Future of Research

SEPTEMBER 2019 | EDUCATIONANDCAREERNEWS.COM

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FUTURE OF RESEARCH Brian Cox The world-touring physicist shares why anyone can be a scientist

Explore the research behind corporate diversity Learn how researchers can better protect consumer data

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ITMAT SYMPOSIUM October 14, 2019, Philadelphia, PA

Why Research Benefits All Scientific progress is hard-fought; the path from basic research that uncovers new knowledge about the nature of a disease or debilitating condition, to a solution that benefits patients in tangible ways is full of uncertainty, unexpected twists and turns, and years of hard work. But confronting diseases that rob people across the globe of their health, independence, and time is well worth the effort.

Research!America envisions a future in which faster medical progress is not just a goal, but a top national priority — one that is urgent and unwavering. We envision a future in which our nation values the contributions of every segment of the research pipeline, from federally funded scientific discovery to the research and development U.S. companies advance in pursuit of medical technologies and treatments that enable us to live healthier and longer lives.

We are all patients — if not today, then tomorrow. The medications, procedures, and therapies that allow us to survive and thrive are made possible by continued investment in research. As new challenges emerge, elevating our commitment to research will provide hope for patients and build a healthier future for all.

Mary Woolley, President and CEO, Research!America

ATTRIBUTION ACCELERATOR October 17, 2019, New York, NY

IA CORPORATE RESEARCHERS CONFERENCE (IA CRC) October 22-24, 2019, Orlando, FL

Making Clinical Trials More Transparent and Tangible

Spencer Phillips Hey,Ph.D Faculty and Co-Director of Research Ethics, Harvard Center for Bioethics ost of the incredible advances we’ve seen in medical treatments over the past 50 years have come about because of clinical trials.

According to ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine’s clinical trial registration platform, there are more than 54,000 trials actively recruiting participants right now. If we conservatively estimate the average trial costs around $5 million dollars, this translates into roughly $270 billion dollars that is currently invested in testing experimental treatments.

While that financial investment is considerable, it is equally important to rec-

ognize the human investment: No trials can be completed, and no new treatments can be discovered unless there are patients willing to enroll and expose themselves to the risks of experimental treatments.

To appropriately honor that sacrifice and reap the benefits for future patients, it is essential that the results of clinical trials are widely shared. Unfortunately, many trial results are never shared or published.

Positive change Thankfully, this lack of transparency around trials and their results is starting to change. There are new regulations in place that now require investigators to post their results to ClinicalTrials.gov.

In addition to transparency, I believe the world of clinical trials can be more comprehensible and tangible for the average person. This will more properly honor the sacrifice made by the trial participants and help to make us all more aware, and feel more a part of this research enterprise that affects all of our lives. n

Publisher Eliana Marzullo Business Developer Jordan Hernandez Managing Director Luciana Olson Lead Designer Tiffany Pryor Designer Keziah Makoundou Lead Editor Mina Fanous Copy Editor Dustin Brennan Director of Sales Shannon Ruggiero Director of Business Development Jourdan Snyder Director of Product Faye Godfrey Content Strategist Vanessa Rodriguez Cover Photo Mark Harrison All photos are credited to Getty Images unless otherwise specified. This section was created by Mediaplanet and did not involve USA Today.

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children will suffer long-term effects from their treatment, and children who get acute myeloid leukemia have a much lower survival rate. So the need remains urgent to find better treatments.”

One of the most exciting advancements is immunotherapy, which uses a patient’s immune system to fight cancer.

The Game-Changing Research That’s Curing Children’s Cancer Research in blood cancer has been ongoing for 70 years, and breakthroughs are happening more quickly now than ever before.

“It’s the golden age of cancer research right now,” said Lee Greenberger, Ph.D., the chief scientific officer of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS).

The LLS is the largest nonprofit funder of cutting-edge blood cancer research for every type of blood cancer, including leukemia, lymphoma, myeloma and other rare blood cancers.

“Something very dramatic

is happening because we’ve learned so much about how these blood cancer cells operate,” Greenberger explained. “A lot of drugs have been developed and we know how to develop them.”

Since launching in 1949, LLS has invested nearly $1.3 billion in cancer research, which has led to advances in immunotherapy, personalized medicine, and genomics. Since 2017, LLS has helped advance 43 of the 49 blood cancer treatment options approved by the FDA. Their research is also having a significant impact on therapies for other cancers.

The organization has also launched The LLS Children’s Initiative, a $50 million multiyear endeavor, with a bold vision for young patients to not only survive their cancer but thrive in their lives after treatment.

