Last Tuesday, around 60 nurses, clinicians and researchers from 12 different European countries gathered for a full day meeting at King’s College, London, to discuss the progress on the INNODIA clinical study. Members of the communication team, representatives of JDRF and the Patient Advisory Committee also attended the meeting. The main focus was (1) to discuss the progress on recruitment of participants, (2) provide information on what is happening with the samples collected and (3) explain the downstream use of these precious samples. With the recruitment now ongoing for just over 1 year, everyone was very happy that a milestone of 1000 participants was reached a month ago. A brainstorm session was held in small groups during which practical tips on how to further improve recruitment were exchanged between nurses and clinicians of different clinical sites. Presentations were given by Principal Investigators of INNODIA to re-iterate the importance of the set standardized procedures for collecting the samples across the clinical network, and inform on the plans for discovery of novel biomarkers for disease prediction and progress, for which the recruitment of person with T1D and at-risk family members is crucial. Information was also given on the first two clinical trials planned in the near future within the INNODIA clinical network.
Presentations by JDRF, as representative of the Patient Advisory Committee, and by the Communication team further stressed the importance of both internal and external communication channels, and offered possibilities and strategies on how to improve this further.
During the entire meeting day, there was a very intense interaction between all participants and a really good and positive atmosphere. It was thus a very fruitful meeting, which, we believe, will lead to a renewed energy to boost recruitment at all clinical sites, bringing us again one step closer to our final goal - a world without type 1 diabetes.
Full day meeting at King’s College in London
02. July 2018