In our 1-hour webinar on the 12 of July 2017 (4:30pm CET, 3:30pm BST, 10:30am EST) we will have a presentation by Conny Berlin who is the industry project leader of the public-private IMI PREFER project and Rachael DiSantostefano, a task co-leader on the IMI PREFER project.
Abstract
The main objective of the IMI PREFER project is to strengthen patient-centric decision making throughout the life cycle of medicinal products by developing evidence-based recommendations to guide industry, Regulatory Authorities, HTA bodies, reimbursement agencies, academia, and health care professionals on how and when patient-preference studies should be performed and the results used to support and inform decision making.
While over the last years all stakeholders gained experience individually how to engage patients for decision making this project aims to bring all stakeholders together taking a structured approach to determine their needs, expectations, and concerns regarding the use of patient-preference information and methodologies for patient-preference elicitation.
Methodologies for patient value elicitation are available and have been used frequently in market research, in health economics and outcomes research to substantiate real-life evidence. Further structured research has been done in projects like IMI PROTECT but there is no systematic use of these methodologies in the regulatory licensing processes yet.
The presentation will address
Objective of PREFER
Changing environment
Patient preference study example
PREFER participants
PREFER project approach & status
About the Presenters
Conny Berlin, Global Head Quantitative Safety & Epidemiology,
Novartis International AG
Conny Berlin leads the Quantitative Safety & Epidemiology group at Novartis International AG. She holds a degree in mathematics from the University of Rostock, Germany and has more than 25 years of experience within the pharmaceutical industry.
Conny Berlin has a profound knowledge of quantitative methodology as applied to clinical and observational data and to spontaneous reports to respond to safety and benefit-risk questions during drug development and post-approval.
Conny Berlin is a member of the company’s internal Medical Safety Review Board and of the Real World Evidence Leadership Team.
She is well experienced in managing projects, leading and coordinating interdisciplinary teams. Conny Berlin is the industry project leader of the public-private IMI PREFER project.
Relevant references
Esther W. de Bekker-Grob, Conny Berlin et al. Giving Patients’ Preferences a Voice in Medical Treatment Life Cycle: The PREFER Public–Private Project. Patient: Editorial
Participant of the CIOMS working group X on "Evidence Synthesis and Meta-Analysis for Drug Safety"; report published in 2016
Berlin C, Blanch C et al. Are all quantitative postmarketing signal detection methods equal? Performance characteristics of logistic regression and Multi-item Gamma Poisson Shrinker. Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety. 2011: 622-630
Rachael DiSantostefano, PhD, MS is a Director, Benefit-Risk in Epidemiology at Janssen R&D
Rachael L. DiSantostefano has nearly 25 years of pharmaceutical research experience across the quantitative disciplines of epidemiology, biostatistics, and health outcomes. She is currently responsible for guiding clinical teams in structured benefit-risk assessment, including the use of both qualitative and quantitative methods. She received her PhD in Health Policy and her Master’s degree in Biostatistics at the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health. Prior to joining Janssen in 2015, she was an epidemiologist at another pharmaceutical company for 10 years, where she evaluated medication safety and contributed to benefit-risk assessment in regulatory submissions and at FDA Advisory Committee meetings. She is currently active as a task co-leader on the IMI PREFER project and an active member of the Benefit-Risk Assessment Communication and Evaluation Special Interest Group (BRACE-SIG) within the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology.
In our 1-hour webinar on the 12 of July 2017 (4:30pm CET, 3:30pm BST, 10:30am EST) we will have a presentation by Conny Berlin who is the industry project leader of the public-private IMI PREFER project and Rachael DiSantostefano, a task co-leader on the IMI PREFER project.
Abstract
The main objective of the IMI PREFER project is to strengthen patient-centric decision making throughout the life cycle of medicinal products by developing evidence-based recommendations to guide industry, Regulatory Authorities, HTA bodies, reimbursement agencies, academia, and health care professionals on how and when patient-preference studies should be performed and the results used to support and inform decision making.
While over the last years all stakeholders gained experience individually how to engage patients for decision making this project aims to bring all stakeholders together taking a structured approach to determine their needs, expectations, and concerns regarding the use of patient-preference information and methodologies for patient-preference elicitation.
Methodologies for patient value elicitation are available and have been used frequently in market research, in health economics and outcomes research to substantiate real-life evidence. Further structured research has been done in projects like IMI PROTECT but there is no systematic use of these methodologies in the regulatory licensing processes yet.
