Regina Portnoy is a clinical research professional.

Clinical trial retention starts with a kind conversation

Conditions and Diseases
September 10, 2026

Patients may not remember every lab draw, procedure, or study visit. But they will remember how they felt.

One of the greatest privileges of working in clinical research for more than twenty years has been meeting extraordinary people. Clinical research is often associated with science, data, and innovation. Those elements are essential. But there is also a deeply human side to this work. Behind every study, treatment, and medical advancement are …

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Clinical trial retention starts with a kind conversation

The human side of clinical trials that no data captures

Conditions and Diseases
September 6, 2026

There are patients you remember for their diagnosis. And then there are patients you remember for who they were.

He was the second kind.

Years ago, during my time in oncology clinical research, I met a patient with multiple myeloma. At the time, I was working as a supervisor in a hematology-oncology clinical research unit at a large academic research institution, overseeing a team of study coordinators and managing assigned clinical trials. …

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The human side of clinical trials that no data captures

Leadership without a title starts with people

Conditions and Diseases
August 15, 2026

Some of the most influential leaders I have met over the past 20 years of my career in clinical research never sought the spotlight. They didn’t lead through authority or titles. They led through knowledge, integrity, humility, and the ability to bring out the best in the people around them.

Early in my career, while working on a hematology/oncology unit, I had the privilege of watching a nurse who embodied these …

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Leadership without a title starts with people

Clinical research leadership begins with people

Conditions and Diseases
August 10, 2026

When people think about leadership in clinical research, they often think about timelines, enrollment goals, budgets, and deliverables. I think about people.

Over the years, I’ve come to realize that leadership isn’t defined by a job title or where someone sits on an organizational chart. Whether someone leads a team at a sponsor, a pharmaceutical or biotech company, a contract research organization (CRO), or a research site, the purpose remains the …

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Clinical research leadership begins with people

Patient experience in clinical trials starts with kindness

Conditions and Diseases
July 29, 2026

Patients may not remember every lab draw, procedure, or study visit. But they will remember how they felt.

One of the greatest privileges of working in clinical research for more than 20 years has been meeting extraordinary people. Clinical research is often associated with science, data, and innovation. While those elements are essential, there is also a deeply human side to this industry. Behind every study, treatment, and medical advancement are …

Read more…

Patient experience in clinical trials starts with kindness

What clinical research nurses do that no one sees

Conditions and Diseases
July 10, 2026

A clinical trial may be remembered for a breakthrough treatment, a new therapy, or a headline-making discovery. But its true story begins with people. Behind every promising result is a patient placing their trust in the unknown, and a clinical research nurse or study coordinator standing beside them every step of the way.

When people think about clinical trials, they often think about physicians, sponsors, study results, and scientific discoveries. What …

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What clinical research nurses do that no one sees

Hope in cancer clinical trials is what we do not measure

Conditions and Diseases
May 29, 2026

In clinical trials, we measure outcomes, response rates, and survival. But after 20 years in hematology-oncology research, I’ve come to understand that what drives many patients to move forward is something we don’t measure at all.

It’s hope.

And for me, that understanding began long before my career, in the life of my father.

There are moments in life when things don’t go the way I planned, when something falls apart, when I …

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Hope in cancer clinical trials is what we do not measure

How a clinical trial changed the way I see Mother’s Day

Conditions and Diseases
May 10, 2026

Every year, as Mother’s Day approaches, we see the same messages.
Celebrate your mom. Call her. Hug her. Don’t take her for granted.
And yet, for so many, that hug is no longer possible.
There is a quiet grief that lives inside this day.
Because as long as our parents are alive, a part of us remains a child, protected, grounded, held by something bigger than ourselves.
And when that is gone, something shifts forever.

Years …

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How a clinical trial changed the way I see Mother’s Day