Innovating Clinical Trials
Welcome to Innovating Clinical Trials, the podcast designed for clinical research professionals eager to deepen their understanding of clinical trials through concise, insightful segments. Join your hosts, Liam Eves and Ted Trafford, as they uncover the core issues in clinical research, reflect on the industry, and challenge conventional wisdom.
Ted Trafford - https://probitymedical.com/
With 30 years of experience in clinical research, Ted serves as the Director of Business Development, driving business growth and leading Feasibility and Site Relationship teams at Probity Medical Research, a clinical trial site administrative support company with a consortium of 75+ sites across four countries. As a writer and speaker, Ted contributes to thought leadership and strategic initiatives in the clinical trials industry, leveraging his extensive experience and creative approach to drive meaningful discussion and progress for Sponsors, CROs, Sites and Technology Vendors.
Liam Eves - https://www.theendpointpodcast.com/
Liam's held executive roles in SMOs and CROs, and led all major functions of trial delivery. His journey into the field began unexpectedly after an injury ended his career as a professional footballer. Over the years Liam has optimized trial delivery methods / systems for effective enrollment and trial delivery. Currently, he focuses on building and advising companies in the clinical trial space.
Opinions expressed are those of the participants and not their employers.
Innovating Clinical Trials
ICT EP 2.9: Designing Eligibility Criteria That Work in the Real World
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Eligibility criteria are meant to bring clarity to clinical trials, but in practice, they often do the opposite.
In this episode of Innovating Clinical Trials, Liam and Ted unpack how poorly worded, ambiguous, or misaligned eligibility criteria quietly slow enrollment, frustrate sites, and introduce risk later in development.
They explore:
- Why small wording choices create big downstream problems
- How “gray areas” force sites into interpretation rather than execution
- The disconnect between healthcare documentation and research expectations
- Why enrollment challenges often originate long before the first patient is screened
- What sponsors can do to design criteria that work in the real world- not just on paper
This conversation is a practical reflection on how better protocol design can remove friction, protect sites, and keep trials moving.