Apollo Research & Innovation, a division of Apollo Hospitals, and the Apollo Hospitals Educational & Research Foundation successfully hosted the “Apollo Clinical Research Conclave”, a two-day virtual conference on December 2 and 3, 2022. This first of its kind Conclave saw the coming together of over 800 stakeholders from across the research community – students, academia, researchers, regulators, pharma, SMOs, CROs, hospitals & research coordinators – onto one common platform.
The Clinical Research Conclave saw participation from more than 50 organizations with over 30 eminent speakers sharing their experiences. The conference saw pertinent questions being raised to address key issues in research activities essential for enhancement of healthcare and well-being of the community. The packed virtual event witnessed 20 expert talks, three panel discussions, a poster competition and an interactive Q&A session with each speaker.
Inaugurating the conclave, Dr Preetha Reddy, Executive Vice Chairperson, Apollo Hospitals Group said, “The pandemic saw every stakeholder in healthcare come together and collaborate to jointly defeat the virus. The learnings for us were that cooperation, collaboration and communication must continue to ensure we stay ahead of any future healthcare challenge. I am sure that this conclave will act as a catalyst and fuel similar collaboration among healthcare research bodies.”
The two-day event focused on the multi-faceted relationship of clinical research stakeholders and looked at bridging the academic and clinical research gap. The speakers from across the healthcare spectrum included senior representatives from pharma (GSK, Sanofi, Sun Pharma, Astra Zeneca), CRO (IQVIA, THB), Hospitals (Max, Fortis, St. Johns, Medanta, JSS Medical College, Apollo Hospitals, CBCC), Regulators (CDSCO, ICMR) and Accreditors (AAHRPP, NABH), Research Institutes/Academia (NIPER, St. Johns Research Institute, Institute of Life Sciences) along with other distinguished healthcare industry veterans.
The Apollo Clinical Research Conclave saw sessions on Clinical Trial management with discussions on the role of a sponsor in clinical trial management, and the evolving model of decentralized clinical trials. Other topics included the robustness of a SMO, CRCs and their role as the backbone of clinical research followed by a panel discussion on the current landscape and opportunities in clinical research in India.
The plenary session on Research in Healthcare was delivered by Dr. Nirmal Kumar Ganguly, Ex-DG ICMR and President of AHERF who spoke about healthcare practice improvements through health research and a multi-step process in medical research.
Other sessions included discussions on bridging academic and clinical research and the relevance and application of academic research at the bedside. Enthusiastic participation led to discussions on the ways and means to make academic research a mainstream activity. The speakers acknowledged past errors, stated present realities and discussed cross-stakeholder solutions to drive change.
Topics such as, what it means to be a clinical research professional in today’s era and the role of the ethics committee and the impact of changing regulations led to fervent discussions. The shift of focus from clinical trials to clinical studies was imminent in all the talks. The role of accreditations in adding value to quality research was highlighted.
The Conclave ended on a positive note with all the stakeholders keenly looking forward to collaborate and work together to improve research with a vow to successfully translate it into better clinical outcomes.
