Breaking Into the Clinical Research Job Field

Transcript Generated by AI.

Announcer: 0:00

Welcome to MedEvidence, where we help you navigate the Truth behind medical research with unbiased, evidence-proven facts Hosted by cardiologist and top medical researcher, Dr. Michael Koren.

Dr. Michael Koren: 0:11

Hello, I'm Dr. Michael Koren, the executive editor of MedEvidence! And I have a neat guest today, Mr. Brian Achille, who is somebody who's dedicated to the clinical trials industry and also an MBA, and so I'd love to have a discussion with Brian, with our audience, and learn more about how we got to this really neat role of being the COO of a startup company that's involved in medical education, specifically with relationship to the clinical trials industry, and also learn about what they're thinking are next steps for helping professionals educate themselves in this field. So, Brian, welcome to MedEvidence!

Brian Achille, MBA: 0:53

Thank you for having me, Dr. Koren, it's a pleasure.

Dr. Michael Koren: 0:56

Yeah, yeah. So I'm really really excited about our conversation. That's upcoming, and specifically some of your thoughts about training. But before we get to that point, tell the audience a little bit about your background.

Brian Achille, MBA: 1:10

Will do so, guys. My name is Brian Achille. I am a clinical research professional by heart. I love what I do. I love to teach. I got my start back in 2016 in a small independent research site in Jamaica, Queens, in Laurelton, Queens. I always mention him, Dr. Scott, who gave me my training, and he was the person that really taught me what clinical research is from all aspects and that's where I really got my start in the field and I'm happy to represent CCRPS, which is our new clinical research company. It's a leader in clinical research education globally and happy to talk with you today, Dr. Koren, about our deliverables and what we do and our mission.

Dr. Michael Koren: 1:53

That's fabulous and your official title is Chief Operating Officer.

Brian Achille, MBA: 1:58

That is correct.

Dr. Michael Koren: 2:00

And tell us a little bit about the company, how long you've been in existence and how long you've been in your role.

Brian Achille, MBA: 2:04

So I've been in my role for the last three months. I'm fairly new to the role, but not new to CCRPS, so I actually graduated from their pharmacovigilance course in 2019. They reached back out to me. We're a very grassroots company, so a lot of our guys who are working on the C3 level and are working from the advisory board are actually people that we worked with us historically, have went through our programs, which is very nice. It's a big blessing. So our company was officially started in 2016.

Brian Achille, MBA: 2:37

This is when the website was put about, but actually it's very funny. So we were actually a pamphlet. That's how CCRPS started. It's from Amareen, who's the founder, and her mother, Kamal, was teaching her community, her friends, how to get into clinical research, so she became a. She's a physician from India and she became a clinical research associate and a lot of people ask you oh, my goodness, how did you get this position? It's a very rewarding position. You're monitoring the new medications and you're traveling, and it's a very beautiful position. So she made a pamphlet, and that pamphlet had a lot of buzz had a lot of value of teaching people how to get into clinical research phase one, phase two, phase three, phase four and then they decided to make it into a website and then that website started getting some more traffic and, I guess, fast forward, you know, 10 years. We've become a fully functional company, a clinical research education company, in 2025.

Dr. Michael Koren: 3:38

Very, very cool. So we're going to break down some of those terms for the audience. Obviously, you and I in the clinical research field know what you're referring to, but we're going to break it down a little bit more. But getting back to you, so you ended up getting an MBA. Was that before or after you did your stint with Dr. Scott?

Brian Achille, MBA: 3:58

So I got my training, first from Dr. Scott at the Clinical Research Associates, and then that's what told me to pursue an MBA. So I currently well, I got my MBA at the George Washington University School of Business with a concentration in clinical research administration, so it teaches you all the aspects from all angles, which is exactly what I wanted to pursue for myself.

Dr. Michael Koren: 4:22

That's great, fabulous, all right. So let's move to some of the terminology that you're using. So CRA, we understand, is a clinical research associate, and that's most often used for the clinical research professionals that are part of the monitoring process for our clinical trials, traditionally hired by pharmaceutical companies or other medical industries and also by what's called CROs or contract research organizations. So that's one group of people, and then we have another group that are typically called research coordinators, who are working in physicians' offices or other entities that are actually seeing the patients and then capturing the data and ultimately getting the information from the patients into a database. So is your training involved with both of these groups? So break it down a little bit more for us.

