IQVIA Research Forum 2024

2024 IQVIA Institute Research Forum

The IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science annually hosts the IQVIA Institute Research Forum, which brings together researchers based in academia and other public or private institutions to exchange perspectives and experiences in advancing the collective understanding of critical healthcare-related issues through evidence-based research. 

Advancing Evidence with Large Datasets in High-Impact Health Research

July 18-19, 2024
Boston University

In collaboration with Boston University Questrom School of Business and Boston University School of Public Health

The 2024 IQVIA Institute Research Forum was held at Boston University in July 2024. Participants discussed the application of large datasets in research to advance public health, improve health system performance, and deliver affordable healthcare. The Forum examined a range of methodological challenges in high-impact health research, including questions around obesity and multi-disease; social vulnerabilities and health outcomes; the application of AI in health research; and the evidence of improving sustainable biomedical innovation. As part of these themes, the Forum attendees discussed how to conduct research with effective use of large datasets, combining data and methodologies from multiple fields of research across data science, clinical research, epidemiology, population health, and social research.

Research Forum Co-chairs

  • Rena Conti, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Questrom School of Business, Boston University and Associate Research Director of Biopharma and Public Policy, Institute for Health System Innovation and Policy
  • Murray Aitken, Executive Director, IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science and Visiting Professor in Practice, The London School of Economics and Political Science

2024 IQVIA Institute Research Forum themes

The Research Forum attendees discussed the following four themes:

  • Understanding the science of obesity and multi-disease: The approval and introduction of novel medications for the treatment of obesity has become the inflection for rethinking obesity as a complex, chronic multi-disease association with multiple other health conditions. While the new therapies are demonstrating effectiveness in the reduction of weight in people with obesity and lowering of the risks of associated chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, kidney disease and cancer, there is still much uncertainty about the science of complex factors driving the disease. This calls for multi-dimensional research, including clinical epidemiology, randomized clinical trials, real-world evidence, patient reported outcomes, and patient experience data to understand obesity and to generate more effective interventions for prevention, treatment, and care of obesity and related disorders.

    The Research Forum explored the application of large datasets to elucidate these aspects and consider the methodological challenges for combining such datasets across multiple chronic diseases and diverse patient populations.

  • Advancing knowledge about social vulnerabilities: The correlation between social vulnerability and health outcomes is a topic of major interest in academic research and for public health interventions. Over the years, a growing body of evidence has highlighted the association between social determinants of health and health outcomes at a general level, but the evidence is scarcer regarding the specific correlation between social vulnerabilities and the factors that drive disease prevalence, access to care and the use of medicines to improve health outcomes for socially vulnerable populations. Furthermore, there is limited data on the impact of social vulnerabilities on health outcomes and how to address these at the county and neighborhood level.

    This Research Forum session examined state-of-the-art of current evidence regarding correlations and causal links between social vulnerabilities and health outcomes and the challenges for research when aiming contribute to advancing integrated health and social research by combining insights from large diverse datasets.

  • Applying artificial intelligence (AI) to health research: The application of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare delivery and research is not new, but AI has become a limelight topic after the introduction of ChatGPT in the mainstream consumer space. Now, AI is front and center in the discussions about how to improve patient care, enhance efficiencies on care delivery and advance R&D. At the same time, there are growing discussions about the challenges when applying AI in health research, including the lack of AI-capabilities in the health research community, difficulties in collaboration between data scientists and clinical researchers, and concerns surrounding the risk of bias in the design and implementation of AI algorithms.

    The Research Forum discussed how to advance the application of AI to improve the quality and effectiveness of health research across different fields of health research, including in diagnosis, prediction and detection of disease, drug discovery, R&D and clinical development, and population health.

  • Improving sustainable biomedical innovation: Over the last several years there has been a decline in clinical development productivity for the biopharmaceutical industry. Overall, the failure rate for new drugs beginning clinical development is about 90% and has been declining over most of the past decade. The decrease in clinical success rates is a challenge for the pharmaceutical industry and society as it impacts both commercial performance, and continued health innovation to benefit patient care. However, despite the overall importance of this challenge, there is limited scientific evidence about clinical development productivity and which efforts can best accelerate the success of investment in R&D and innovation.

    The Research Forum assessed the current evidence about clinical development productivity, consider the pathways to advance more knowledge through evidence-based research, and generate research insights about recent and current programs to accelerate innovation.


Agenda

Thursday, July 18

12:00 – 1:00 p.m Arrival and networking lunch
1:00 – 1:30 p.m. Welcome and introduction: Rena Conti and Murray Aitken
1:30 – 3:00 p.m. Theme 1: Understanding the science of obesity and multidisease
  • Keynote presentation
  • Panel discussion
3:00 – 4:30 p.m. Theme 2: Advancing knowledge about social vulnerabilities
  • Keynote presentation
  • Panel discussion
4:30 – 6:00 pm Open Theme (to be determined based on abstract submissions)

Friday, July 19

8:00 – 9:00 a.m. Breakfast and networking
9:00 – 9:15 a.m. Opening remarks
9:15 – 10:30 a.m. Theme 3: Applying artificial intelligence (AI) to health research
  • Keynote presentation
  • Panel discussion
10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Theme 4: Improving sustainable biomedical innovation
  • Keynote presentation
  • Panel discussion
12:00 – 1:30 p.m. Lunch and networking
1:30 - 3:00 p.m. Open theme (to be determined based on abstract submissions)
3:00 - 4:00 p.m. Concluding discussion
Who attends the IQVIA Institute Research Forum?
Attendees and presenters are academic researchers working at academic institutions such as colleges and universities, government and provider organizations, and the life sciences industry. The audience is global, with most coming from North America and Europe.
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