Winners of the prestigious PharmaTimes International Clinical Researcher of the Year competition were unveiled at a buzzing awards ceremony in London last night, with PRA Health Sciences striking gold in several categories, including the coveted Clinical Company of the Year 2015.
Finalists from 22 pharmaceutical companies and clinical research organisations from all corners of the globe competed head-to-head for titles including Clinical Trial Administrator, Clinical Research Associate, Project Manager, Team Leader, Strategic Partnership Manager and Clinical Research Team of the Year.
Sarah Jones from Novartis Pharmaceuticals UK Ltd/Chiltern International was named Clinical Administrator of the Year 2015. Clinical Research Associate of the Year went to Charlotte Holmes, PRA Health Sciences, while Aspiring Clinical Research Associate of the Year was won by Quintiles’ Naomi Bettesworth.
PRA Health Sciences’ Emma Lewis took home Team Leader of the Year and Silvia Casellas won Project Manager of the Year. Strategic Partnership Manager of the Year was awarded to inVentiv Health Clinical’s Rachel Oakley.
Clinical Team of the Year was also picked up by PRA Health Sciences, with Sarah Gage, Joanne Terry, Ashley King and Katy Mercer taking home first prize.
Meanwhile, seven NHS research sites were finalists for the NHS Clinical Research Site category – sponsored by the Department of Health and the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry – after 17 sites entered to compete. The winning site was University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire.
Barometer of quality
The PharmaTimes International Clinical Researcher of the Year competition has been established as a key barometer of quality standards for the clinical research fraternity and to celebrate the brightest stars in the field.
“The PharmaTimes competitions are a roaring success because they are both run and judged by independent industry experts,” said Claire Bowie, PharmaTimes Media’s Managing Editor. “The whole process offers not only a credible opportunity to benchmark performance against the best in the industry, but also a unique learning experience that can only be a win for career development”.
“A huge congratulations to the Pharma winners, but all those who have taken part in this tough challenge should be enormously proud of their achievements”.
And as Ricky Martin, managing director Hyper Recruitment Solutions and The Apprentice Winner, told clinical researchers in last night’s audience: “In our busy lives we forget the impact that you have. You are helping people, saving lives and you’re making a difference. More people should enter awards like this”.
PharmaTimes would like to thank all those organisations that have supported the event this year: Chiltern, PRA Health Sciences, ABPI, Department of Health, Bristol-Myers Squibb, GlaxoSmithKline, Hyper Recruitment Services,IAOCR, Institute of Clinical Research, Novo Nordisk, PI Partnership, PPD and Small Planet.