The presentation will address
Objective of PREFER
Changing environment
Patient preference study example
PREFER participants
PREFER project approach & status
About the Presenters
Conny Berlin, Global Head Quantitative Safety & Epidemiology,
Novartis International AG
Conny Berlin leads the Quantitative Safety & Epidemiology group at Novartis International AG. She holds a degree in mathematics from the University of Rostock, Germany and has more than 25 years of experience within the pharmaceutical industry.
Conny Berlin has a profound knowledge of quantitative methodology as applied to clinical and observational data and to spontaneous reports to respond to safety and benefit-risk questions during drug development and post-approval.
Conny Berlin is a member of the company’s internal Medical Safety Review Board and of the Real World Evidence Leadership Team.
She is well experienced in managing projects, leading and coordinating interdisciplinary teams. Conny Berlin is the industry project leader of the public-private IMI PREFER project.
Relevant references
Esther W. de Bekker-Grob, Conny Berlin et al. Giving Patients’ Preferences a Voice in Medical Treatment Life Cycle: The PREFER Public–Private Project. Patient: Editorial
Participant of the CIOMS working group X on "Evidence Synthesis and Meta-Analysis for Drug Safety"; report published in 2016
Berlin C, Blanch C et al. Are all quantitative postmarketing signal detection methods equal? Performance characteristics of logistic regression and Multi-item Gamma Poisson Shrinker. Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety. 2011: 622-630
Rachael DiSantostefano, PhD, MS is a Director, Benefit-Risk in Epidemiology at Janssen R&D
Rachael L. DiSantostefano has nearly 25 years of pharmaceutical research experience across the quantitative disciplines of epidemiology, biostatistics, and health outcomes. She is currently responsible for guiding clinical teams in structured benefit-risk assessment, including the use of both qualitative and quantitative methods. She received her PhD in Health Policy and her Master’s degree in Biostatistics at the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health. Prior to joining Janssen in 2015, she was an epidemiologist at another pharmaceutical company for 10 years, where she evaluated medication safety and contributed to benefit-risk assessment in regulatory submissions and at FDA Advisory Committee meetings. She is currently active as a task co-leader on the IMI PREFER project and an active member of the Benefit-Risk Assessment Communication and Evaluation Special Interest Group (BRACE-SIG) within the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology.
In our 1-hour webinar on the 12 of July 2017 (4:30pm CET, 3:30pm BST, 10:30am EST) we will have a presentation by Conny Berlin who is the industry project leader of the public-private IMI PREFER project and Rachael DiSantostefano, a task co-leader on the IMI PREFER project.
Abstract
The main objective of the IMI PREFER project is to strengthen patient-centric decision making throughout the life cycle of medicinal products by developing evidence-based recommendations to guide industry, Regulatory Authorities, HTA bodies, reimbursement agencies, academia, and health care professionals on how and when patient-preference studies should be performed and the results used to support and inform decision making.
While over the last years all stakeholders gained experience individually how to engage patients for decision making this project aims to bring all stakeholders together taking a structured approach to determine their needs, expectations, and concerns regarding the use of patient-preference information and methodologies for patient-preference elicitation.
Methodologies for patient value elicitation are available and have been used frequently in market research, in health economics and outcomes research to substantiate real-life evidence. Further structured research has been done in projects like IMI PROTECT but there is no systematic use of these methodologies in the regulatory licensing processes yet.
The presentation will address
Objective of PREFER
Changing environment
Patient preference study example
PREFER participants
PREFER project approach & status
About the Presenters
Conny Berlin, Global Head Quantitative Safety & Epidemiology,
Novartis International AG
Conny Berlin leads the Quantitative Safety & Epidemiology group at Novartis International AG. She holds a degree in mathematics from the University of Rostock, Germany and has more than 25 years of experience within the pharmaceutical industry.
Conny Berlin has a profound knowledge of quantitative methodology as applied to clinical and observational data and to spontaneous reports to respond to safety and benefit-risk questions during drug development and post-approval.
Conny Berlin is a member of the company’s internal Medical Safety Review Board and of the Real World Evidence Leadership Team.
She is well experienced in managing projects, leading and coordinating interdisciplinary teams. Conny Berlin is the industry project leader of the public-private IMI PREFER project.
