Leaders of the NIH Pragmatic Trials Collaboratory met in Bethesda, Maryland, on May 9 and 10 for the program’s 2024 Annual Steering Committee Meeting—an opportunity to network and hold rich discussions on key issues related to pragmatic research.

All materials from the meeting are now available online.

The NIH Pragmatic Trials Collaboratory added 9 new trials in the past year. The Annual Steering Committee Meeting provided a collaborative space for new and seasoned NIH Collaboratory Trial investigators to share challenges and lessons learned in conducting their pragmatic trials. They shared methods for increasing patient engagement, overcoming challenges in trial implementation, and creating reusable infrastructure. Seasoned investigators also shared insights into planning for posttrial activities and transitioning to the next trial.

Panel discussions at the meeting focused on key topics related to pragmatic trials, including patient engagement, ethical and regulatory issues, study design, meeting the needs of minoritized communities, engaging with rural populations, and more.

“We have more trials working in rural populations,” noted Lesley Curtis, co–principal investigator of the NIH Pragmatic Trials Collaboratory Coordinating Center. “Something that emerged [during the meeting] is the opportunity to bring the Cores together to tackle the issues we’ve been tackling, but with a focus on rural populations, which pose some unique challenges and opportunities,” she said.

The meeting featured a fireside chat, moderated by Wendy Weber, NIH program officer for the NIH Pragmatic Trials Collaboratory, where NIH Director Monica Bertagnolli and FDA Commissioner Robert Califf shared their thoughts on how pragmatic research can help address the nation’s top health priorities. Bertagnolli highlighted an opportunity to bring pragmatic research into a primary care research network that can engage more patients in research. Califf stressed the importance of implementation science and how to maximize the evidence generated from pragmatic trials.

“I’m always amazed that there is more to learn, new frontiers, new directions—doing trials in rural communities, doing trials to address maternal morbidity,” Weber said as she reflected on key takeaways from the meeting. “We heard a challenge from the NIH Director during this meeting to think about primary care settings and how the NIH Collaboratory can help do those trials and take the lessons we’ve learned into that program,” she said.

In the coming weeks, we will share video interviews with program leaders from the 2024 Annual Steering Committee Meeting. Access the complete meeting materials.