Digging Into Dilemmas of Pragmatic Clinical Trials: NIH-Hosted Workshop (November 2025)

November 4-5, 2025: This 2-day workshop focused on the perspectives of providers, healthcare systems, regulators, and payers that can inform better approaches to research embedded in healthcare delivery. A series of panels discussed considerations for research in healthcare systems across a variety of communities; platform trials as an emerging method; implications of pragmatic trials with null findings for future pragmatic research; and the role of pragmatic trials in comparative effectiveness research of artificial intelligence algorithms.

Agenda, Slides, and Recordings

Day 1: November 4

Welcome and Introduction

Wendy Weber, ND, PhD, MPH*
Helene Langevin, MD*
Presented by: Lesley Curtis, PhD

Keynote: Landscape of Healthcare in America: Gaps and Opportunities (That Researchers Need to Hear)

David Zaas, MD, MBA

Session 1: Understanding Needs and Priorities of Health Systems Across Communities

Moderator: Cherise Harrington, PhD, MPH

Panel:

  • Aimee Eden, PhD, MPH*
  • Rachel Gold, PhD, MPH
  • Caleb Holtzer, MD, MPH
  • Ann Sheehy, MD, MS*
  • Sebastian Tong, MD, MPH

Session 2: Realizing the Potential of Platform Trials

Moderator: Adrian Hernandez, MD, MHS

Panel:

  • Marianne Kearney Chase
  • Martin Landray, MB ChB, PhD
  • Gregory Levin, PhD
  • Christopher Lindsell, PhD
  • Bijoy Menon, MBBS, MD, DM, MSc

Summary and Concluding Remarks

Lesley Curtis, PhD
Cherise Harrington, PhD, MPH
Adrian Hernandez, MD, MHS
Wendy Weber, ND, PhD, MPH*

Day 2: November 5

Welcome and Introduction

Wendy Weber, ND, PhD, MPH*
Helene Langevin, MD*
Presented by: Kevin Weinfurt, PhD

Session 3: What Do We Learn From Null Pragmatic Trials?

Presenter: Kevin Weinfurt, PhD

Moderator: Josephine Briggs, MD

Panel:

  • Corita Grudzen, MD, MSHS
  • Michael Ho, MD, PhD
  • Vincent Mor, PhD
  • Miguel Vazquez, MD

Session 4: What Is the Role of ePCTs in the Age of Artificial Intelligence?

Moderator: Emily O'Brien, PhD

Panel:

  • Adrian Hernandez, MD, MHS
  • Michael Ho, MD, PhD
  • Rohan Khera, MD, MS
  • Edward Melnick, MD, MHS
  • Jeremy Sugarman, MD, MPH, MA
  • Kenneth Wiley, PhD*


Summary and Concluding Remarks

Josephine Briggs, MD
Lesley Curtis, PhD
Emily O'Brien, PhD
Wendy Weber, ND, PhD, MPH*
Kevin Weinfurt, PhD

*Participated in workshop planning but unable to attend the live event due to the federal government shutdown.