A collaborative approach to support funders’ efforts to drive transparency in clinical trials
Maia Salholz-Hillel
(QUEST Center for Responsible Research, Berlin Institute of Health Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin)
Delwen L. Franzen
(BIH-QUEST Center for Responsible Research at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin)
Friederike Elisabeth Kohrs
(BIH QUEST Center for Responsible Research)
Samruddhi Yerunkar
(BIH-QUEST Center for Responsible Research at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin)
Paper Short Abstract
We present a collaborative, multi-stakeholder approach to support funders’ efforts to drive transparency in trials. We describe funders’ needs for supporting transparency, the potential of automated tools for monitoring, and co-creation workshops to inform novel strategies for improved transparency.
Paper Abstract
Transparency is core to responsible research: it allows the quality of research to be appraised, mitigates biases, and facilitates comprehensive evidence synthesis. While transparency is important in all areas of science, clinical trials warrant particular scrutiny because they involve human volunteers and inform medical decision-making. Yet, trials often lack transparency; for example, trial results may be delayed, unavailable, or poorly linked. Insufficient transparency undermines evidence synthesis and distorts our understanding of the medical evidence base.
Funders are uniquely positioned to drive improvements in research transparency by setting policies, monitoring funded projects, and supporting compliance. However, funders often lack a comprehensive overview of grantees’ adherence to transparency practices, or efficient workflows to monitor compliance. Alliances with metascientists as well as other types of institutions (e.g., registries, research organizations, regulators) offer the opportunity to better understand funders’ challenges and needs, drive technological and methodological advances, and build long-term infrastructures to shape scalable change towards transparency in clinical trials and beyond.
In this talk, we present a collaborative approach to support funders’ efforts to drive trial transparency. We describe the findings of an interview study on funders’ perceived role, existing measures, and needs around monitoring and supporting trial transparency. We showcase opportunities for funders to integrate automated tools into their monitoring workflows. Finally, we describe ongoing workshops, which bring together funders and other stakeholders to co-create novel solutions to improve trial transparency. Our work illustrates how metascience can build alliances within the community to promote innovation toward responsible research.
Accepted Poster
Paper Short Abstract
Paper Abstract
Transparency is core to responsible research: it allows the quality of research to be appraised, mitigates biases, and facilitates comprehensive evidence synthesis. While transparency is important in all areas of science, clinical trials warrant particular scrutiny because they involve human volunteers and inform medical decision-making. Yet, trials often lack transparency; for example, trial results may be delayed, unavailable, or poorly linked. Insufficient transparency undermines evidence synthesis and distorts our understanding of the medical evidence base.
Funders are uniquely positioned to drive improvements in research transparency by setting policies, monitoring funded projects, and supporting compliance. However, funders often lack a comprehensive overview of grantees’ adherence to transparency practices, or efficient workflows to monitor compliance. Alliances with metascientists as well as other types of institutions (e.g., registries, research organizations, regulators) offer the opportunity to better understand funders’ challenges and needs, drive technological and methodological advances, and build long-term infrastructures to shape scalable change towards transparency in clinical trials and beyond.
In this talk, we present a collaborative approach to support funders’ efforts to drive trial transparency. We describe the findings of an interview study on funders’ perceived role, existing measures, and needs around monitoring and supporting trial transparency. We showcase opportunities for funders to integrate automated tools into their monitoring workflows. Finally, we describe ongoing workshops, which bring together funders and other stakeholders to co-create novel solutions to improve trial transparency. Our work illustrates how metascience can build alliances within the community to promote innovation toward responsible research.
Poster session
Session 1 Tuesday 1 July, 2025, -