Clincal Trial Workshop 2026

Clinical Trial Workshop 2026

Background

We are pleased to announce the upcoming ADVANCE-ID Clinical Trial Workshop—an intensive two-and-a-half-day programme designed to strengthen clinical trial capacity, foster regional collaborations, and equip participants with the knowledge and practical skills to design, implement, and disseminate high-quality clinical trials.

Co-organised with the WHO, the workshop will convene internationally renowned experts. Participants will be guided through every stage of the clinical trial journey—from developing a robust research question and selecting the most appropriate study design, to navigating statistical considerations, assessing feasibility in low- and middle-income country (LMIC) settings, and securing funding for clinical research.

The workshop will culminate in elevator-pitch presentations, where participants will present their research proposals in a grant-seeking format and receive feedback from an expert faculty.

This is a closed-door workshop by invitation only.

Agenda

DAY 1 – 31 Aug
8:00 – 8:30 am	Networking Breakfast	—
8:30 – 9:15 am	NUS – WHO Collaborating Centre Launch	WHO representative, invited guests, leadership team
9:15 – 9:30 am	Introduction: Ice-breaking Session	Dr Shweta Rajkumar Singh
9:30 – 9:55 am	Forming a Research Question Building the context Framing aims, objectives, intervention and outcomes	Prof Nick Day
9:55 – 10:20 am	Forming a Research Question Ensure question is feasible, interesting, novel, ethical and relevant (FINER) Define the endpoint and hypothesis	Dr Kayoko Hayakawa
10:20 – 11:00 am	Group Discussions	—
11:00 – 11:10 am	Break	—
11:10 – 11:35 am	Ensuring Feasibility Select population, site capacity Inclusion/exclusion criteria	Prof Julia Bielicki
11:35 am – 12:00 pm	Ensuring Feasibility Turnaround time – diagnostics, operations Identifying the co-investigators/collaborators/stakeholders	Prof Nick Paton
12:00 – 12:30 pm	Group Discussions	—
12:30 – 1:30 pm	Lunch	—
1:30 – 2:15 pm	Panel Discussion – The Current and Future State of Clinical Trials Shift in Global Governance Sustained Infrastructure & “Always On” Networks Equity, Inclusivity, and Underrepresented Populations Regulatory Harmonization and Ethics Oversight	Prof David Paterson (Moderator) Dr Rabindra Abeyasinghe Dr Inke Nadia Dr Kamini Walia Dr Birahim Pierre Ndiaye
2:15 – 2:45 pm	Clinical Trial Design I Types of clinical trial designs Selecting the right study design	Prof Sarah Walker
2:45 – 3:15 pm	Clinical Trial Design II Treatment allocation Minimising bias in trial design	Prof Bee Choo Tai
3:15 – 3:30 pm	Tea Break	—
3:30 – 4:30 pm	Group Discussion	—
4:30 – 5:30 pm	Speed Networking	—
5:30 – 6:00 pm	Break	—
6:00 pm	Dinner	—
DAY 2 – 1 Sep
Morning Parallel Tracks (running concurrently)

Track A – Statistics	Track B – Public Engagement
8:30 – 8:40 am – Introduction Speaker: Facilitator 8:40 – 9:05 am – Lecture: Power, Precision & Sample Size Estimation Speaker: Prof Bee Choo Tai 9:05 – 9:35 am – Group Activity Speaker: Groups and facilitators 9:35 – 9:55 am – Lecture: Beyond Fixed: Adaptive Designs Speaker: Prof Sarah Walker 9:55 – 10:15 am – Group Activity Speaker: Groups and facilitators	8:30 – 9:25 am – Public Engagement for Clinical Trials: A Vision for Future and Country-Level Public Engagement Hub: Thailand, Malaysia, Taiwan Speaker: A/Prof Mo Yin, Dr Nittaya Phanuphak, Dr Alex Phang, Dr Su-Wei Wong 9:25 – 9:55 am – Group Discussion 9:55 – 10:05 am – Group Presentations Speaker: A/Prof Christina Wong 10:05 – 10:25 am – Risk Communication During Clinical Research Speaker: Dr Yiyun Shou
Tea Break — Track A: 10:15 – 10:30 am · Track B: 10:25 – 10:40 am
10:30 – 10:50 am – Lecture: Estimands: The Why, How, Who and When Speaker: Prof Sarah Walker 10:50 – 11:10 am – Group Activity Speaker: Groups and facilitators 11:10 – 11:30 am – Lecture: Through the Statistical Reviewer’s Lens Speaker: Prof Bee Choo Tai 11:30 am – 12:00 pm – Group Activity Speaker: Groups and facilitators	10:40 – 11:10 am – Group Discussion 11:10 – 11:20 am – Group Presentation Speaker: Dr Yiyun Shou 11:20 – 11:35 am – Use of Social Media Speaker: Dr Rayner Tan 11:35 – 11:55 am – Group Discussion 11:55 am – 12:05 pm – Group Presentation Speaker: Dr Rayner Tan 12:05 – 12:15 pm – How Funders Assess Public Engagement for Clinical Trial Grants Speaker: Dr Beenish Shaikh
Lunch — Track A: 12:00 – 1:00 pm · Track B: 12:15 – 1:00 pm

Afternoon (Plenary)
1:00 – 1:25 pm	Clinical Trial – Implementing Operations Data quality	Dr Evelyne Kestelyn
1:25 – 1:50 pm	Clinical Trial – Implementing Data monitoring Governance board	Dr Dafna Yahav
1:50 – 2:45 pm	Group Discussions	—
2:45 – 3:00 pm	Tea Break	—
3:00 – 4:00 pm	Data Dissemination – Pertinent to LMICs Data transparency – compliance and mandates Review process – common rejection reasons Priorities (15 min talks each with 15 min for Q&A)	Lancet ID, Nature Medicine Editors: Dr Syeda Saleha Hassan Dr Marco De Ambrogi Dr Ming Yang
4:00 – 5:00 pm	Debate by Public Engagement Group	Dr Yiyun Shou
5:00 – 6:00 pm	Issues with Setting Up a Clinical Trial in LMIC – Panel Regulatory and ethical bottlenecks Infrastructure and diagnostic limitations Human resources and site capacity Patient-centric and ethical vulnerabilities Q&A – 40 min	A/Prof Abi Manesh (Moderator) Dr Serah Gitome Dr Chibuzor Uchea Dr Giri Rajahram Dr Evelyne Kestelyn
DAY 3 – 2 Sep (Half Day Programme)
9:00 – 9:50 am	Accelerating evidence to impact: Integrating implementation science in clinical trial designs Overview and implementation trial designs Health economics	Dr Rayner Tan A/Prof Taufique Joarder Prof Nicholas Graves
9:50 – 10:45 am	Securing Funding for Clinical Research: Strategies for Success Aligning research agendas Funding mechanisms Crafting a proposal, realistic budgeting, investigator mix, PE	Wellcome Trust, Temasek Foundation: Dr Chibuzor Uchea Dr Beenish Shaikh Dr Manjie Xing Dr Lee Fook Kay
10:45 – 11:00 am	Tea Break	—
11:00 am – 12:15 pm	Parallel Presentation Sessions (11 Selected Presentations) 11 randomly selected presenters (1 presenter per group) 5-minute elevator pitch (funding-focused) 10-minute Q&A and feedback	—
12:15 – 12:30 pm	Consolidation and Key Takeaways	Prof David Paterson

ADVANCE-ID
Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health
National University of Singapore

Tahir Foundation Building
National University of Singapore
12 Science Drive 2, #10-01, Singapore 117549
+65 6516 4988