We organise events that allow direct interactions and promote discussions of controversial issues.
For ten years, the SCTO has been anticipating and unravelling compelling topics in clinical research by bringing together key Swiss stakeholders at its annual forum to network, learn, debate, and ask questions. Each year, the SCTO invites representatives from academic clinical research, the pharmaceutical industry, institutions for research development, and Swiss ethics committees to its forum to present and discuss their perspectives on hot and controversial topics in the field of clinical research.
The 2021 SCTO Forum asked highly relevant questions: How can clinical research results be communicated in the most effective way to diverse audiences? How can we do better than we have so far in the COVID-19 pandemic? How can we ensure a circular flow of information rather than one-way communication?
At our SCTO Symposium, we spend the day exploring the challenges and solutions that lie ahead in clinical research. This annual SCTO event, which we have been jointly organising with our member institutions since 2010, is open to all those interested in the latest developments in dynamic research areas. Each year, international experts take a deeper look at current trends in translational and clinical research on both the scientific and political levels. In addition, the event offers the opportunity to network beyond Swiss borders.
The 2021 SCTO Symposium was initially planned for June 2020 but had to be postponed to June 2021 due to COVID-19 restrictions and the postponement of the European Medical Devices Regulation. Yet its topic Medical Devices: Lost in Translation? remains highly relevant in 2021.
From 2014 to 2019, the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences (SAMS), Interpharma, and the SCTO organised a health seminar aimed primarily at science journalists and stakeholders from the science environment. The seminars offered an overview of where we stand at present with regard to current topics such as:
Every other year, the SCTO organises the trinational DACH Symposium together with the coordination centres for clinical studies in Germany and Austria. The DACH Symposium is aimed at all those involved in clinical trials: study nurses, study coordinators, medical experts, monitors, data managers, project managers, pharmaceutical industry representatives, and patients.
The second congress in 2018 was held in Zurich and attracted about 600 participants. The 2020 congress was postponed to 2021 and will take place as a virtual seminar series. Participants may register for individual modules, so they can target which specific areas of clinical trials they want to delve into.