Brian Achille, MBA: 5:21

Yes, so CCRPS, we offer all of that training. So we offer training from the research assistant all the way to, as you mentioned, from the pharmaceutical side. So we do offer that clinical research coordinator experience, right, and all that job training that's done for those that are on site, the ones that are seeing the patients and are training professionals. What does your job entail, right? What database? You mentioned intaking data, right? What does that look like? Data entry, GCP, good clinical practice, breaking it down to that level, and also, if you want to be a clinical research associate, you can also. We also provide that same course. You're able to learn the ins and outs of the industry and we do provide you know, provide lots of mentorship and job support so we can let you know this is probably the best way for your particular skillset. We do lots of analysis backed by science, right, to see what could be the best fit for yourself in terms of the industry and what's out there for you.

Dr. Michael Koren: 6:19

Yeah, and just for the audience, understanding GCP good clinical practice is super important for what we do and those are the FDA rules on how clinical trials are conducted. So, for example, if somebody is in a clinical trial and they end up in the hospital, what do you do? And all that is covered under what we call GCP and these are important obligations for everybody who's involved in clinical research. So it's an important role to educate people. So, Brian, tell us a little bit about the paths of somebody. Let's say they're a medical assistant and they want to advance their career. They're excited about the idea of being part of research. How do they touch you and your company and what's the path and how much does it cost them?

Brian Achille, MBA: 7:04

Oh, it's a great question. So they can reach out to us and we can give them some type of guidance and, to be honest, I even personally respond to some of the emails. You get that email. That's probably our biggest email. Hey, I'm interested in clinical research. Is it for me? Is it something that I need other education for? What does the process look like? And I'm more than happy to go in and provide the same information that I'm about to giv e.

Brian Achille, MBA: 7:40

Essentially, what it is is we will do that assement, where do you want to be? Do you want to be on the site? Most commonly, clinical research coordinator would be the best option. You do learn the most, it's the most. It's one of the most important jobs. You're seeing the patient and you're really conducting all aspects of the trial right All aspects of regulatory, the financial and the quality aspects, and it will cost about $500 to get the course, but we do also offer packages for job support and mentorship as well, and we also have live instructors. So, as you're conducting your course, you're not just by yourself. We have live instructors who are industry professionals who are able then to give you guidance on the courses, which can be completed within four weeks, but they're self-paced, so you have all the time in your roles A lot of our students have jobs or maybe are in school, so we make it as flexible as possible.

Dr. Michael Koren: 8:24

Beautiful, beautiful. And what would the cost be for somebody that wants to go from a medical assistant to somebody that potentially is hireable for clinical research organizations?

Brian Achille, MBA: 8:35

So for us it's, at the minimum it will be $500 for our basic package, which is the course and receiving that certificate that you've completed the course, and then we also have

Dr. Michael Koren: 8:47

That's very, extremely reasonable Wow. Isn't that a great price. How do you stay in

Dr. Michael Koren: 8:50

business at such a low price, quite frankly? But that's great, great, keep on going. And then, what are the next steps?

Brian Achille, MBA: 8:57

So the next one would also be for mentorship. So I serve as a mentor for the Pharmacovigilance Program. I have mentees who I'm able to teach and to help fast track if they have questions. We spend some time together and helping them with their CV. So that's about three payments of $500 for that package, and then also we have another package for $2,500 for job support as well.

Brian Achille, MBA: 9:21

We do have some partners who are working with us and are going to be bringing ads for jobs that come directly to us and we have a job board that they are posting their jobs on. So we are building a fast we're fast tracking a really big opportunity for anyone.

Dr. Michael Koren: 9:41

Those are extremely reasonable fees, so obviously for somebody getting involved in this industry can be a nice career advancement. I think those are very reasonable. Is that the primary source of funding for your company or are there other sources?

Brian Achille, MBA: 9:55

So that's the primary source is our courses, the clinical research coordinating one is seems to be our most popular. It's, you know, again, it's an entry level position, but in my opinion there's no such thing as an entry level position in clinical research. There's so many different opportunities and it's you know, I do recommend you do maybe go clinical entry level, called the CRC route. But also our CRA position, the Clinical Research Associate, the one that, as you mentioned, is doing the monitoring at the different sites, is also something that I think catches people's eyes most.

