Teckro Clinical Research Manager Siobhan McKenna

Clinical Research Manager

Siobhan McKenna

Seb manages platform and product engineering teams for Teckro, delivering substantial strategic business benefits through applied technology innovation.

Seb is focused on building and scaling high performing technology products and organizations. He is a self-proclaimed enthusiast of Agile and Lean software development methodologies. With more than 20 years in the software industry, 15 spent in building mobile, cloud and big data platforms used by millions of users globally, his experience is a great asset to Teckro.

Prior, Seb led the Platform Engineering organization for Travelport Digital where he built and managed an internal technology platform to enable stream-aligned teams to deliver work with substantial autonomy. He also held several technical leadership roles at Mobile Travel Technologies, Newbay Software, Sygnity. He holds an MSc in computer science from the University of Zielona Gora.

Vice President, Engineering

Seb Glowacki

asdasdasdsd

asdasdasd

jhkjhkjfgksdjhfg

hello

hello again

asdasd

European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety

Stella Kyriakides

Magna pariatur qui deserunt Lorem ex voluptate exercitation cupidatat amet amet do velit. Nostrud do incididunt deserunt qui ullamco nisi excepteur do ullamco voluptate. Anim velit ullamco laboris nostrud ex labore occaecat voluptate veniam ipsum qui voluptate. Laboris sit dolore laborum nulla ullamco irure. Cupidatat incididunt laboris incididunt nostrud. Consequat laboris dolore ea commodo ad ad deserunt tempor dolor. Enim laboris enim est. Aliqua anim aliquip elit deserunt consequat tempor.

Teckro is what now and the future is going to be.

Kelly Brown reflects on the last twelve months as well as three positive established trends.

The Pandemic One Year Later and "3Cs" Here to Stay 

The Pandemic One Year Later

Teckro's Kelly Brown reflects on the COVID-19 outbreak and the WHO pandemic status declaration on March 11, 2020, as well as positive trends around the world.

It’s been a year since we were all dropped into a sci-fi story called the global pandemic. Yes, it was last year on March 11 that the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic. But unlike a fictional film script, we didn’t have time to prepare for the role nor could we flip to the end to decide whether we wanted to be part of this story.

Living under restrictive conditions for a year now, there are billions of us disrupted by COVID-19. It is quite humbling to think about the sheer scope of the pandemic and how it has affected us all as humans. The cost to human life is massive when we think about those who have been ill, the people who have died or lost loved ones, and also those suffering prolonged sickness from what is now known as "long COVID" with symptoms lasting weeks or months. The consequences of the pandemic touch all aspects of our lives – as individuals, friends, part of family units, students, employees, colleagues, community members, and citizens.

I thought I would take a different approach on the anniversary of the global pandemic and reflect on three positive things that have surfaced over the past year that I’d like to see here to stay. I’ve categorized them into three Cs: collaboration, communication and caring.

Vaccination programs are underway around the world. For example, in the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 

 shows more than 18% of the population has received at least one dose. In comparison, the UK is one of the countries farthest ahead with its vaccination program and has already reached more than 33% of the population with at least one vaccine dose.

It is remarkable to think that a year ago, there was no vaccine. And last March, it was unclear how quickly there could be a vaccine. If we looked at history, it took 

 to get a mumps vaccination in the 1960s, but that was also based on groundwork started in World War II.

The world being in some kind of lockdown for four years was absolutely unthinkable. And so began a massive, global effort to search for solutions to our COVID-19 problem, ranging from vaccines to prevent us from getting sick to treatments that reduce the severity for those who do. United by a common problem, interesting collaborations blossomed. Pfizer and BioNTech 

 in March 2020 and the goal to have a vaccine in clinical testing just a few short weeks later.

We also saw other collaborations between pharma companies, health authorities, government agencies and academic research facilities. A case in point is the 

 alliance announced in April 2020. Both the Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca-Oxford relationships yielded positive results with emergency use approval for their vaccines in many countries.

But more than drug development, there is also the massive task of manufacturing and distributing the vaccines. Last month, for example Novartis 

 to manufacture the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. As we think about getting vaccines to remote and underprivileged countries in the world, collaboration will be key to make sure that no one on the planet is left behind.

This also raises the point: what else could be possible if drug makers collaborated on other treatments? Nearly 40 years on, there is no vaccine for HIV for example. While competition is great to challenge the status quo and drive innovation, we have seen this past year that collaboration is equally as powerful when united for the common good.

One of the trends over the past year has been one of transparency. Pharma companies and health agencies knew they had a big job ahead of them to convince the public that any vaccine was safe. Public distrust of vaccine motivations and past horrors from clinical trials gone wrong fueled fear and uncertainty about drug makers’ efforts. Left unaddressed, they had the potential to completely undermine the research and development work being done.

It was quite remarkable in September to see a press release from nine pharma companies – CEOs of AstraZeneca, BioNTech, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Moderna, Novavax, Pfizer, and Sanofi – issuing a statement called “Biopharma Leaders Stand with Science.” United together, they wanted to ensure the public that while they were moving with great speed, they were not compromising safety and quality standards.

“Guided by science” has been a key theme used by the industry as well as government and health authorities. The pharma industry alone can’t dispel public fears because they are also the beneficiary of the sales of vaccines and treatments. So this is where we saw the regulators step up to the challenge presented by COVID-19.

