Dear SCDM Friends,

Can you believe we’re almost halfway through the year? Time certainly does fly!  So much has happened this year with more to come! As we mentioned in our previous message a few months ago, SCDM is transforming to lead our profession into the future. So what have we done? Read on to find out!

Earlier this year, the SCDM Board of Trustees and Executive Committee launched the 2023-2025 Strategic Plan, with the focus for the Society is on 3 priorities: education and certification, thought leadership, and partnerships of value. To support these priorities and the new mission and vision, SCDM has reorganized the committee structure and the board has elected chairs for each. Now it’s up to YOU!

It’s time for you to get involved with one of our many committees. Review the new committee structure and consider how you can contribute. Your subject-matter expertise can impact the future of our clinical data profession!

EMEA

On April 26-28 industry leaders, regulators and members met in in Gothenburg, Sweden, at the EMEA 2023 Conference, hosted by AstraZeneca. Opening with pre-conference workshops included Data Requirements for an FDA Submission and the SCDM Leadership Forum. The Leadership Forum specifically addressed the rapid transformation happening within our industry. Discussions led by industry experts Demetris Zambas, Michael Goedde and Richard Young included organizational transformation and success factors for CDM move to CDS. The Forum participants participated in breakout groups attacking priority questions related to this transformation. Following this session, was a panel discussion with key regulators including Bjorn Erikksson, Director General of the Swedish Medical Products Agency and representatives from FDA, BFarm, and Danish Medicines Agency discussing regulatory developments and initiatives, including the impact of European Health Data Space initiative.

The conference sessions were kicked off with an outstanding keynote address by Jo Couter. Breaking from the traditional keynote speaker from our industry, Jo brought his experience and testimony from the banking industry, leading us down the transformational road of his experience, beautifully weaving it to our industry creating the lightbulb moment in the room, when attendees realized that we’re all on a similar journey. Following the keynote address, the parallel sessions commenced covering topics including DCT, RBQM, eSource, health equity, AI/ML and vendor interactions and oversight.

The conference was a huge success, and we are already planning next year, looking forward to SCDM EMEA 2024 conference in Warsaw. Hope to see you there!

Annual Conference

Planning continues for the Annual Conference, October 8-11 in San Diego, California. The planning committee has been working diligently to create an exciting program with innovative content. Session chairs have been selected; speakers are being chosen and innovative content is being developed. Registration is open! Join us in San Diego to celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the SCDM Annual Conference!

Regional Events

One of our goals is global expansion, so keep an eye out on your inboxes, social media, and the website for regional events, as we expand our global presence to diverse audiences. We are coming to a region near you and invite you to be a part of it!

Education and Certification

As part of our strategic priorities, we are focusing on our educational content to raise existing content and add new content from our recent conferences and published papers. This will be the cornerstone of our educational offerings, and the foundation for our certifications. We continue to work towards a planned launch of CCDA (Data Associate) certification, and a development of a new CCDS (Data Scientist) certification.

Regulatory Council

We announced earlier this year the development and launch of the Regulatory Council. This will be a cooperative relationship between regulators and SCDM to understand each other’s needs and work to progress the advancement of Clinical Data Science within current and developing regulations for the benefit of global health care. As an expansion of our very popular Regulatory Fireside chats in our conferences, this is a continuation of the discussions related to ongoing and upcoming regulatory initiatives.

Volunteer

Could I go on and on? Yes! How do I sum all this up? There is so much going on with our new strategic plan! We have created the framework and now we need YOU. As in my last letter, I invite you to reach out, volunteer and get involved. You, our membership, will drive this transformation active participation is the key. Register as a volunteer to help advance our organization and be a part of SCDM leading our profession into the future!

On behalf of the SCDM Executive Committee and Board of Trustees, thank you for being a part of SCDM and we look forward to your participation in being a part of the exciting future of our industry!

Carol Schaffer
Secretary, SCDM Board of Trustees