From Tech to Trials: A Journey in Clinical Research

“Just create output. You don't start riding a bike until you take both feet off the ground and push off” - Ryan Jones, CEO, Florence Healthcare Technology is disrupting the clinical research industry. Globally sites, sponsors and CROs are adopting technology to manage risks, to stay competitive, to build a culture that embraces change, to fail fast and to move forward with speed.   In this interview with Ryan Jones, the CEO and Co-founder of Florence Healthcare, we discuss a wide range of topics including how technology is solving some of the biggest problems in clinical trial management, cold calling potential employers, and what it takes to build a healthcare startup. Ryan and his team at Florence have created a beautiful and practical e-source and e-regulatory product that eliminates inefficient clinical workflows. If you’re a clinical trial site, you should definitely check out Florence Healthcare technology solutions for clinical research. Ryan started his career at BCG Global Management Consulting and then became Product Manager for Microsoft Sharepoint. Before founding Florence, Ryan was President of Pubget, which had 600 medical centers and 6 of the 10 largest pharmas as customers. Ryan is a graduate from University of California-Berkeley and Dartmouth College. I hope you enjoy this fun and value-packed conversation with the all-amazing Ryan Jones.About This Podcast EpisodeListen to it on iTunes.Stream by clicking here.Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”This episode is brought to you by CBI Events CBI has put together an Global Risk Based Monitoring event for clinical research professionals such as yourself. CBIs Global Risk Based Monitoring event is back for its third year to bring together thought leaders from around the world to benchmark, share best practices, evaluate technologies, overcome operational hurdles and make the most out of RBM. Attend this year’s event to gain best practices in protocol design, receive hands-on demonstrations of new technologies that you cannot learn in an RBM webinar, benchmark face-to-face with peers, develop new strategies in algorithm design and prepare for the future of RBM.Register today to get your exclusive $500 off your event ticket using the code CTP500. This offer is only available to the Clinical Trial Podcast listeners. Selected Links from the Episode Connect with Ryan on LinkedIn Ryan’s company Florence Healthcare Emory Healthcare National Cancer Institute Dana Farber Winship ACRPs’ Fundamentals of Clinical Research course Books Zero to One by Peter Thiel Joy, Inc.: How We Built a Workplace People Love by Richard Sheridan Show Notes Building something from nothing when you start a technology company [04:42] Left Microsoft after meeting a physician who was at Harvard [05:17] Hanging around Emory, met a physician who had a problem with task management and workflows and document management [07:32] What is e-regulatory? [08:04] Majority of that software investment is being made by pharma, CRO and device manufacturers for the people that work within their four walls [08:29] Research is done with spreadsheets and three-ring binders today [09:05] Write down the data once and have that data flow efficiently to the Sponsor and FDA [11:28] Two schools of thought in the world of technology for clinical trials [12:11] The history of clinical research since the 1970’s and evolution of change - FDA regulations, Institutional Review Boards (IRB), CRO (Clinical Research Organization), EDC (Electronic Data Capture), and now e-source and e-regulatory [14:52] Five territories - risk management, competition, culture, speed and scale  [18:12] Does the cost of technology offset any savings? [21:33] Best practices for evaluating and adopting new technology in clinical research (a) good checklist (b) internal champion (c) hypothesis of a better world after implementing the technology (d) tiger team to evaluate the software (e) return on investment [23:48] Protocols are getting more complex, work load has doubled, sites are consolidating and sponsors are getting sophisticated with digital tools [26:38] Paying for clinical technology and what’s in for the sponsor or CRO [29:35] Dream team [35:26] You can get a job in clinical research If you don't have the clinical research DNA, but have building DNA or doing DNA [41:26] Cold calling [43:09] Spending time with customers [50:29] Discovering clinical jobs in technology sector [53:12]QUESTION: What was your favorite lesson from this episode? Leave me a comment below and thanks for listening.