This month, interns Anne Miggelenbrink and Carlijn Hut started at TRACER. We were curious: What have they learned about clinical research at their universities? What are their expectations of working in drug development and specifically working at TRACER? Join them on their internship journey via our blogs and, of course, on LinkedIn. Follow @TRACER to get updates on their story.
We’ve always taken in a lot of information in college. Now the question is how to apply this outside the classroom?
– Anne Miggelenbrink
How is the topic of clinical trials discussed at university?
Clinical trials were not a course as a part of their studies; however, the topic often presented itself in other classes. Classes such as genetics, oncology, and immunology. When you read articles based on clinical trials, you learn about them as well.
It is up to the professor what is discussed during the course. A professor who is involved in clinical trials will most likely talk about it.
– Carlijn Hut
Anne took an extra course in clinical trial design and the Basic Course on Regulations and Organization for Clinical Researchers (BROK) as part of her elective courses and personal interest. At her university, the drug development process is also discussed in other courses. Depending on the courses, the phases in clinical research are mentioned, but that never includes Phase 0 or exploratory trials.
What is your expectation of clinical research like we do it at TRACER?
Carlijn chose the internship at TRACER to learn about other aspects of trials in addition to the research itself. She missed that you don’t get certain things during the training, so you have to expand this yourself.
Carlijn, “I have a biomedical background myself and based on that, I am interested in what is being researched. I also wonder how research itself works. I think there’s a lot more involved such as guidelines, inclusion of patients, etc. that I’m not familiar with. I expect it will surprise me, how much work it is to set up clinical research.”
For Anne, the courses at university were short, so you have small snapshots of big processes. With the internship at TRACER, she hopes to get a better overview of the entire process and to encounter practical challenges that weren’t taught in university.
Anne, “Although drug development seems straightforward in theory, no one explains how it’s actually done. It’s often said the process takes years, but I am curious about what exactly happens in those years.”
Internship at TRACER: innovative research with imaging
Both think – and happen to be completely right – that because TRACER is a specialized imaging CRO, it has a more creative approach to studies. Anne and Carlijn mentioning, “They perform innovative research, and therefore, the framework is less rigid. This allows you to look specifically at the client’s research question and work with that exact question.”
Have you learned about radiopharma and imaging?
Both indicate, “We didn’t have specific courses on radiopharmaceuticals, but imaging did come up occasionally. The basics of nuclear medicine are pretty easy to read into, like the differences between alpha, beta, and gamma and between PET and SPECT. To study the subject more in-depth, there is a course at the university on labeling and radioisotopes. Depending on your study, you come across it, but whether you get excited about it depends on the professor.”
How do our future clinical research colleagues get excited about the profession?
They both agree that what subjects you come into contact with in college depends on the professors, the guest lectures given, and the business fairs that are organized. A student’s enthusiasm for a topic is mainly driven by the enthusiasm of the storyteller. As a student, you can pick up on which speakers really love their topic. Sometimes, the topic is boring, but the applications are exciting. This also applies to nuclear medicine; many students consider the theory dry and boring, but the application is indeed exciting.
A few of the guest lectures to remember
Whether it’s the topic, the speaker, or both, some guest lectures just stay with you.
Guest lecture: Synthetic hydrogels
We had a guest lecture from a chemist working on synthetic hydrogels that could be used as 3D cell culture material, like extracellular matrix (ECM) for organoids. While Matrigel is the current gold standard, it has several limitations. This includes being derived from mouse tumors, having an unknown composition, and exhibiting batch-to-batch variability. In contrast, synthetic hydrogels offer greater stability and reliability. However, the real challenge might be to replace the current gold standard, as most preclinical data is based on Matrigel. There is likely to be strong resistance to change within the field, as the results would no longer be directly comparable.
Anne, “It’s fascinating to learn about these innovative approaches, but also important to recognize that science doesn’t stop there; turning these ideas into a business comes with its own set of challenges.”
Guest lecture: Low-value care
This guest lecture talked about low-value care, which refers to care that has been proven to be of little or no value to the patient. This can be categorized into three types: ineffective, inefficient, or unwanted care. A practical example is the “shaving case” from 1900, where preoperative shaving was believed to reduce the risk of surgical site infections. However, in 1986, it was shown that preoperative shaving was ineffective. Despite this, by 2007, 88% of surgeons were still using preoperative shaving, as de-implementation is often a very challenging process. It’s important to recognize that innovations, even those widely adopted, can be ineffective and lead to a significant waste of time, money, and resources. Additionally, de-implementing these practices is a challenging and complex process.
Patient lectures
In one of our courses, we had multiple patient lectures, including on Huntington’s disease and nasopharyngeal cancer. These lectures were insightful and helped bring back the bigger picture. It is easy to get caught up in the details of experiments, become fascinated by mechanisms, and lose sight of the broader purpose. Hearing directly from patients provided valuable perspective and served as a reminder of why this research matters in a real-world context.
Learn how to learn
You learn how to learn as it were because the way of reading through papers and absorbing knowledge can be applied to new topics. You forget the details, but like cycling, the way of doing things becomes your own. Anne took a broad approach, learning about molecular biology, genetics, oncology, preclinical, clinical, policy, sustainability, innovations, business, and more. Carlijn went for the more specialized approach.
Carlijn: “Depending on your specialization, you learn more and more related to that single topic. For me, that’s immunology. For example, you learn lab techniques that are valuable in your field.”
The upcoming period at TRACER
You can say that people like to talk about new and groundbreaking research. Because of the relationship between universities and academic centers, the emphasis is already on those new things. In college, you learn recent things, so you look at the newest methods. Processes and methods get filtered out through education, you don’t learn what hasn’t been proven meaningful or necessary. When you join a company as an intern and young professional, you bring this newly acquired knowledge with you. So, for us, interns at TRACER, the following months we’ll see what we will learn and what we can bring into practice! Follow the blogs on TRACER and stay up to date by following TRACER on LinkedIn.