Proud to announce we have joined the Rave-EDC site advocacy groups by CSRS

Our excellent colleagues Marta Kasprzyk Marczyńska and Karolina Przywara, coordinators of Pratia MCM Kraków, were selected for the international Site Advocacy Group organized by SCRS to develop guidelines for the further development of the RAVE-EDC system. 

It is not the first time that Pratia has had the opportunity to act in a forum of this type. A great opportunity to use our clinical trial expertise in this thriving international association. 

1. We have spoken with Jimmy Bechtel, Vice President of Site Engagement the Society for Clinical Research Sites’ (SCRS) to find out firsthand how Marta and Karolina were selected & what does this mean for them in the future?

Jimmy Bechtel: Site Advocacy Group members are selected based on the criteria that is set by the organization sponsoring the Group. We send these criteria out to our membership and ask if they wish to participate. Typically, our partners are seeking advanced sites with forward-thinking attitudes and a focus on innovation. If an interested site meets these criteria, we review them in detail with our partner to determine who we will select to participate. For the site, this means that they are in a position to demonstrate a willingness to look to the future of what research will be and what systems or processes our partners will pursue in the future. As sites, SAGs are an opportunity to have a direct influence on these advancements. 

2. Historically we had more people joining SAG from Pratia, as lecturers, participants; what are your thoughts on the talent that came from Pratia and your opinion about Pratia itself?

Jimmy Bechtel: Now, we are seeing provisions being built into protocols in case site visits are no longer possible and need to be replaced with telemedicine. This appears to be preventative for resurgence of case rates and social restrictions; however, it appears that this mechanism may be used in future to better accommodate Patient/Physician availability. If this is the case, this is truly a benefit to all involved that has been birthed out of challenging circumstances.

3. Marta Kasprzyk Marczyńska and Karolina Przywara: Congratulations, you are officially part of the Site Advocacy Group organized by SCRS, how does this make you feel and what are your expectations within this project?

Marta Kasprzyk Marczyńska: Being chosen to be a part of Site Advocacy Group organized by SCRS is a great opportunity to widen the horizons, share the experience and present our point of view. It is also a honorable validation of gained knowledge. I am looking forward to meet people sharing the same daily activities in clinical research, but having different point of view.

Karolina Przywara: Thank you. It is a great honor for me and I am very happy that I got such a credit of trust.
I hope that   participation in this project will help to improve the performance of systems used by thousands of people working in the field of clinical research. It will also be an opportunity for me to exchange knowledge and experiences with people from all over the world.  

4. Joining the Site Advocacy Group shows that your knowledge and expertise is priceless, what are you doing on a daily basis and how does this expertise could influence while working in such a project group?

Karolina Przywara: My daily work is a cooperation with patients, doctors, nurses, pharmacists and CRAs to properly conduct a clinical trial. Clinical trials are often complex and require innovative logistics solutions but I believe that collaboration is the key to success. My everyday goal is to keep the patient satisfied and team supported. I think being part of such a diverse group helps to pay attention to the obstacles and problems of individual units. I hope that SAG meetings will result in new solutions that, once implemented, will facilitate the work of all teams involved in a clinical trial. 

Marta Kasprzyk Marczyńska: My daily work is composed of two components – routine and unexpected events. Some procedures and activities are performed in cycles – they teach us to perform intuitively and are a great test of organizational skills and efficiency. Because of the work specifics we also have to deal with unprecedented events, sometimes with time pressure – these are a great (but also tough) opportunity to learn quickly, to verify our knowledge and to learn how to make decisions. On top of that, working in hematology makes it all even more difficult. Our work could be compared to a web browser with multiple windows, pop-ups and music playing in one of them. All this makes us versatile and experienced enough to bring our voice forward. 

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Jimmy Bechtel Bio:

Jimmy Bechtel is the Society for Clinical Research Sites’ (SCRS) Vice President of Site Engagement. He brings experience from both the site and sponsor sides of the clinical research industry to his critical role with SCRS. Jimmy provided a variety of support within the site spectrum in previous positions as data specialist, patient recruiter and operations manager. On the pharma side where he worked in innovation project management, Jimmy utilized his previous professional experience to encourage a site-centric environment and create ease for sites working with a major sponsor company. This multifaceted background allows Jimmy to bring a unique perspective to the work he does on behalf of the sites. At SCRS, Jimmy is in charge of developing and executing the company’s site-facing initiatives and works closely with key industry partners to build out various SCRS partnership programs. Additionally, Jimmy drives the implementation the Membership department’s site focused operations as well as design and marketing. 

Marta Kasprzyk Bio:

Marta has a Master of Science degree in the field of Biomedical Engineering at AGH-UST in Kraków.  She started her carrier in clinical research as a Clinical Research Assistant in MCM (Kraków, Poland) in 2015. Since then she worked her way up to be the Lead Clinical Research Coordinator in Hematology Department in Pratia MCM Kraków.Marta combines her analytical skills with wide experience in multiple trials to both hold responsibilities as a study coordinator and to train younger specialists

Karolina Przywara Bio:

Biomedical Engineer and PhD student in a subject of Biophysics. She wants to develop herself in clinical research area, directing her career path towards the clinical research monitoring. Her greatest professional interests are new technologies combined with medicine. Privately, she loves dogs, flowers, trips and Formula 1 racing.