Co-authored by Richard Moscicki, MD | Tesheia Harris, MBA, MHS | on behalf of the Board of Directors and Leaders of the Clinical Trials Access Collaborative (CTAC)
For the past two years, we have been working toward a simple but critical goal: making it easier for people to participate in clinical trials. Clinical research is the foundation of medical innovation, and expanding access to trials means more people have the opportunity to contribute to and benefit from potentially life-saving treatments.
That’s why we are proud to share the launch of Clinical Trials Access Collaborative (CTAC)—a nonprofit organization established following the successful completion of a two-year learning phase initially led under Equitable Breakthroughs in Medicine Development (EQBMED). This next chapter represents a significant milestone in the effort to expand clinical trial access and ensure that individuals who wish to participate in medical research have real opportunities to do so.
What We Accomplished in Phase 1
CTAC has worked with community-based healthcare sites across 14+ states, equipping them with the tools and infrastructure needed to sustainably participate in clinical research. These sites, spanning federally qualified health centers, safety-net and community hospitals, HBCUs, private practices, and specialty hospitals and decentralized sites, partnered with our academic network hubs—Yale School of Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine, the Research Centers in Minority Institutions Coordinating Center (RCMI-CC) at Morehouse School of Medicine, and Vanderbilt University Medical Center—to assess their clinical research readiness and implement customized roadmaps for success.
Some of the outcomes from this phase include:
- A new way to assess trial readiness: We developed the Site Maturity Assessment Model, published in Trials, to help sites evaluate their capabilities and set goals for long term success.
- A first-of-its-kind Sponsor Front Door: We created a streamlined platform to help research sponsors find and support trial-ready sites.
- Stronger partnerships across the industry: We brought together 50+ partners across research, healthcare, professional societies, and industry, all committed to making clinical trials more accessible.
- Real impact in real communities: Working with industry, sites, and community partners, we helped place 20+ clinical trials with over 4,600 participants, proving that with the right support, more sites can conduct potentially life-saving clinical research.
What’s Next: Scaling the Impact
Now that we have validated our model, our focus in Phase 2 is to:
- Grow the network: We’ll continue supporting our original 10 sites while adding 15 new sites in both urban and rural areas.
- Provide hands-on mentorship: New mentoring hubs will help sites learn from each other and build stronger research programs.
- Invest in clinical research teams: Through workforce development programs, we’ll help sites train and retain staff to support sustainable participation in trials.
- Establish CTAC as a long-term force in clinical research: We’ve launched a $50 million capital campaign to support this next phase and ensure lasting impact.
Why This Matters
By strengthening clinical trial infrastructure, we’re making it possible for more people to take part in medical research, and in doing so, we’re shaping the future of medicine. We are incredibly proud of what we’ve accomplished so far, and are even more excited about what’s ahead.
To learn more about our work and how you can get involved, visit CTAC.org.
CTAC presently is in the 501(c)(3) application process.