By Clinical Research News Staff 

June 25, 2024 | ClinEco has launched the "Ask a ClinEco Luminary" program, offering its members direct access to leading experts in the clinical trials industry. The initiative aims to foster progressive dialogue and provide reliable expert advice to drive meaningful discourse within the ClinEco community. 

“At ClinEco, we are constantly talking with members of the community and realized there was no way to connect with industry leaders in relaxed, confidential way,” explains Marina Filshtinsky, SVP, Strategy and Product Development at ClinEco. “The Ask a Luminaries program offers anyone on the platform access to thought leaders in the clinical research space—a connection that is not available in any other format or community.”  

Editor’s note: ClinEco and Clinical Research News share the same parent company, Cambridge Innovation Institute.  

The Ask a ClinEco Luminary program is open to all ClinEco members—from Explorer members to Innovator subscribers. The program is designed to offer:   

• Direct Access to Experts: Members can engage with thought leaders selected for their extensive experience and influential community connections. 

• Educational Focus: The program is designed to enhance engagement, foster mentorship, and promote innovation in clinical trials. 

• Non-Promotional Engagement: Luminaries participate in a non-promotional capacity, volunteering their time to share their expertise. 

How the Program Works 

ClinEco is the world's first B2B clinical trial marketplace, uniting sponsors, CROs, service providers, and sites to streamline partnering and vendor selection. The platform is dedicated to advancing clinical research and fostering innovative solutions within the industry, and the ClinEco Luminary program is the latest offering to prompt dialogue and enhance engagement within the clinical trials community.  

The ClinEco Luminary program is part of the ClinEco Commons. Luminaries are leaders in the clinical research space selected by the ClinEco team based on their profound expertise. These individuals volunteer for a tenure of 1-2 years, ensuring a continuous influx of diverse perspectives. 

Members can reach the Luminaries by submitting their questions via the Ask a ClinEco Luminary page on the ClinEco platform. Luminaries choose which questions to answer. Responses are typically delivered within three business days directly to the member's ClinEco In-Box. The entire process is kept confidential. Questions and answers are only visible to the individual member and the engaged Luminary team.  

What to Ask 

Topic areas covered by the ClinEco Luminaries include protocol and study design; patient recruitment and engagement; diversity, equity, and inclusion; real world data; artificial intelligence applications; and decentralized and hybrid trials. There are also Luminaries representing Sites and Patients, letting members get valuable insights from representatives of those groups as well.  

Members select the topic area for their question, which is submitted to the Luminaries who cover each general area. Questions should not be promotional or consulting type questions, but can cover general challenges in clinical research such as, “What’s the right way to assess protocol complexity?” and “Can technology become a barrier to achieving clinical trial diversity?” 

Answers are attributed to an individual Luminary and represent their own, informed opinion. Innovator subscribers can access unlimited messaging with the Luminary for each question posed, while Explorer members are limited to one follow-up response to the Luminary’s initial answer. There are no restrictions on the number of questions either Innovator or Explorer members can ask.