Relevant references
Esther W. de Bekker-Grob, Conny Berlin et al. Giving Patients’ Preferences a Voice in Medical Treatment Life Cycle: The PREFER Public–Private Project. Patient: Editorial
Participant of the CIOMS working group X on "Evidence Synthesis and Meta-Analysis for Drug Safety"; report published in 2016
Berlin C, Blanch C et al. Are all quantitative postmarketing signal detection methods equal? Performance characteristics of logistic regression and Multi-item Gamma Poisson Shrinker. Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety. 2011: 622-630
Rachael DiSantostefano, PhD, MS is a Director, Benefit-Risk in Epidemiology at Janssen R&D
Rachael L. DiSantostefano has nearly 25 years of pharmaceutical research experience across the quantitative disciplines of epidemiology, biostatistics, and health outcomes. She is currently responsible for guiding clinical teams in structured benefit-risk assessment, including the use of both qualitative and quantitative methods. She received her PhD in Health Policy and her Master’s degree in Biostatistics at the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health. Prior to joining Janssen in 2015, she was an epidemiologist at another pharmaceutical company for 10 years, where she evaluated medication safety and contributed to benefit-risk assessment in regulatory submissions and at FDA Advisory Committee meetings. She is currently active as a task co-leader on the IMI PREFER project and an active member of the Benefit-Risk Assessment Communication and Evaluation Special Interest Group (BRACE-SIG) within the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology.
In our 1-hour webinar on the 12 of July 2017 (4:30pm CET, 3:30pm BST, 10:30am EST) we will have a presentation by Conny Berlin who is the industry project leader of the public-private IMI PREFER project and Rachael DiSantostefano, a task co-leader on the IMI PREFER project.
Abstract
The main objective of the IMI PREFER project is to strengthen patient-centric decision making throughout the life cycle of medicinal products by developing evidence-based recommendations to guide industry, Regulatory Authorities, HTA bodies, reimbursement agencies, academia, and health care professionals on how and when patient-preference studies should be performed and the results used to support and inform decision making.
While over the last years all stakeholders gained experience individually how to engage patients for decision making this project aims to bring all stakeholders together taking a structured approach to determine their needs, expectations, and concerns regarding the use of patient-preference information and methodologies for patient-preference elicitation.
Methodologies for patient value elicitation are available and have been used frequently in market research, in health economics and outcomes research to substantiate real-life evidence. Further structured research has been done in projects like IMI PROTECT but there is no systematic use of these methodologies in the regulatory licensing processes yet.
The presentation will address
Objective of PREFER
Changing environment
Patient preference study example
PREFER participants
PREFER project approach & status
About the Presenters
Conny Berlin, Global Head Quantitative Safety & Epidemiology,
Novartis International AG
Conny Berlin leads the Quantitative Safety & Epidemiology group at Novartis International AG. She holds a degree in mathematics from the University of Rostock, Germany and has more than 25 years of experience within the pharmaceutical industry.
Conny Berlin has a profound knowledge of quantitative methodology as applied to clinical and observational data and to spontaneous reports to respond to safety and benefit-risk questions during drug development and post-approval.
Conny Berlin is a member of the company’s internal Medical Safety Review Board and of the Real World Evidence Leadership Team.
She is well experienced in managing projects, leading and coordinating interdisciplinary teams. Conny Berlin is the industry project leader of the public-private IMI PREFER project.
Relevant references
Esther W. de Bekker-Grob, Conny Berlin et al. Giving Patients’ Preferences a Voice in Medical Treatment Life Cycle: The PREFER Public–Private Project. Patient: Editorial
Participant of the CIOMS working group X on "Evidence Synthesis and Meta-Analysis for Drug Safety"; report published in 2016
Berlin C, Blanch C et al. Are all quantitative postmarketing signal detection methods equal? Performance characteristics of logistic regression and Multi-item Gamma Poisson Shrinker. Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety. 2011: 622-630
Rachael DiSantostefano, PhD, MS is a Director, Benefit-Risk in Epidemiology at Janssen R&D
Rachael L. DiSantostefano has nearly 25 years of pharmaceutical research experience across the quantitative disciplines of epidemiology, biostatistics, and health outcomes. She is currently responsible for guiding clinical teams in structured benefit-risk assessment, including the use of both qualitative and quantitative methods. She received her PhD in Health Policy and her Master’s degree in Biostatistics at the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health. Prior to joining Janssen in 2015, she was an epidemiologist at another pharmaceutical company for 10 years, where she evaluated medication safety and contributed to benefit-risk assessment in regulatory submissions and at FDA Advisory Committee meetings. She is currently active as a task co-leader on the IMI PREFER project and an active member of the Benefit-Risk Assessment Communication and Evaluation Special Interest Group (BRACE-SIG) within the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology.
In our 1-hour webinar on the 12 of July 2017 (4:30pm CET, 3:30pm BST, 10:30am EST) we will have a presentation by Conny Berlin who is the industry project leader of the public-private IMI PREFER project and Rachael DiSantostefano, a task co-leader on the IMI PREFER project.
