HumanFirst and Duke Clinical Research Institute Collaborate to Improve Scientific Rigor for Digital Measures

SAN FRANCISCO, June 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- HumanFirst and the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI) announced today the creation of a new Digital Measures Evaluation Center for assessing sensors and other digital measures used in clinical research.

HumanFirst, previously known as Elektra Labs, is a technology company leading the development of digital platforms to evaluate and enable the deployment of connected technologies in decentralized trials and virtual care. The DCRI, part of the Duke University School of Medicine, is the largest academic clinical research organization in the world, with a mission to develop, share, and implement knowledge that improves global health.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, digital products were being adopted at ~34% CAGR in research studies (Marra et al., 2020), which has further accelerated over the past year and a half. With this pivotal shift toward collecting digital measures using connected sensors, it is vital to evaluate their accuracy and determine how measurement errors may impact research conclusions and healthcare decision-making.

The collaboration will leverage HumanFirst's Atlas platform and DCRI's deep expertise in trial design to create and conduct innovative and scientifically rigorous protocols to evaluate sensors and other digital measures on behalf of sponsor partners. The new Digital Measures Evaluation Center will perform fit-for-purpose technical and clinical evaluations that are designed to align with sponsor needs.

"At HumanFirst, our mission is to provide clinical researchers with the tools to dismantle systemic health care inequities and make it easier to collect measures that matter to patients," said Andrea "Andy" Coravos, CEO of HumanFirst. "The analytical and clinical validation of digital measures has been an industry challenge for some time. We are honored to have the power of DCRI's digital health and clinical trials expertise behind this evaluation process to ensure that more digital measures are worthy of our trust."

"With thousands of digital measures available today, some still highly experimental, drug, diagnostic and medical device developers need confidence to know that sensors used in trials are accurate and fit-for-purpose," said Eric Perakslis, PhD, DCRI's Chief Science and Digital Officer. "This is especially critical in the growing area of direct-to-patient studies. Now, the DCRI has a collaborator to help rigorously evaluate these technologies from a scientific and technical standpoint to provide custom analytical and clinical sensor validation."

About HumanFirst
HumanFirst enables safe, effective, and equitable healthcare operations at home. Previously known as Elektra Labs, HumanFirst serves leading organizations pioneering decentralized clinical trials and distributed care. 22 of the 25 largest pharmaceutical companies in the world have used the HumanFirst platform to evaluate and enable the deployment of health technology products since its 2019 launch. HumanFirst is hiring! For more information, please visit gohumanfirst.com or follow HumanFirst on Twitter, LinkedIn, Medium and Facebook.

About the Duke Clinical Research Institute 
The DCRI, part of the Duke University School of Medicine, is the largest academic clinical research organization in the world. Our mission is to develop, share, and implement knowledge that improves global health through innovative clinical research. The institute conducts multinational clinical trials, manages major national patient registries, and performs landmark outcomes research. The DCRI is a pioneer in cardiovascular and pediatric clinical research, and conducts groundbreaking clinical research across multiple other therapeutic areas, including infectious disease, neuroscience, respiratory medicine, and nephrology. The DCRI serves as the coordinating center for major clinical research programs, such as the Environmental Influences On Child Health (ECHO) program, the Antibacterial Resistance Leadership Group (ARLG), the NIH Health Care Systems Research Collaboratory, and the Pediatric Trials Network (PTN).

Media Contact:
Jamie Gray, [email protected], 310.699.3163
Kaitlin Jansen, [email protected], 704.995.2384

References:
Marra, C., Chen, J.L., Coravos, A. et al. Quantifying the use of connected digital products in clinical research. npj Digit. Med. 3, 50 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-020-0259-x

SOURCE HumanFirst