
The company that modernized how clinical research reaches underserved communities is back at DPHARM with a new platform built to revolutionize how pharmaceutical companies understand and act on community data
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Sept. 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- In 2022, Acclinate stepped onto the DPHARM stage and won DPHARM Idol, recognized for disrupting how the industry approached clinical trial diversity. This week, CEO and co-founder Del Smith returns to introduce Acclinate's next disruption: AVA, a community intelligence platform built to close the gap between what healthcare organizations know about a community and what they still can't predict about a patient.
Acclinate is the only company pairing 6+ years of proprietary community intelligence and more than 100 million behavioral and social determinants of health (SDOH) data points with an active, trusted community of 275,000+ members. AVA turns that foundation into a predictive layer by explaining what's shaping patient behavior before it happens.
"We came here in 2022 and showed the industry what disrupting clinical trial diversity could look like," Smith said. "AVA is us doing that again, this time with the data our community gave us, to amplify their voices and demand the change they've been asking for in healthcare."
From Community Signal to Patient Behavior
Teams across the pharmaceutical ecosystem already have detailed data on the individual patients they need to enroll or retain, including demographics, diagnoses, claims histories, site proximity. What they don't have is a way to see that data coming. Community-level signals such as trust, belief systems, economic pressure, local barriers are the leading indicators. They explain why a patient behaves the way they do, often before that patient ever shows up.
"Healthcare has a hard time surfacing community data that's actually important," Smith said. "We can build an incredibly detailed profile of one person and still miss the community forces that quietly decided how that person was going to respond. AVA brings those insights to the surface, so our customers aren't reacting to patient behavior, they're anticipating it."
What AVA Does
AVA brings together trust levels, beliefs, localized needs, and readiness to participate in research, layered with geographic, site, and engagement context. Rather than reporting historical metrics after the fact, AVA is built to help teams get ahead of the questions
that usually only surface once enrollment has already stalled:
- Why isn't initial engagement converting into health action?
- Where are specific barriers emerging and for which communities?
- Which intervention is necessary, and where should resources be focused?
- Did a specific initiative actually create measurable change?
Unifying more than six years of Acclinate's proprietary technology and data into a single platform, AVA supports enterprise decision-making across clinical research and development, therapeutic area strategy, patient advocacy, health equity, and population health — capabilities no other community-focused platform in the space currently offers at this scale.
From Intelligence to Activation
Community intelligence is only valuable if it drives real-world outcomes. AVA is one half of Acclinate's dual-action model. AVA provides understanding behind the data and NOWINCLUDED, Acclinate's trusted health community and activation engine, delivers the execution. Together, they create a continuous loop:
Community → Intelligence → Decision → Activation → Outcome → Learning
"Our goal isn't to know more about communities for the sake of knowing more," Smith added. "It's to predict where a patient-level problem is coming from early enough to actually do something about it and then prove why community insights are more important than ever."
Join the Conversation at DPHARM
Del Smith is at DPHARM this week to chat about AVA directly to clinical development leaders and to explain how community intelligence is the missing predictor in every patient-enrollment plan. Healthcare leaders attending DPHARM are invited to connect with Smith directly to explore what community intelligence could tell them before their next barrier shows up.
Learn more about AVA here.
About Acclinate
Over the last six years, Acclinate has been disrupting the way healthcare companies approach representation in clinical trials. Today, Acclinate leads the industry in community intelligence with NOWINCLUDED and AVA, helping pharmaceutical, healthcare, and life sciences organizations understand and act on what drives health decisions in underrepresented communities.
Acclinate's proprietary community intelligence, built on more than 100 million behavioral and SDOH data points, powers predictive insight across every engagement, from grassroots trust-building to enterprise decision-making. Acclinate's community of 275K+ members is dedicated to taking action for better health, and to bringing health opportunities, including clinical research, to the communities that need them most. Learn more at acclinate.com
Media Contact:
Lauren Clements
(256) 435-2800
SOURCE Acclinate
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