Abstract
The main objective of the IMI PREFER project is to strengthen patient-centric decision making throughout the life cycle of medicinal products by developing evidence-based recommendations to guide industry, Regulatory Authorities, HTA bodies, reimbursement agencies, academia, and health care professionals on how and when patient-preference studies should be performed and the results used to support and inform decision making.
While over the last years all stakeholders gained experience individually how to engage patients for decision making this project aims to bring all stakeholders together taking a structured approach to determine their needs, expectations, and concerns regarding the use of patient-preference information and methodologies for patient-preference elicitation.
Methodologies for patient value elicitation are available and have been used frequently in market research, in health economics and outcomes research to substantiate real-life evidence. Further structured research has been done in projects like IMI PROTECT but there is no systematic use of these methodologies in the regulatory licensing processes yet.
The presentation will address
Objective of PREFER
Changing environment
Patient preference study example
PREFER participants
PREFER project approach & status
About the Presenters
Conny Berlin, Global Head Quantitative Safety & Epidemiology,
Novartis International AG
Conny Berlin leads the Quantitative Safety & Epidemiology group at Novartis International AG. She holds a degree in mathematics from the University of Rostock, Germany and has more than 25 years of experience within the pharmaceutical industry.
Conny Berlin has a profound knowledge of quantitative methodology as applied to clinical and observational data and to spontaneous reports to respond to safety and benefit-risk questions during drug development and post-approval.
Conny Berlin is a member of the company’s internal Medical Safety Review Board and of the Real World Evidence Leadership Team.
She is well experienced in managing projects, leading and coordinating interdisciplinary teams. Conny Berlin is the industry project leader of the public-private IMI PREFER project.
Relevant references
Esther W. de Bekker-Grob, Conny Berlin et al. Giving Patients’ Preferences a Voice in Medical Treatment Life Cycle: The PREFER Public–Private Project. Patient: Editorial
Participant of the CIOMS working group X on "Evidence Synthesis and Meta-Analysis for Drug Safety"; report published in 2016
Berlin C, Blanch C et al. Are all quantitative postmarketing signal detection methods equal? Performance characteristics of logistic regression and Multi-item Gamma Poisson Shrinker. Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety. 2011: 622-630
Rachael DiSantostefano, PhD, MS is a Director, Benefit-Risk in Epidemiology at Janssen R&D
Rachael L. DiSantostefano has nearly 25 years of pharmaceutical research experience across the quantitative disciplines of epidemiology, biostatistics, and health outcomes. She is currently responsible for guiding clinical teams in structured benefit-risk assessment, including the use of both qualitative and quantitative methods. She received her PhD in Health Policy and her Master’s degree in Biostatistics at the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health. Prior to joining Janssen in 2015, she was an epidemiologist at another pharmaceutical company for 10 years, where she evaluated medication safety and contributed to benefit-risk assessment in regulatory submissions and at FDA Advisory Committee meetings. She is currently active as a task co-leader on the IMI PREFER project and an active member of the Benefit-Risk Assessment Communication and Evaluation Special Interest Group (BRACE-SIG) within the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology.
In our 1-hour webinar on the 12 of July 2017 (4:30pm CET, 3:30pm BST, 10:30am EST) we will have a presentation by Conny Berlin who is the industry project leader of the public-private IMI PREFER project and Rachael DiSantostefano, a task co-leader on the IMI PREFER project.
Abstract
The main objective of the IMI PREFER project is to strengthen patient-centric decision making throughout the life cycle of medicinal products by developing evidence-based recommendations to guide industry, Regulatory Authorities, HTA bodies, reimbursement agencies, academia, and health care professionals on how and when patient-preference studies should be performed and the results used to support and inform decision making.
While over the last years all stakeholders gained experience individually how to engage patients for decision making this project aims to bring all stakeholders together taking a structured approach to determine their needs, expectations, and concerns regarding the use of patient-preference information and methodologies for patient-preference elicitation.
Methodologies for patient value elicitation are available and have been used frequently in market research, in health economics and outcomes research to substantiate real-life evidence. Further structured research has been done in projects like IMI PROTECT but there is no systematic use of these methodologies in the regulatory licensing processes yet.
The presentation will address
Objective of PREFER
Changing environment
Patient preference study example
PREFER participants
PREFER project approach & status
About the Presenters
Conny Berlin, Global Head Quantitative Safety & Epidemiology,
Novartis International AG
Conny Berlin leads the Quantitative Safety & Epidemiology group at Novartis International AG. She holds a degree in mathematics from the University of Rostock, Germany and has more than 25 years of experience within the pharmaceutical industry.
