Clinical Trial Administrator (CTA) Role

The Clinical Trial Administrator (CTA) role is essential to the clinical trial process. With regards to the success of the team, a CTA must possess outstanding communication skills in order to communicate effectively with what is often a large clinical trials team. In addition, due to the various mediums of communication that is available to a CTA such as verbal, written, Skype, phone and email, it is crucial to choose the correct form in order for the task to be efficient and successful. This is something I have implemented during my time as a CTA. For example when asked to give a group presentation whilst in the feasibility stage of a trial, I suggested to the group that we communicate over skype as we were all based in different countries.
I believe that this was largely due to the communication line that I helped to establish at the start of the task. A CTA can also contribute to the success of a high performing team by assisting other team members on projects when they are unable to carry tasks out. This could be because they are away from the office or are occupied by other projects. By assisting these team members, the team can stay on course to achieve its objectives. This is something that I have experience of. For example, when another CTA in my department was away, I took on some duties to carry out that they were unable to since they were on leave, such as dealing with Confidentiality Agreements (CDA) and getting them signed and sent back to those who requested them. I ensured that the CDA’s were signed as soon as possible and sent back to the requestor in an appropriate time frame. This meant that despite the assigned CTA being absent, the site selection visit was not delayed and the investigator in question was able to review the relevant protocol. Therefore, the study was able to keep up to date with its start-up
This role can facilitate this through actions such as supporting Local Ethics Committee and Institutional Review Board submissions, assisting with feasibility research and generally having good ICH Good Clinical Practice (GCP) as per GCP guidelines. In addition, a CTA should be willing to take on new responsibilities, particularly if they can help reduce study start up times. For example, I was recently asked to attend a site and help with the transferring of source documents such as medical notes from one site to a new site, as the Principal Investigator (PI) had elected to move to another site. This was deemed as somewhat of an unusual situation and not something a CTA would normally have to perform. However, it was a vital task as if not completed the start-up of the new site would have been delayed. I was excited to visit the site in question to assist with transferring the medical notes, liaise with the onsite team in person such as the PI and also meet representatives of the sponsor. The end result was that after four days of visiting the site, the task was completed which enabled the new site to be initiated on time. I was grateful for this experience as going to site and assisting with this task was not normal for my