Jeri Burtchell

At 37, shortly after my youngest son's premature birth, I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). I stuck with my diagnosing neurologist (who wasn't an MS specialist) because I didn't know any better.

I stayed on the same therapy for 8 yrs. despite lack of efficacy. When I was contemplating suicide, that's when I realized I needed a change.

I became proactive about my health, got a new neuro, and joined the TRANSFORMS trial for the first ever pill form of treatment for MS.

It changed my life.

I blogged my trial from start to finish, inadvertantly inspiring the discussion of how to control the online "chatter" among research participants that could potentially unblind a study.

I speak on this topic, and also about how to make clinical trials more "patient centric". I was interviewed at Disruptive Innovations in Clinical Trials by Craig Lipset, Head of Global R&D for Pfizer in 2012, and have since kept that conversation going at many conferences across the country.

I have consulted with several pharmaceutical companies as well as third party vendors on everything from the design of cell phone apps to beta testing engagement platforms.

I appeared in a Wall Street Journal article addressing social media use in trials.

I am now working with Abbe Steel, CEO of HealthiVibe LLC, as Director of Patient initiatives.

HealthiVibe offers a systematic, structured process for pharmaceutical manufacturers to obtain valuable patient insights around clinical trial design and patient-centered initiatives.

The company is guided by the premise that patients should play a more instrumental and active role in clinical studies before they're designed and conducted—and throughout the entire patient journey. HealthiVibe obtains rich, real-time feedback through interactive patient advisory boards and focus groups, conducts mock clinical trial simulations and utilizes online surveys from a 10 million consumer panel to reach a broader, more representative patient audience.

I am excited to be part of a company that is on the leading edge of this type of patient-centered collaboration -- effecting change in clinical trial design, and ultimately the quality of life for patients everywhere.