In late April, the Pediatric Trials Network (PTN) sponsored a session at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. The event involved quick debates between PTN investigators and collaborators on topics related to pediatric clinical research. A patient advocate and student with experience participating in pediatric clinical research shared her thoughts on each topic. The event was attended by more than 100 people. Participation from the audience, as well as the perspectives offered by the patient advocate, made for engaging debates.
This session was co-led with the International Children’s Advisory Network (iCAN). Rhiannon Perry, the patient advocate participating in the event, is a member of iCAN Young Adult Professionals, and ambassador for the Hope for Henry Patient Advisory Board and the Be the Match Network. She is studying Sociology, Human Services, and Psychology at Mount St. Mary’s University. After each debate, Rhiannon shared her thoughts on the investigators’ stances. Her participation brought the valuable perspective of someone who is personally involved with pediatric clinical research.
On participating in clinical trials, Rhiannon said “Having a disease is a trial whether you’re enrolled in one or not. You take what medication you can and hope that works…We sign on in hopes we can get something beneficial out of it.”
The debates were on two topics, with two debaters for each topic. The speakers had four minutes to make their arguments, followed by one minute for rebuttal. Debaters were assigned the side they argued for. Before each debate, the audience was polled on their opinion. After listening to the investigators and Rhiannon, they were surveyed again to see if their minds changed. Audience members also had the chance to ask questions of the debaters.
The first debate was between Gregory L. Kearns, PharmD, PhD, FAAP and Roger Soll, MD, FAAP on the question “What are the most important types of studies that should be done to move the field of pediatric therapeutics forward?” Dr. Kearns argued for smaller, dose ranging studies. Dr. Soll argued for large, randomized controlled trials. The second debate was between Danny Benjamin, MD, PhD, MPH and Chris Feudtner, MD, PhD, MPH, HCEC-C on the question “Should pediatric participants be incentivized to participate in drug and device studies?” Dr. Benjamin argued yes, while Dr. Feudtner argued that there are ethical concerns.
The PTN thanks everyone who attended and participated in this event at the PAS Annual Meeting and hopes that these debates inspired new ideas and ways of thinking about pediatric clinical research.
View a video from the meeting and photos below: