Accelerating Clinical Trials

Although Canada is home to some of the world’s leading clinical trialists, the country falls short of the level of efficiency and streamlined processes other nations have created for clinical trials. This gap was exemplified when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and other countries broke ground, in record speed, with vaccines and treatments. Clinical trialists in Canada had to ask themselves why we did not.

In early 2023, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research committed $39 million over three years to the newly created national consortium, Accelerating Clinical Trials (ACT) / d’Accélérer les essais cliniques (AEC) to facilitate the conduct, implementation, and results translation from high-quality, high-impact randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to improve health in Canada and around the world.

This pan-Canadian consortium brings together hundreds of researchers from 28 networks, 11 trial units, patient-partners, the biotechnology industry, government, and experts in research ethics review processes, contracts, insurance, regulatory processes, patient engagement, clinical trials training, communications, and knowledge mobilization – from Nova Scotia to British Columbia and Nunavut.

The 1st annual meeting of the ACT Canada consortium was held April 17-18, 2023 in Hamilton, Ontario. (Full agenda – PDF.)

1st Annual Meeting of ACT Canada Consortium

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ACT Operating Committee

The ACT Operating Committee (AOC) is co-chaired by PHRI Senior Scientist PJ Devereaux and Guy Rouleau, Director, Montreal Neurological Institute at McGill University.

The other AOC members are:

Wayne Clark, Executive Director of the Indigenous Health Program, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, University of Alberta
Dean Fergusson, Director, Clinical Epidemiology Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (OHRI)
Amit Garg, Associate Dean for Clinical Research, Western University
Jeremy Grimshaw, Senior Scientist, OHRI, and Canada Research Chair in Health Knowledge Transfer and Uptake
Corinne Hohl, Clinician-Scientist, University of British Columbia
Catherine Joyes, Associate Director, Clinical Research, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University
Susan Marlin, CEO of Clinical Trials Ontario
Emily McDonald, Scientific Director, Canadian Deprescribing Network; researcher at Research Institute – McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC)
Stuart Nicholls, SPOR Program Facilitator, Office of Patient Engagement in Research Activities, OHRI
Louise Pilote, Deputy Director, RI-MUHC, co-founder of Canadian Organization for Sex and Gender Sciences
Denis Prud’homme, Associate VP, Research, and Scientific Director of Institut du Savoir Montfort
Lawrence Richer, Associate Dean, Health Research for the College of Health Sciences, University of Alberta
Alexander Lim, ACT Consortium Manager

Patient Engagement Committee

Manuel Escoto

Co-chairs of the ACT/AEC Patient Engagement Committee:

Manuel Escoto, Patient, Family, and Donor Partnerships and Education Manager, Canadian Donation and Transplantation Research Program (CDTRP), supports the integration of patient, family, and donor partners into research projects, governance and leadership activities, and leads patient engagement capacity-building activities. Before joining CDTRP, Manuel was the Community Development and Communications Manager with The Kidney Foundation where he connected with patients and families impacted by kidney health, organ donation, and transplantation to help them navigate the health system, and was responsible for educational initiatives increasing the awareness of The Kidney Foundation, kidney disease, and organ donation. As a kidney transplant recipient, Manuel has a passion for donation and transplantation policy and research, and advocates for the meaningful integration of patient partners in research, policy development, and knowledge mobilization initiatives. He has a Master of Public Health and has experience developing evidence-based policy recommendations with government and community-based research organizations.

Alicia Murdoch

Alicia Murdoch is a certified Clinical Research Professional (ACRP-CP) with more than 14 years of clinical research experience. Prior to joining Can-SOLVE CKD, she worked as a research coordinator, review manager at a Research Ethics Board (REB) and ethics and regulatory coordinator for phase 2 and 3 clinical trials. Her past employment experiences have given her a wide breadth of knowledge about the research process. In her current role as a Can-SOLVE CKD Network project manager, she is responsible for the Canadian Nephrology Trials Network and Can-SOLVE CKD Network Pediatric Committee, helping these core infrastructures move their initiatives and ideas forward in the pursuit of improving the lives of those affected by chronic kidney disease.

1st Annual Meeting of ACT Canada Consortium

ACT Operating Committee

Patient Engagement Committee

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