Now that I have your attention...

Thanks to all in my #clinicalresearch network for helping me kick off the inaugural Ethics Edge edition with a bang! I truly had no clue what to expect and appreciate the feedback and support - and, the outpouring of ideas and discussion points, please definitely keep those coming.

This edition will be the second to last of the year, with the plan being the EOY replay will actually be today's edition because I have a plan for the last edition. As we end the year taking stock, planning ahead, and making predictions, I think we are all painfully aware of how silo'd this industry can be. I'm using the last edition to list each and every initiative, company, organization, and baddie colleague I can think of (who wishes to be included) so all can truly embark on a connected space as we build to the new year. If you'd like to be in the final Ethics Edge 'Industry Listing for 2023' that will in NO way be comprehensive, but definitely could be helpful, you'll need to message me the following (and ONLY the following-no spam): "Name you wish mentioned, what part of the industry you comprise (CRO, site, PI, etc), what you wish folks knew you do in less than 7 words". Let's see just how big of a #clinicaltrials list we can make :)

Meanwhile, this edition is meant to act as that end of year summary, crystal ball, magic prediction, meaningful reflection. And yet, I'm simply not sure I can top last year. As the great Daniel Fox, MPH, PhD noted this week, my prediction for 2023 WAS to be the Year of the Site, and I can say without a doubt progress was made on that front. We have collaborative conversations already or soon to be taking place across stakeholders normally living in the blind to one another that quite possibly have never, or if so, rarely been the norm. I see a vibrance and a hope in industry, a renewed sense of how we view one another and our opportunities, and I honestly look forward to the news in our space each day more than the most of the rest of our global updates, given the hope I continue to feel, even on my most frustrated day. But what does that mean for 2024?

While I felt beyond compelled about the prediction for 2023, I currently feel such optimism and zeal for 2024, my spidey sense around a prediction hasn't been fully activated. It leaves me wondering if I'm missing out on 'the next big thing', spending too much time reveling in being right and enjoying the current Site focus (*shrug, being honest*), or, what I truly believe - we are still IN the midst of the Year of the Site. In fact, I wasn't right at all, I had only touched the edge of an otherwise monstrous discovery that is exponentially growing in reach ~ we are living in the SEASON of the Site.

Perhaps 2024 takes this initiative a particular direction, maybe this is the year we see genuine progress within Sites and say payment/billing/budgets... or it's a year in which Sites and Sponsor strengthen relationships and reach better understandings of what is needed for genuine success. It could be the year we TRULY and DEEPLY move the needle on diversity issues within and throughout the #researchethics of our industry and quite possibly redefine the patient focus. I mean, are any of these BAD answers? Of course not, and therein lies my point.

Don't misunderstand, I'm not suggesting predictions shouldn't be made, or we should sit on our laurels given what we accomplished this year. Yeah, no. We have SO much more to do. But I do believe some years are ones in which we plant and plan, those to sow our strategic seeds, and then there come years whereby we glean the harvest, granting celebration, but also the opportunity to retool before the next year in which it is time to replant.

Feel free to add your own predictions, disagreements, suggestions, comments, or even memes in the comments!!!