Intro to Clinical Research

Episode 57 - Medical Ethics

04 May 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Today, Debbie throws us all back into the Philosophy Ravine together to discuss medical ethics. We’re going to talk about what it is and use the fra...

Episode 56 - International Collaboration

13 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we’re going to be discussing some international collaborations in clinical research! Let’s cross some borders and work together! ...

Episode 55 - Safety Events & Investigator's Brochure

30 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Hey everyone! We’re back (again!) and we hope you didn’t miss us too much. In this episode, we’re going to be discussing safety events, safety r...

Episode 54 - Medical Devices

22 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Hey everyone! We’re back and we hope you didn’t miss us too much. In this episode, we’re diving right back in and talking about Medical Devices ...

Episode 53 - Elyse's Corner: Anthrax Vaccines

06 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we’re back in Elyse’s corner (hooray!), and today, we’re talking about Anthrax, and Anthrax vaccines. Maybe you know as little ...

Episode 52 - Data Management

22 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we’re talking about Data Management because of a listener question - thanks very much Aswini! So, we get into the weeds about the d...

Episode 51 - Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP)

08 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today, we’re going to discuss Good Manufacturing Practice - GMP - which is like GCP but for the manufacturing of drugs, devices, food and cosmetics ...

Episode 50 - Out-takes and unreleased stuff

25 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Wow, 50 episodes of our podcast. How exciting. So, in celebration, I’ve collected together some out-takes and previously un-released material (un-re...

Episode 49 - Patient Reported Outcomes

11 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today, we’re discussing patient reported outcomes - what are they, how can they be measured and how do they compare to other measures we often use t...

Episode 48 - Site Monitoring, part 2

28 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we’re talking about the activities broadly referred to as “monitoring” in ICH GCP. We’re going to focus on site monitoring, b...

Episode 47 - Site Monitoring, part 1

14 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we’re talking about the activities broadly referred to as “monitoring” in ICH GCP. We’re going to focus on site monitoring, b...

Episode 46 - Elyse's Corner: PPE (Personal Protective Equipment)

30 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we’re back in Elyse’s corner (hooray!), and today, we’re talking about a topic we all probably had some exposure to during Covi...

Episode 45 - Contracting in Clinical Research

16 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Alright so we’ve talked about contract research organisations and vendors and suppliers lots, but it’s time to put on our legal hats and discuss c...

Episode 44 - Research in the News

02 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It’s time for us to update you on current events, medical research or drugs in the news! We’ve got a couple of stories from Debbie and an update o...

Episode 43 - ICH GCP (R3): The New Version for 2025!

28 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

You may have heard us talk about GCP before, the international standard for the conduct of clinical studies globally. But, there’s a new version on ...

Episode 42 - Historical Stuff part 3

14 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 42 In this episode, the unexpected third part in our “Historical Stuff” series, Debbie is going to tell Elyse about some tragedies in clin...

Episode 41 - Pharmacovigilance

31 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Pharmacovigilance is a big work that we’re going to break down in this episode, to look at the data around safety events, or patient experienced sid...

Episode 40 - Avian Influenza

17 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Episode 40 In this episode, we’re back in Elyse’s corner (hooray!), and today, we’re talking about a hot topic in the US: Bird flu. AKA why my e...

Episode 39 - Clinicians in Clinical Research

03 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Today, we’re talking about the type of clinical staff that are often involved in Clinical Research - including Doctors, Nurses, Pharmacists and quit...

Episode 38 - Questions and Answers AGAIN!

17 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It is finally time for our long awaited second Q&A episode! We throw questions at each other, though honestly Debbie does answer most of them. Hug...

Episode 37 - Patient Eligibility

03 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we’re looking at another fundamental topic central to the conduct of clinical research, which is the Inclusion and Exclusion criter...

Episode 36 - A Research Site: A Day in the Life

20 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we’re reprising some information we’ve talked generally about before, but with a new perspective - how an average day looks for...

Episode 35 - The Philosophy Ravine

06 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

For this episode, we’re taking an enormous detour from our normal content and diving into the philisophody or philisophities ravine, with our wonder...

Episode 34 - Elyse's Corner: The Forbidden Topic

23 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we’re back in Elyse’s corner, and today, we’re talking about how governments and politics in general influence medical research...

Episode 33 - The End of a Study

09 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We have looked previously at what is needed to start a study, and so today we’re learning what is needed at the other end, when a study is ending. W...