Dr. Michael Koren: 10:27

Right, so that's terrific. So let's transition now to physicians. That have been a much tougher group to get interested in clinical research training for a number of reasons we'll explore. But why don't you first explain what offerings you have for doctors?

Brian Achille, MBA: 10:45

Right. So physicians, I believe, are pretty smart people. We like to say that they're very intellectual good people.

Dr. Michael Koren: 10:52

Many of them yes.

Brian Achille, MBA: 10:54

Many of them.

Dr. Michael Koren: 10:57

We certainly don't have a monopoly on intelligence, but thank you for that kind word.

Brian Achille, MBA: 11:01

You got it, Dr. Koren. So you know, one thing that we try to teach and at least that I try to teach is the clinical research is very rewarding. You know, you want to see people who may not even have, let's say, for Sjorgren's they don't have an option for treatment and you want to see them doing better. And I think most physicians, most people, would want this. But how do you do it? And that's where training has to come in.

Brian Achille, MBA: 11:27

So I try to tell you know, physicians, and try to get the word out there that the training is important because without it you won't really understand the framework, you won't understand the language, some of the acronyms that are used, and it will make things a little bit more challenging in the long run. I do see, unfortunately, a lot of physicians have burnout because of the amount of work and because of the work itself and not understanding maybe certain responsibilities and maybe some differences. So what we provide is an advanced PI course that will fast track and get the physicians on board with what their job is, keep them up to date on the industry, keep them up to date on regulations, quality components, how to lead their team, how to deal with stakeholders and to really give them that experience of how to run a clinical research site without necessarily having that experience.

Dr. Michael Koren: 12:24

Sure, and what's your charge for that?

Brian Achille, MBA: 12:27

So that one is also $500 for the advanced PI course.

Dr. Michael Koren: 12:32

Okay, and it could be a challenge to go from just book learning to actual execution of your knowledge for physicians. Do you help with that at all?

Brian Achille, MBA: 12:45

So we do. So that will come with live mentorship. We have PIs, we have doctors, and what we try to do is build off community as well. So we have a community of physicians who are within the CCRPS community, some graduates, and we try to bring them back for that mentorship as well. I've seen from different models of PIs needing to constantly get together to talk about good practices. Hey, this is a problem that we're having at my business. How do you guys solve this? So that gives a lot of, I think, fast tracking in terms of alleviating some of the burden you would be surprised about, at least in the industry. There are certain burdens that are almost universal, I hate to say, but if you are aware of them and have that education, it can really help you when you are presently with your patients and your team.

Dr. Michael Koren: 13:41

Got it, yeah, so there's something called a CPI, or a Certified Principal Investigator or Primary Investigator, and that is something that has been around for probably about 15, 20 years and has, quite honestly, had difficulty with traction. I'm a past president of the Academy of Physicians and Clinical Research. I am a CPI. I took the board exam and I've tried to use this to leverage my position a little bit, maybe get a little bit higher payment from the companies that hire us, but so far that hasn't happened. Which is one of the tough parts of this is that you spend the time and effort becoming an expert in actually running clinical trials rather than just an expert in your therapeutic area, and it doesn't always get acknowledged by the industry. So I don't know if you've seen that as a problem or have any thoughts about that, but I think in my experience it's been one of the reasons that physicians haven't completely embraced these additional certifications.

Brian Achille, MBA: 14:47

I think that's a very great point, Dr. Koren. I think what we need here is advocacy for people who are passionate about clinical research. I think that we need to see more PIs. I do agree with you that that passion, um even you know you, for example, you're taking the time to speak with me. We need more PIs who have that same passion that you know, that you show when you're within the communities, when you're trying to learn the needs of the patient populations and how the research can help them.

Brian Achille, MBA: 15:17

I would agree with you and unfortunately it it will seem that sometimes with our at least our audience, sometimes we, we get the training afterwards. So I, like I want training to be a little bit more, more you know prior, as opposed to oh hey, I'm in a big mess, I need to clean up, I need to fix it, I need to train. So I do agree with you that this is something that needs to be changed within the community, within the industry, and I'm also an advocate for more, for rewarding PIs for their work, for taking it seriously, for learning you know the PI, for advancing themselves in clinical research as well. So definitely something I've seen in the industry and I'm hoping to change and we are totally aligned.