Progress “Ninety percent of children diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia will be cured,” said Greenberger, explaining there’s a lot of progress in blood cancer research as it’s very easy to sample blood or bone marrow, compared to sampling solid tumors. “But many of these

A promising therapy Researchers have been developing one type of immunotherapy, Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell Therapy (CAR-T), for more than 20 years. LLS has invested more than $40 million to advance CAR-T and other so-called adoptive cell therapies.

During CAR-T, a patient’s T cells are genetically modified in a lab to recognize and attack targeted tumor cells. The reprogrammed T cells act as a living drug, remaining in the patient’s body months or years after infusion, destroying all of the cancer cells and helping protect against recurrence.

“If it can cause cures with a single dose of CAR-T in the worst-case patients, imagine what it can do for patients who are newly diagnosed,” Greenberger said. “It’s an absolute game-changer.”

Many blood cancer patients who have received the CAR-T treatment have experienced long-term remissions. One of the first patients to receive the therapy has been disease-free for eight years.

With the success of CART, researchers are now trying to use the same approach in solid tumors.

“We are confident,” Greenberger said. “If we can cure some of these blood cancers, we can probably cure many of them. It’s just a matter of time, money, and effort.” n Kristen Castillo MEDIAPLANET • 3

Renowned British physicist Brian Cox blends pop culture and science every chance he gets. The author and BBC Radio co-host shared his scientific and social insights.

You sit at the intersection of science and celebrity, how do you balance your responsibility to both?

Professor Brian Cox on Why Science Is for Everyone

Science is too important not to be part of popular culture, by which I mean it must be part of everyday conversation — the zeitgeist, if you like. There is a great deal of competition for our attention: sports, advertising, politics, Facebook. Science must operate within this space if it is to maintain meaningful contact with the wider population; it must fight for attention.

Our civilization is built upon and functions to a large degree because of the outputs of science. Our future will be determined by the rate of acquisition of new knowledge and crucially how we deploy it; by what science we choose to do and how

we respond to and regulate new findings and new innovations.

Citizens deserve and require a basic knowledge of what science is, what it can and cannot achieve, and, crucially, how it works and why we should trust it over opinion or gut feeling.

What advice do you have for someone who is interested in science but discouraged by not being a “science person?”

Science is not a natural way of thinking — it has to be learned in the same way one learns to play a piano. The journey, the struggle to train the mind to think in this alien way, is tremendously rewarding and will change your life. If you go on to become a research scientist and discover something new about nature, it may change many people’s lives!

There is no such thing as “not being a science person” — there is only a person who hasn’t practiced. n PHOTO: MARK HARRISON

THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE Discover how your customer thinks, feels and acts for better business outcomes.

Read more about how research is changing our future at educationcareernews.com

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The Future of Market Research, According to the Experts Human intelligence, quantitative analysis, multilevel regression and post stratification — we asked our expert panel about current best practices for performing market research. Here’s what they said:

Heather Carruthers President of North America Qualitative, Ipsos

Ted Marzilli CEO of Data Products, YouGov

What factors are most critical to impacting a “mindset for inclusion” in market research?

ior. We need diversity in a broad sense. Inclusion drives empathy, which is key to answering business questions.

nic identity, sexual identity, or where employees are located.

Heather Carruthers: Qualitative should be a pillar of inclusion in research, as it addresses the human side of any research question. It’s understanding the raw emotion that gets at the “why” behind the behav-

Ted Marzilli: Companies need to demonstrate inclusive practices not only in their entry-level hiring, but at all levels across the organization.

That means sourcing the best talent, regardless of gender, age, racial or eth-

How can embracing new market research methodologies benefit business owners?

HC: Observation and immersion are innovative approaches; the key is to understand real people in real life. In many cases, our clients are designing

products for a consumer that is very different from themselves. There is a need to immerse themselves in the lives of their consumers.

TM: Fifteen years ago, many companies resisted the idea of conducting research online. Today, it is the primary method of conducting market research in the United States and other developed markets. Businesses who resist more recent advancements miss out on cost savings, accuracy, and speed.

What motivates your interest in market research?

HC: As a marketer and brand-builder, I was a client before joining Ipsos. The most eye opening, insightful moments come from qualitative research.

For me, MR (market research) is a critical part of building any kind of innovation or go-to-market plan. Decisions are as emotional than they are functional, and qual uncovers what truly motivates and influences choices.

TM: Market research is a means to estimate what is happening, or is going to happen, in the real world. It’s a way to understand the truth, and also help businesses and marketers allocate investments and better meet the evolving needs of consumers. n

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Protecting Personal Data as a Market Researcher Privacy and data protection have become global issues. How industries respond will be critical to their long-term success.

Those of us who make our living collecting, processing, sharing, and storing personal data increasingly face an evolving and continually challenging landscape when it comes to privacy and data protection.