 (EMA) for example, announced in September that it would require the publication of clinical trial data for authorized treatments and vaccines. In November, the US FDA 

 about its approach to emergency use authorizations for COVID-19 treatments and vaccines. More recently, the EMA and Health Canada collaboratively published the full clinical data reviewed as part of their authorizations of the 

In times of uncertainty, communication is critical. The global pandemic stepped up transparency of decisions related to clinical trials and drug authorizations that haven’t necessarily always been consistently or clearly communicated for the layperson to understand. This is a big step in boosting the confidence of the public and hopefully, this transparency trend will continue for non-COVID-related authorizations in the future.

My last “C” speaks to wonderful aspects of human nature. Faced with danger, we want to protect those most in need. Over the last year, we’ve seen this unfold in many different ways. Lockdown was difficult for many millions of people, but it was for the greater good to suppress the spread of the virus. Wearing masks is awkward and getting vaccinated is not the best experience, but they protect others from the spread of the virus.

Much of what happened over the past year was people thinking about others. But the toll of the past year was more than just containment of the virus. There is economic devastation in many sectors, including hospitality, travel, retail, and restaurants. There is also the emotional and mental health crisis that arose from people feeling trapped, alone and unable to cope. There is also the ongoing concern about burnout from employees unable to shut off working from home.

There has been a great sense that we are a global community – that we are in this pandemic together. And random acts of kindness and little ways of showing that we care for one another, that is humanity at its best.

I dislike the phrase “the new normal” because to me it feels like we are on autopilot. It’s like we slip from one way of being into another, without really reflecting on how or why we are doing what we are doing. To me, in spite of physical and emotional suffering, I believe the pandemic one year on highlights what is possible when we work together and care about each other.

12 Months of COVID-19 Helped Us Look Forward and Work Together

⚠️ Spoiler alert: neither COVID-19 nor coronavirus are on the list of "Cs"

Global COVID-19 Pandemic One Year Later and "3Cs" Here to Stay

Read less

European Site Solutions Summit

Teckro is attending the event in Lisbon, Portugal, and our team will be available for individual meetings.

Attending: European Site Solutions Summit 2023 🤝

The European Site Solutions Summit provides a unique hub where sites, sponsors, CRO executives, and regulators come together to discuss best practices and ideas while developing strategic partnerships through ideation sessions, workshops, and focus groups. 

European Site Solutions Summit 2023

Teckro Product Overview

We explain how to “Teckro the answer” for study questions.

This product introduction video explains how clinical trial study site staff rely on one simple app, with all protocols, in their pocket, at the point of care.

Teckro Clinical Trial App Overview 📲 (Video)

Teckro connects study stakeholders with critical information they need, when they need it. This means investigators and research staff have immediate answers on hand when they are with patients. Monitors can better communicate study changes and provide useful guidance to study sites. And sponsors have real-time visibility into study site engagement and search trends, which could give early indications of risks or the need for clarifications.

Watch this introduction to see how research staff, monitors and sponsors “Teckro the answer” to their clinical trial questions.

Video: Teckro Clinical Trial App Overview

Product Overview

In clinical trials, everything starts with a question. For research staff, finding accurate answers when they need it can be hard. This is because the study protocol is often still on paper, or it might be a PDF file stored in a portal somewhere. Paper protocols or files locked away in portals don't get busy research staff the immediate, accurate answers they need when they are with patients. They also don't give sponsors and monitors insight into site engagement or early warnings of potential safety issues. And yet adhering to the protocol is vital for patient safety and the quality of the study. 

From a static document, Teckro transforms the protocol into a critical information source for engagement and trial conduct. Teckro clinical trial software creates a digital engagement platform that connects research site staff, sponsors and monitors together with each other and with the critical study information they need when they need it. Teckro Search is the study protocol in your pocket. It is available from any mobile device. Answers are returned in seconds from the current approved protocol for that site.

Sponsors and CROs have real time visibility into which sites are interacting with the study based on Search activity. Study managers can get early indications of potential issues from Search trends if research staff can't find what they're looking for from the search results. Teckro Connect provides a compliant, dedicated channel for them to directly query a predefined group of medical and study experts. This removes site staff frustration of not getting timely answers back to questions, and it increases site staff confidence in the answers because they are coming directly from the experts.

With Teckro Engage, study teams can send specific messages to prepare for an upcoming visit or alert them of critical updates. Users are alerted on their mobile device and administrators can track who opens and reads the message. With Teckro Survey, study teams can easily get feedback from research staff through an online survey.

It all starts with the protocol. Teckro transforms the protocol from an inaccessible static document into valuable information for everyone: research staff, CROs and sponsors. Find out how to unleash the power of your protocol.

Test

Siobhan McKenna

Clinical Research Manager

Seb Glowacki

Vice President, Engineering

CRO

Global COVID-19 Pandemic One Year Later and "3Cs" Here to Stay

European Site Solutions Summit

asdasdasdsd

asdasdasd

asdasd

jhkjhkjfgksdjhfg

hello

hello again

Related Resources

One Tree Planted: A Partnership Taking Root

How Research Staff Receive Real-Time Patient Safety Guidance

Transforming Clinical Trial Submissions in Europe

Siobhan McKenna

Clinical Research Manager

Seb Glowacki

Vice President, Engineering

CRO

Global COVID-19 Pandemic One Year Later and "3Cs" Here to Stay

Read more

European Site Solutions Summit

Click here to expand transcript

asdasdasdsd

Related Resources

One Tree Planted: A Partnership Taking Root

How Research Staff Receive Real-Time Patient Safety Guidance

Transforming Clinical Trial Submissions in Europe