“Clinical trial complexity and operational fragility are not necessarily the same thing,” says ACRP 2027 speaker Tia Warrick, DHSc, MPH, CCRA, ACRP-PM. “A trial can be highly complex but operationally resilient if appropriate resources, redundancy, contingency planning, and communication pathways are in place.” On the other hand, she notes, a seemingly straightforward trial may be highly fragile if successful execution depends on a small number of assumptions or operational dependencies that have little tolerance for disruption.

As the Association of Clinical Research Professionals (ACRP) celebrates its golden anniversary this year, we are pleased to continue our series of Q&A interviews, “Forecasts from the ACRP Fellows: Insights on the Future of Clinical Research as ACRP Turns 50.” Our latest guest is Steven Ziemba, MBA, PhD, CIP, CCRC, CPI, ACRP-PM, FACHE, FACRP.

Modern challenges facing independent clinical trial sites include more complex protocols and increasing operational demands; growing pressure on site budgets, staffing, and cash flow; and consolidation and changing expectations from sponsors and contract research organizations. Meanwhile, rays of hope are offered by new digital tools and more efficient methods for study delivery. Delving into these complexities in their ACRP 2027 presentation on “Future-Proofing Independent Research Sites in a Changing Industry” in San Diego (April 30 – May 3) will be a trio of leaders from the PCRS Network, LLC.