Derk Arts MD, PhD has over fifteen years of experience in medicine, research and technology. He founded Castor to solve the biggest issues in clinical research: a lack of inclusivity, patient focus and impact of data. Castor enables sponsors worldwide to run patient-centric trials on a unified platform, that helps them maximize the impact of research data on patient lives.
Dr. Derk Arts believes the key to achieving lasting change in the industry is through scalability and standardization. Technology to run better trials and maximize the impact of data should be available to all researchers.
Over the past 12 months, Castor provided pro-bono support to over 300 Covid-19 trials, and provided the entire infrastructure for the World Health Organizations’ Solidarity Trials.
Already, ChatGPT has been named as a co-author on at least four research papers. With proper management, AI generation could be an invaluable tool in clinical research—but only if we are mindful of the potential risks and biases that may arise from their usage and ensure transparency, fairness, and accountability in their use.
Putting data into the hands of participants is an important step in changing the traditional clinical trial paradigm. It fits in amongst the goal of running nimble and patient-centered studies. But, without legislation, it’s doubtful that pharma companies will give up ownership of participant data out of sheer goodwill.
Munck Wilson Mandala Partner Greg Howison shared his perspective on some of the legal ramifications around AI, IP, connected devices and the data they generate, in response to emailed questions.
Many potential participants are tired and stressed. Research studies need to prioritize simplicity, authenticity, and practicality to earn patient trust for better enrollment and retention.