Episode 32 - Prejudice, Discrimination and Healthcare Impact Part 2

25 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Returning for the second part of this episode, we start with recapping what we talked about in part 1 - although if you missed it you really should go...

Episode 31 - Technology in Clinical Research

11 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What is technology and how is it used in research? How can we, or should we, be using all of the data collected about us for research, and what are th...

Episode 30 - Prejudice, Discrimination and Healthcare Impacts part 1

28 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Do we have an equitable or equal society? What even do those words mean? And why do we care - what possible impacts could those things have on people ...

Episode 29 - Elyse's Corner: Drug Advertising

14 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we’re back in Elyse’s corner, with the marvellous shiny rocks, which today will go unpolished! Instead, we’re talking about dir...

Episode 28 - Conflict of Interest

30 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What is a conflict of interest and why might it be important? In this episode we briefly define what a COI is, and explore some examples around medica...

Episode 27 - Government Regulators

16 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A question that has stood since time immemorial. What DO government regulators do, when it comes to drugs and devices? Hopefully, this episode will gi...

Episode 26 - Ozempic

02 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome back from our summer break! Today, a shorter episode looking at the use of Ozempic/ Wegovy (brand names) - type II diabetes semiglutide drugs,...

Episode 25 - Drugs in the News

29 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Today, Elyse and Debbie are putting their finger on the pulse of THE NEWS around clinical research, drugs, science, health - as much news as you could...

Episode 24 - Cancer

15 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Today’s topic is not a fun one, but is something many of us have experience with - we’re talking about cancer - what causes it, how it works, and ...

Episode 23 - Elyse's Corner: Temperature

01 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we’re back in Elyse’s corner, and it has some extremely shiny rocks! Today, we’re talking about temperature and how important i...

Episode 22 - Who decides what is researched?

17 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As members of the public how can we influence what is developed? Who is making the decisions about which new medicines and products get researched? Th...

Episode 21 - Site Start Up

03 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Getting a clinical trial site (or sites) ready to start is a busy, hectic and high pressure time and the focus of our episode today. What is needed, h...

Episode 20 - Careers in Clinical Research

20 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ever thought about a career in clinical research? In this episode that’s exactly what we’re talking about - what the options are, what you need to...

Episode 19 - Informed Consent

06 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Today, we’re talking about Informed Consent - what it is, how it works, how it's documented and how it is handled for different people. This is a wh...

Episode 18 - Issues with Treatments

22 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we’re talking about some issues with treatments. We’re looking at some drugs that have lost or might lose their approvals, or cas...

Episode 17 - Elyse's Corner: CPR

08 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, we’re back in Elyse’s corner, and it has far fewer cobwebs - someone has been dusting! Elyse is going to tell Debbie all about CP...

Episode 16 - Study End-to-End

25 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We’ve covered a lot of topics so far, so today we’re recapping what we’ve discussed already AND looking at the end of end of a clinical study - ...

Episode 15 - Good Documentation Practice (GDP)

11 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

So it’s been 5 minutes since we talked about Debbie’s favourite topic documentation, so we’re back there to discuss Good Documentation Practice ...

Episode 14 - Quality Assurance

26 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How do we ensure (and assure) the quality of every part of the clinical trial process. Why do you even need quality assurance? What sorts of things do...

Episode 13 - Questions and Answers

12 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Unlucky for some, but for us we’re delighted - Episode 13 is our long awaited Q&A episode! We throw questions at each other, though honestly Deb...

Episode 12 - Phenylephrine

29 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Debbie explains to Elyse all about phenylephrine and why it’s been in the news (and maybe not as obvious on your pharmacy shelves) ...

Episode 11 - Elyse’s Corner: Ketamine Therapy

15 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ep 11 In this episode, we’re back in Elyse’s corner, and it’s lovely! Elyse is going to tell Debbie all about Ketamine therapy and how it’s be...

Episode 10 - Historical Stuff part 2

01 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Debbie is going to continue to tell Elyse about some tragedies in clinical trials, what occurred, what we learned and the consequence...

Episode 9 - Historical Stuff

18 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Debbie is going to tell Elyse about some tragedies in clinical trials, what occurred, what we learned and the consequences of them. T...

Episode 8 - Documentation

04 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode, Debbie is going to tell Elyse about documentation and how important it is as both the instructions of how to do the study and evidenc...