Allucent

Stephen Apps

Stephen Apps, the Senior Director and Global Head of Clinical Programming at Allucent, is a seasoned leader in the pharmaceutical and clinical research space. With a wealth of experience working at Medidata Solutions and INC Research (now Syneos Health), he excels at managing global teams, supervising successful implementation projects, and providing strategic direction for clinical programming initiatives. Recognized for Apps' proficiency in study management, CRF design, and collaboration with third-party vendors, he is a key contributor to Allucent's dedication to superior performance in global clinical programming.

How was your professional journey leading up to becoming Senior Director and Global Head of Clinical Programming?

I spent almost a decade in a prominent CRO's programming team, gaining valuable insights, opportunities, and exposure that set the stage for success. Afterward, I transitioned to the tech side, working for Medidata Solutions, supporting CRO partners across the platform. The tech environment's emphasis on development and innovation resonated with my energy and drive. Presented with a challenging opportunity to return to the CRO space at Allucent, I embraced the stretch assignment, knowing growth comes from stepping outside my comfort zone. At Allucent, the support I received from the leadership team has been vital to the growth and development of where I am today. Listening to and investing in my ideas allows me to move the team forward in the ways I've planned and envisaged. I'm looking to drive a lot of positive change within the organization and the mindsets of how we approach things and be less reactive and more proactive.

How has your clinical programming evolved amid changing regulations, and what challenges and adaptive strategies do you suggest for meeting new requirements?

It's not just about facing challenges; it's about being prepared to manage them effectively. The attitude and mindset in any situation determine the depth of the challenge. I prioritize listening to customers, teams, and vendors, emphasizing the power of a supportive network. As a leader, I empower my team to voice their opinions, fostering a culture of collaboration. This approach enables us to be agile in tackling new situations, ensuring success by gathering valuable information for informed decision-making.

Based on recent conversations with clients and industry leaders, what notable challenges or roadblocks have you observed in the market over the past 12 months?

Over the past 12 months, one notable challenge has been related to eCOA implementations. Ensuring timely setup amid collaboration with multiple parties requires careful consideration. To address this, I emphasize assembling a skilled team with the right experience and establishing solid vendor partnerships. At Allucent, our partnership with Thread, an eCOA provider, is crucial. We continually nurture this relationship to enhance our services collectively, leveraging each other's expertise for successful study outcomes.

What advice, suggestions, or warnings would you like to share with your peers based on your experience and insights?

As a rule of thumb, I advocate goal setting, creating clear objectives for myself and my team, and mapping out pathways to success. However, I emphasize the importance of regularly reviewing and reassessing these goals. What worked for one milestone may need adjustment for the next. Regular check-ins with critical stakeholders help ensure timely course corrections, preventing prolonged detours that could pose risks to studies. Collaboration remains a consistent theme for success, and it's evident in our recent recognition. Recently we received the Collaboration of the Year Award at the Medidata NEXT conference in New York City, underscoring the effectiveness of our collaborative practices. It's fascinating to see our efforts recognized in this way.

In the next 12 to 18 months, what emerging technologies or innovations in the pharmaceutical space should your peers be particularly attentive to?

In artificial intelligence (AI), we're particularly enthusiastic about its practical applications in day-to-day activities, specifically using AI to enhance quality and review processes within our group. Rather than focusing on grand Hollywood AI projects, we emphasize leveraging AI to streamline workloads, improve efficiency, and boost accuracy. As a programmer, I appreciate the significance of saving seconds in tasks, and AI offers exciting opportunities to optimize and review code systematically. This approach aims to make continuous, smaller improvements, ultimately significantly impacting the team. AI in quality and review is a key focus for us.

We're currently energized by our advancements in analytics and the substantial progress we've made in enhancing our Clinical Data Science offerings. Our recent focus on this was highlighted at the Medidata event, where we sponsored, had a booth, and presented our capabilities. Our goal is to deliver more relevant data to internal and external customers. We're exploring how to effectively represent data for medical professionals, clinical operations teams, and data management teams to facilitate informed decision-making, improve study oversight, and ensure more efficient functional performance, respectively. We emphasize providing visuals tailored to each role's unique needs, avoiding generic data dumps in Excel, and enabling teams to compare results seamlessly. This technology-driven approach generates significant excitement as we strive to offer validated outputs that save time and enhance data representation for our customers at Allucent.

What are key insights or best practices you'd like to share from your project experience or notable outcomes you've observed?

The key to success lies in leveraging input from everyone and empowering them to contribute to the outcome. This year, we've actively engaged with existing customers, potential clients, and competitors at events to grasp the landscape and better understand customers’ needs. Open discussions have been crucial for moving forward effectively. One of our recent initiatives has been developing more robust offerings through our Clinical Data Science team. The first stage of the initiative was to define our potential beneficiaries as well as our potential collaborators. We spent some effort in growing our network to gain more input and to increase the beneficiaries of our offerings. The more perspective and input we gained, the more we could refine our position and improve the value of our offerings.

This year, we have gone from data input on isolated studies to a defined and complete offering, supporting the clinical team with operational metrics for more efficient study management. The Medical Monitors report with insights and analytics enable the Medics to make well-informed decisions in a timely manner. We provide Data Management for data metrics to support data cleaning and data oversight. Not only is this new robust data support great for Allucent’s clinical teams, but by rolling this offering out on such a complete scale, it means we can better support our customers in an efficient and effective way, positively contributing to ongoing study management activities and patient safety, which is our ultimate goal.