Event “Clinical Trials as the Key to Medical Progress: What Do We Need to Do Better in Germany?”

29 October 2018

Panel discussion

© David Ausserhofer

The event on 29 October 2018 was organised jointly by the DFG Senate Commission on Key Questions in Clinical Research (SCCR), the Medical Committee of the German Council of Science and Humanities and the Health Research Forum of the BMBF. The three bodies presented the results from their respective working groups, each reporting from its own perspective of the field of clinical trials and comparing these viewpoints. All in all, a constructive set of measures was presented to allow the potential of the full spectrum of clinical trials in Germany to be more effectively exploited in future. The event was attended by around 70 people from business, politics and society. After an introductory presentation by Professor Rita Schutzler (University of Cologne), the chairs of the different working groups and Jan Geißler (European Patients’ Academy, EUPATI), representing the patient side, discussed the current situation of clinical trials in Germany. The questions discussed included:

  • What is currently going well/badly in Germany with regard to the options for carrying out clinical trials and what specific improvements need to be made?
  • Where do stakeholders perceive the most urgent need for action?
  • Why should early clinical trials in particular be better funded?
  • What form would a meaningful integration of patient representatives take?
  • How can early career researchers be motivated for clinical trials and what incentive structures are important in this respect?

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