The most obvious example is the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), implemented in May 2018 and then followed by lookalike legislation in Japan, South Korea, Brazil, and California. Legislators around the globe understand a digital economy has great potential for economic expansion, wealth creation, and societal improvement.

In all of this, one industry has stood out with an exemplary track record in managing data, respecting privacy, and building citizen trust: market research.

While practitioners within the broad field of market research know their obligations to those whose data is the lifeblood of our industry, the same cannot be said for other industries.

Experts stand ready to share their knowledge and experience to all comers regardless of industry. The more we can do to assure citizens that we are using their data responsibly, the greater chance the value inherent in that data will benefit all, and the more support the digital economy will receive from legislators.

Reg Baker, North American Regional Ambassador, ESOMAR

Driving Equal Opportunity in the Market Research Industry Corporate diversity goals and equal pay aren’t new-fangled ideas, so why aren’t more companies implementing them? n recent years, the market research industry has made strides toward inclusion and parity, not only for women, but for other marginalized communities as well.

For researchers and the companies that employ them, the benefits are twofold: A more diverse team offers different perspectives and, in turn, product development that is more representative of an increasingly diverse consumer base. Further, research has shown that a company’s bottom line improves when steered by a diverse leadership team.

Why, then, do companies continue to lag behind when it comes to corporate diversity efforts?

Finding answers Women in Research (WIRe), an organization that supports diversity in the market research industry, conducted a Gender & Career

Advancement study in 2012 and 2017. In a good example of progress, the study found the pay gap between men and women in senior market research industry roles dropped nearly 60 percent over that five year period.

Despite this advancement, CEOs in market research remained predominantly male and internal corporate diversity goals continued to miss the mark when it came to providing the kinds of resources needed to propel a diverse workforce into leadership roles.

The WEF predicts we won’t reach gender parity for another 202 years. The only way we will get there is by challenging companies and stakeholders across industries to empower diverse workforces, elect leaders from myriad backgrounds and experiences, and hold themselves accountable to real, measurable diversity KPIs and goals. n Women in Research (WIRe)

Asking the Big Questions About the Future of Research future.ipsos.com

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Examining the Difference Between Market, Medical, and Scientific Researchers Market researchers’ work may not be perceived in the same way as Einstein’s, Curie’s, or Pasteur’s, but it is still vital. he “Jonas Salk Middle School” is a few miles from my house. I remember being impressed the first time I saw it because local schools get named for someone who has had a major impact on the community or the world.

It is appropriate for a school to be named after Salk. He was discovered the first vaccine for Polio, which had ravished the United States and the world. His discovery literally saved millions.

I recently read that Salk never made a penny off the vaccine; he didn’t patent it and viewed it as a gift to the world.

There are other schools around the world named after scientists like Einstein, Curie, and Pasteur. Einstein, ironically, was working in the Swiss Patent Office in 1905 when he wrote a series of papers that changed physics, including special relativity. He never patented any of it.

I am unaware of any local schools named after a market researcher.

Why is that?

Commercial appeal It isn’t that market researchers are bad people. Most are good people who are charitable and devote time to improving their communities.

I think the main reason you won’t find schools named after market researchers is that market research is fundamentally a commercial enterprise, unlike basic scientific research or medical research, which primarily aim to better mankind (and no, I am not idealizing scientific researchers; I have read too many academic satires by David Lodge for that).

Basic scientific/medical research is essentially an open process. It is the job of editors and anonymous referees to make sure everything is on the up and up.

Protecting assets The commercial world of market research is not open because it is fundamentally about getting a commercial advantage. There is a veil of secrecy that is always kept up, either by clients or by market research companies.

The best work I’ve done in my career for clients has been kept hidden so their competitors don’t find out. If I wanted to speak about it at a conference, I had to blind it so nobody really knew who I was speaking about, or what I really found.

Market research companies gain commercial advantage by developing proprietary services. They don’t get a patent for them unless there is some technology involved. In speaking or writing about them, critical components are kept hidden; otherwise, they could be ripped off. Clients don’t get the full story about validation the way a refereed science journal or the FDA would demand.

Therefore, the commercial world of market research is essentially a ”buyer beware” world. The overwhelming majority of market researchers I’ve met do their best, but at the end of the day, you never really know what you’re getting.

I’d love to see a local school named for a market researcher, but it will only happen for something they did outside of market research. n Larry Friedman, Ph.D., Co-Editor, GreenBook Blog MEDIAPLANET • 7

Cancer might be tough. But we are tougher.

We are The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

We are leaders in advancing breakthroughs in immunotherapy, genomics and personalized medicine. This research saves lives.

Help us save more lives.

Donate now at www.LLS.org