range of talks and presentations led by our peers and customers. We noticed several common trends that we’re excited to share across our organization and apply to our current and future trials. Many of these trends align with our ongoing efforts.

• Patient engagement and retention throughout trials remain a common challenge. AI tools are quickly developing to address these opportunities.
• There is still room for improvement in driving trust and diversity in clinical trials, which can be achieved further through more efforts surrounding community engagement and patient accessibility.
• Flexibility between trials is key to successful outcomes, meaning there’s not a one-size-fits all approach to meeting diversity and participation goals. This may include rethinking how we reach patients beyond our current sites and going to where they are, not just near where they are.

Finally, we were excited to bring one of our mobile community research sites to the conference for SCOPE attendees to tour the unit and see first-hand how we conduct our trials. We showcased our flexibility and convenience by having two of our skilled nurses on-site performing blood pressure checks, with over 30 attendees participating. It’s always great to show our work in action! This demonstration highlighted how EmVenio and PCM staff can seamlessly bring clinical trial activities to any location, ensuring accessibility and efficiency for all participants.  EmVenio currently has 10 sites throughout the United States, allowing our team to deliver clinical research directly into communities that lack access to or representation in clinical trial research.

Thank you to everyone who came to our panels, met with our team members and visited our booth. If you didn’t get the chance to chat with the team but would like to learn more about how EmVenio and PCM are building patient trust in the communities we serve, meeting participation and diversity goals in our trials, and addressing concerns from sponsors and CROs, please contact us today! We’d love to discuss our work with you and explore how we can support your next trial.