Dr. Michael Koren: 16:02

Yeah, it's a hugely important point, and well made by you which is that you can either do this casually when I say do this, meaning be a principal investigator or you can do it very professionally and at the end of the day, it's a huge public health benefit if we have more physicians that do it very professionally, and we need to get the word out both to patients and industry that physicians who dedicate the time and effort to become professional in clinical research should get the proper acknowledgement number one and compensation for that additional effort and training. So some work to be done, but it sounds like you're one of the soldiers in that battle, so much appreciated.

Brian Achille, MBA: 16:44

Well, 100% and I think it's across the board is with the PI. You know, and, as you mentioned, you spend time with your patient population, the patients as well. You know when we send over diaries and are giving patients, you know I call it quote, unquote homework. You know, I understand that it's it's you need that information and also we want to make sure that the patients are doing well and, you know, keep up to date with them. But it's also a little bit of a burden too, and what we try to do is help people with the burden, and PIs definitely have a huge responsibility, and the number one thing I hate to see is oh, you know, the PI is responsible. It's a team effort and also reward the PI who's going an extra mile to give you really good information checking on the patient, calling the patients, making sure that their staff is, you know, calling the patients making sure that they're happy, making sure that they're, you know, even their mental health or wellbeing. Everything has been taken into place into the patient's experience.

Dr. Michael Koren: 17:41

Yeah, that's a really important point.

Dr. Michael Koren: 17:42

We'd like to advocate for research as a care option here at MedEvidence, and you're pointing out that exact point that a lot of patients, quite frankly, are frustrated with the common practice of medicine because it's become a little bit of an assembly line, quite frankly, as physicians are pinched for time.

Dr. Michael Koren: 18:03

There is a focus more on the electronic medical record rather than the patient's needs and psyche, and that's different, ironically, in the clinical research setting, where we just spend more time with the patients and get to understand them better and ultimately address what their needs are, even outside the protocol. And so one of the key points of a good team, including an educated clinical research professional physician, is that you understand how to balance the protocol requirements with the care requirements of patients, and having people truly understand the ethical issues that are involved in research, the scientific issues that are involved in research and the regulatory issues involved in research, not to mention the fact that you have to lead a team of other people, are all part of this training that I think you address in your modules and that are really super important, not only for career advancement for the doctors, but also for good care in the communities and offering options for patients in the communities to access this type of care. So again, thank you for what you do.

Brian Achille, MBA: 19:07

Thank you, thank you, you hit it right on the nail, that is very important to me. I appreciate it.

Dr. Michael Koren: 19:13

So, Brian, any concluding remarks about your organization and what you hope to accomplish and the messages you want to get out to the MedEvidence audience?

Brian Achille, MBA: 19:23

Definitely, guys, thank you for having us. We're building up a very big community here at CCRPS. Some of our testimonials again I always mention clinical research is for everyone. If you don't think that you can be a clinical research person, trust me you can. There's different avenues and I'm always happy to speak with anyone in your community If they have any questions.

Brian Achille, MBA: 19:43

How can I get into the field? Different jobs, different job opportunities. We have so many you know people who have come back to us and give us testimonials. You know, from medical assistants who got their first clinical research coordinating job to guys who are able to get into biotech or PIs who are, you know, able to really stabilize their sites. So these type of situations that we have, I'm super, super happy to have them. You're free to join us at CCRPS. org. Take a look at our website and any questions that you have. You have 24-7 live chat and you're able to contact us anytime. We're a global company. Just recently I was able to help a Nigerian lab. They're having some issues with some of the quality aspects and we gave them that training. So nothing more I love than sharing information and sharing knowledge.

Dr. Michael Koren: 20:37

Well, Brian, thank you for the fabulous information and you've been a fabulous guest here at MedEvidence and I look forward to working with you in the future.

Brian Achille, MBA: 20:46

Definitely, Dr. Koren. You're welcome to be on board. Thank you for having me, guys,

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