Conny Berlin has a profound knowledge of quantitative methodology as applied to clinical and observational data and to spontaneous reports to respond to safety and benefit-risk questions during drug development and post-approval.
Conny Berlin is a member of the company’s internal Medical Safety Review Board and of the Real World Evidence Leadership Team.
She is well experienced in managing projects, leading and coordinating interdisciplinary teams. Conny Berlin is the industry project leader of the public-private IMI PREFER project.
Relevant references
Esther W. de Bekker-Grob, Conny Berlin et al. Giving Patients’ Preferences a Voice in Medical Treatment Life Cycle: The PREFER Public–Private Project. Patient: Editorial
Participant of the CIOMS working group X on "Evidence Synthesis and Meta-Analysis for Drug Safety"; report published in 2016
Berlin C, Blanch C et al. Are all quantitative postmarketing signal detection methods equal? Performance characteristics of logistic regression and Multi-item Gamma Poisson Shrinker. Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety. 2011: 622-630
Rachael DiSantostefano, PhD, MS is a Director, Benefit-Risk in Epidemiology at Janssen R&D
Rachael L. DiSantostefano has nearly 25 years of pharmaceutical research experience across the quantitative disciplines of epidemiology, biostatistics, and health outcomes. She is currently responsible for guiding clinical teams in structured benefit-risk assessment, including the use of both qualitative and quantitative methods. She received her PhD in Health Policy and her Master’s degree in Biostatistics at the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health. Prior to joining Janssen in 2015, she was an epidemiologist at another pharmaceutical company for 10 years, where she evaluated medication safety and contributed to benefit-risk assessment in regulatory submissions and at FDA Advisory Committee meetings. She is currently active as a task co-leader on the IMI PREFER project and an active member of the Benefit-Risk Assessment Communication and Evaluation Special Interest Group (BRACE-SIG) within the International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology.
Joint PSI/EFSPI Visualisation SIG 'Wonderful Wednesday' Webinars
Our monthly webinar explores examples of innovative data visualisations relevant to our day to day work. Each month a new dataset is provided from a clinical trial or other relevant example, and participants are invited to submit a graphic that communicates interesting and relevant characteristics of the data.
Topic: R Package Basics.
Our monthly webinar series allows attendees to gain practical knowledge and skills in open-source coding and tools, with a focus on applications in the pharmaceutical industry. This month’s session, “R Package Basics,” will introduce the fundamentals of working with R packages—covering how to install, load, and manage them effectively to support data analysis and reproducible research. The session will provide a solid starting point, clarify common misconceptions, and offer valuable resources for continued learning.
Date: Ongoing 6 month cycle beginning late April/early May 2026
Are you a member of PSI looking to further your career or help develop others - why not sign up to the PSI Mentoring scheme? You can expand your network, improve your leadership skills and learn from more senior colleagues in the industry.
PSI Book Club Lunch and Learn: Communicating with Clarity and Confidence
If you have read Ros Atkins’ book The Art of Explanation or want to listen to the BBC’s ‘Communicator in Chief’, you are invited to join the PSI Book Club Lunch and Learn, to discuss the content and application with the author, Ros Atkins. Having written the book within the context of the news industry, Ros is keen to hear how we have applied the ideas as statisticians within drug development and clinical trials. There will be dedicated time during the webinar to ASK THE AUTHOR any questions – don’t miss out on this exclusive PSI Book Club event!
Haven’t read the book yet? Pick up a copy today and join us.
Explanation - identifying and communicating what we want to say - is described as an art, in the title of his book. However, the creativity comes from Ros’ discernment in identifying and describing a clear step-by-step process to follow and practice. Readers can learn Ros’ rules, developed and polished throughout his career as a journalist, to help communicate complex written or spoken information clearly.
PSI Training Course: Effective Leadership – the keys to growing your leadership capabilities
This course will consist of three online half-day workshops. The first will be aimed at building trust, the backbone of leadership and a key to becoming effective. This is key to building a solid foundation.
The second will be on improving communication as a technical leader. This workshop will focus on communication strategies for different stakeholders and will involve tips on effective communication and how to develop the skills of active listening, coaching and what improv can teach us about good communication.
The final workshop will bring these two components together to help leaders become more influential. This will also focus on how to use Steven Covey’s 7-Habits, in particular Habits 4, 5 and 6, which are called the habits of communication.
The workshops will be interactive, allowing you to practice the concepts discussed. There will be plenty of time for questions and discussion. There will also be reflective time where you can think about what you are learning and how you might experiment with it.