Last month saw many of our ACE team attend the International Clinical Trials Methodology Conference 2024 in Edinburgh. We had a great spread of presentations across the 4 days featuring nine oral presentations, 16 posters, and contributions to workshops and spotlight sessions. Our contributions spanned a range of topics and included input form our trial managers, statisticians, programmers, research fellows, PhD students, and beyond. Some of their highlights are shared below.
Rumana Newlands - Research Fellow
This was the BEST ICTMC I have attended so far. The location and venue were perfect for enjoying a wide range of talks from different topic areas. My favourites were Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion, Embedding Plato into Pilot and Feasibility Study Criteria, Greener Trials, and Lessons for Improvement. This was the first time I presented at the ICTMC—the experience was incredible and boosted my confidence. I enjoyed the conference party and made some new friends through chats about work. The three days went very quickly, and I caught up with some old colleagues and friends and heard all the methodological work from the UK and beyond. The variety of poster stands was great to stop by during lunch and coffee breaks. Seeing so many patients and public members attend the conference was also fantastic. I am very much looking forward to the ICTMC 2026 and, before then, will utilise some of the lessons learnt from ICTMC 2024.
Graeme MacLennan – CTU Director
This year’s ICTMC had a diverse range of talks and posters from the spectrum of disciplines involved in clinical trials methodology. I like to listen to speakers on topics I don’t usually get time to consider in any depth, this year I really enjoyed a session on trial management and one on bioethics – but I do still enjoy the statistics sessions!
Lorna Aucott – Senior Statistician
The event brought together a diverse group of researchers, offering a well-rounded perspective on trials and a genuine sense of support across the trial networks. It was great to see the ACE stats team’s valuable contributions receiving well-deserved recognition. It also provided a great opportunity to connect with colleagues from various institutes, both familiar faces and new ones. Overall, it was a very productive and enjoyable conference.
Miriam Brazelli – Evidence Synthesis Centre lead
My first experience at ICTMC 2024 was both engaging and enriching. The conference provided an exceptional platform for exploring the latest advancements in clinical trial research, fostering discussions on best practices, and pushing forward improvements in patient care through rigorous methodologies. Covering a broad spectrum of topics - from innovative trial methods and the importance of equality, diversity, and inclusion to the trustworthiness of clinical trials and effective reporting strategies - it offered a comprehensive learning opportunity. I was particularly captivated by the JAMA Summit Update, which posed provocative questions about the state of the trial enterprise, prompting deep reflection, and stimulating conversation.
Taylor Coffey - Research Fellow
This was my third ICTMC since coming to Aberdeen. The community is always lovely and it’s been wonderful to see it grow in size and range of people attending. I was able to meet with researchers from around the world and share in so many interesting conversations. The student posters were great to walk around and see just how ambitious everyone is. And it was lovely to see so many of my colleagues from ACE presenting and sharing their hard work with the wider trials community. All the parallel sessions were well planned and thought provoking, bringing a diverse range of researchers together around a central theme. I look forward to seeing how so many of us will progress come next ICTMC.
Vitri Darlene -Research Assistant and PhD student
I hadn’t attended any formal conferences in the UK before ICTMC, which was highly promoted as ‘the’ trial methodology conference. I had a year to prepare for it, but as a first year (second now) PhD student, I kept my expectations modest. My main goals were to present my poster, attend trial method talks, and connect with fellow students. Leaving ICTMC, I not only ticked those boxes but had an inspiring experience. My favorites are dominated by the work /collaboration by people from ACE. A standout talk by statisticians working with actors who made a live performance about interpreting statistical findings captivated me—I forgot I was at a ‘scientific’ conference for a bit, it was super engaging. I also enjoyed the engaging discussions about PPI on the JAMA talk which some were relevant to my work . I saw exciting lightning talks that used out-of-the box approaches to pitch, such as rapping (yes a rap song about estimand) and using a chocolate bar analogy. The conference party at the National Museum of Edinburgh was a blast, and while I secretly hoped for Spice Girls or Shania Twain tunes (for 2026 party playlist maybe? ;) ), dancing to "Don’t Stop Believin’" was fun. ICTMC has set a high bar for future conferences for me!
Sophie Greenwood - TMRP DTP PhD student
The ICTMC 2024 was my first time presenting along my posters. It was such a pleasure to engage with so many people during the numerous posters sessions, in particular the dedicated student poster session. With so much engagement it was a chance to meet other passionate researchers in similar fields, and really start to think about future collaborations in a way I hadn't done before.
I really enjoyed the diversity of topics at the conference where keynotes ranged from ethnic minority representation to the future of Bayesian statistics. Many of the topics were grounded in reality with plenty of discussion around patient and public involvement. And with the focus of methodology I never saw a talk where I didn't think there was a tangible, practical benefit to the future of health research.
At the end I left the conference like many student, feeling inspired to continue our methodological research. I also realised, through talking to others, just how much I knew on my topic area which has really helped me build confidence to face down my final third year!
Mark Forrest - Senior IT Development Manager
This was my second ICTMC, and it was a fantastic experience. Networking with trial teams from other CTUs that we support was particularly rewarding, as it allowed us to share insights and strengthen our collaborative efforts. I also enjoyed chatting with various poster presenters—their projects and research methods were fascinating, and those conversations offered valuable perspectives. Overall, the conference was not only educational but also a great opportunity to connect with colleagues and build meaningful relationships within the community.
Sharon McCann - Advanced Research Fellow
This was my third ICTMC experience, and I found it very insightful to see what is happening nationally and internationally in trials methodology, after returning to work in the area of clinical trials. It fostered so much thinking and discussion, with a key highlight for me being the JAMA summit update. I also really enjoyed the patient/public partner involvement sessions and the performing arts session on interpretation of statistical findings.
It was a wonderful opportunity to meet with a diverse range of researchers and get a sense of collectively coming together to propel trials methodology research. The keynotes and parallel sessions were all very well organised and stimulating. Also, I thoroughly enjoyed the ceilidh at the National Museum – it will be hard for another ICTMC conference party to beat that!
Seonaidh Cotton - Senior Trial Manager
This is such a brilliant conference to attend – lots of interesting sessions and people to catch up with or meet for the first time. This year, my highlights included a packed trial management session (with Nicole presenting on behalf of some of the CHaRT TMs on evaluation of SIV training), the spotlight session using a performing arts presentation (I’ve never seen anything like this at a conference!), consideration of the environmental impact of trials (we all need to think about this), and hearing about some of the innovative PPI work happening across the country. The PPI activity within trials was my “take home and think about how we can do better as a unit” from the conference.
For more highlights form the conference follows #ICTMC2024 on social media to look back over content. The conference left us all with much food for though on our own research but also insured through the work of others. We are already looking forward to ICTMC2026 in Birmingham.
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