Method - Efficient and effective conduct of clinical trials

Clinical trials are currently run using methods that are often not backed by high-quality evidence, and this project aims to replace guesswork with proven, efficient practices. The problem is twofold. First, the way trials collect and check data directly affects both their cost and the reliability of their results, yet many standard procedures have never been rigorously tested. Second, academic organisations frequently investigate new treatments for diseases that pharmaceutical companies deprioritise, creating a bottleneck where promising results struggle to reach regulatory approval. This project seeks to identify evidence-based ways to run trials more effectively—for example, by determining when and how patients’ routine medical records can replace expensive, dedicated data collection, and when they cannot. If successful, this research could make clinical trials cheaper, faster, and more trustworthy. For patients with diseases that industry neglects, it could accelerate the licensing of new treatments by giving regulators clearer, more reliable data from academic-led trials. The impact would be felt not in dramatic headlines, but in the quiet, systematic improvement of how medical evidence is generated and used.