The current model for randomized clinical trials is unsustainable and must be redesigned for the 21st century, according to a joint statement released last month from the ACC, European Society of Cardiology (ESC), American Heart Association (AHA) and World Heart Federation (WHF).

The statement highlights the current challenges with the present clinical trial model and suggests several ways to solve for these challenges by reinventing the clinical trial process. "In a rapidly changing and increasingly global world, there is no excuse for clinical trials not to keep pace with recent advances," said ACC President Edward T. A. Fry, MD, FACC, who was one of the authors.

The statement reinforces the important role that specialty societies like the ACC can and should play in redesigning clinical trials – a topic that the ACC has prioritized both as part of its diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, as well as its leadership pipeline initiatives. In fact, the College's latest Industry Advisory Forum, held Dec. 9 in New York City, brought together ACC leadership and industry partners for a day-long discussion around opportunities to collaborate on diversifying clinical trial enrollment and leadership (pictured below).

Highlights of the meeting included a virtual presentation from U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Robert M. Califf, MD, MACC, on FDA efforts to diversify clinical trials and opportunities for collaboration, as well as a provocative presentation by ACC Health Equity Task Force Vice Chair Paul L. Douglass, MD, MACC, on the College's health equity strategy, the legacy of inequities in research, and ACC's plans for dismantling this legacy.