An interview with Ann Van Dessel, Senior Vice President, Head Global Clinical Operations, Johnson & Johnson (Guest blog)
10.07.17
1. Tell us about your role at Johnson & Johnson?
Since 2010, I’ve been head of global clinical operations. I support the development of safe and effective medicines and medical devices.
2. What inspired you to go in the field of clinical trials?
Growing up, I was always intrigued about how you can target drugs to have a very specific effect in the human body. Originally my plan was to work at a pharmacy but when I was working on my thesis, clinical trials increasingly sparked my interest. I changed direction and I chose instead to work for the pharmaceutical industry and help patients by developing new drugs.
3. Why are clinical trials so important?
Clinical trials are necessary for pharmaceutical companies to prove the safety and efficacy of treatments and devices. At the same time, they can be key to providing patients with early access to the latest medical innovations. Awareness of existing clinical trials and opportunities to enrol is still relatively low but clinical trials can be a real opportunity for patients who ran out of treatment options; they can offer a better quality of life and potentially heal them.
4. Do patients easily find their way to clinical trials?
4. Do patients easily find their way to clinical trials?
We have seen over the past years that patients are much more informed and empowered by the information they have, which makes them reach out more for the opportunity to be involved in a clinical trial. We welcome this with open arms as without patients participating in the trials, we couldn’t be able to develop new innovative compounds and/or devices.
5. Are their projects ongoing to facilitate access for patients in clinical trials?
5. Are their projects ongoing to facilitate access for patients in clinical trials?
We are working on different initiatives to ensure patients can easily find their way into trials by sharing which trials are taking place in their region or are planned in the near future. This way, patients can easily sign up or ask us additional questions on upcoming clinical trials. We also have a plan in place to make trials more patient-friendly and create opportunities to incorporate the patient voice into clinical research and make patients a true partner in the research process. This is really our key focus in the coming years.
6. What is your pledge for this campaign?
I won’t rest until patients are a true partner in clinical trials.
Biography
Ann has more than 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, working in the hospital, and corporate settings. Ann started her career as Clinical Research Associate at Servier R&D Benelux. She joined Johnson & Johnson in 1993 as a Good Clinical Practices (GCP) manager and over the years she assumed roles of increasing responsibility in GCP and global site management.
In 1999, Ann joined the Clinical Supplies Unit (CSU) where she started the Product Coordinators group. She became Global Head of the CSU in 2001 and built the unit into a cost-competitive and high-quality organisation recognised for its highly innovative use of Information Management and automation technology. In 2009, she was appointed Head of the PDMS Supply Management function.
Ann became the head of Global Clinical Operations in April 2010. Hel role expanded to overseeing the Pharmaceuticals Global Clinical Development Operations organisation in April 2015, delivering on all Ph I-IV trials milestones and budget for J&J Pharmaceutical Group. This includes the following functions: Portfolio Delivery Organization (PDO), Global Clinical Operations (GCO°, Medical Affairs Operations (MAO), Integrated Data Analytics and Reporting (IDAR) and Enabling Business Information Solutions (eBIS).
As of May 2015, Ann is shaping the J&J Global Clinical Operations Organisation including Pharmaceuticals, Medical Devices, Consumer, Vision care and Diabetic care. J&J Global Clinical Operations partners with stakeholders from all across the enterprise to generate high quality data to deliver safe and effective solutions to patients or consumers in the global healthcare environment while focusing on driving globalisation, acceleration and excellence in clinical trials of our innovative products.