Roy Vagelos may be retired, but he remains a legend all the same. The former Merck leader spoke at this year’s Clinical Trials Congress.

His remarks covered a lot of ground. In a 14-minute podcast, we include two key sections of his presentation.

The first concerns the company’s development of a cure (yes, that’s the right word) for river blindness in sub-Saharan Africa. 

In 2009, it is easier and more feasible to connect two vast data cosmos that have long existed separately. The electronic data capture (EDC) systems for clinical research are slowly being connected to larger, more general-purpose electronic health record (EHR) systems for physicians. 

As a trustee of the Society for Clinical Data Management (SCDM), Paul Clarkson is the archetype of the data manager who understands the largest issues affecting clinical development. As director of data management at Genentech, he’s been thinking about how data managers can help their organizations develop better protocols. 

The burden of day-to-day responsibilities does not always allow for appropriate reflection on the future. The Society for Clinical Data Management is trying to address that next month in its annual Leadership Forum. Held in Durham this year, it’s for senior-level executives. Space is limited. 

Gartner’s Carol Rozwell is one of the industry’s leading authorities on technology adoption and clinical data standards. In this illuminating interview with ClinPage editor Mark Uehling, she discusses why some organizations hesitate to use CDISC standards and how some contract research organizations (CRO) have recently begun to see data standards differently.