Making the Most of Your Investigator Meeting

An investigator meeting usually signals the kick-off of a clinical trial.  As the industry has evolved and regulations have been put in place, sponsors often feel constrained with their meeting planning compared to years ago. Long gone are the days of lavish meetings with extravagant meals and pricey offsite team-building trips. Investigator meetings have become very predictable, and as result sites are familiar with the typical agenda. 

With all of these restrictions, how can you make your IM memorable and engaging for the attendees?

 Your sites are one of the most critical components to successfully enrolling your trial so you should make sure they leave the meeting enthused to be part of the study.  The investigator meeting is often the starting point of a relationship the study team will continue to build over the course of the study.

Some ideas to consider when planning your next investigator meeting:

• Create a theme for the meeting: In past meetings we have used themes such as Amazing Race and Survivor, which included imagery and activities that carried throughout the meeting.

• Designate study team members to meet each attendee: One sponsor I have worked with assigns each study team member to a certain number of sites to ensure every meeting attendee gets direct personal contact from the sponsor.

• Hold interactive breakout sessions: Facilitating smaller group discussion allows the sites to both share ideas and learn from each other.

• Form a panel of experienced sites to answer questions: If you have a lot of sites that are new to the study indication, creating a panel of ‘expert’ sites can be a valuable forum for lessons learned.

• Incorporate a game or trivia during the meeting: Using a game show or trivia game can break up the meeting creating an interactive session where you can test sites on the information they have learned.

The dynamic of the investigator meeting has changed over the years, but that does not mean you cannot make your meeting stand out. Take advantage of the opportunity to strengthen your relationships with the sites and build motivation for the study that will set the proper tone as you get your trial up and running.