31st SOCRA Annual Conference Wrap-Up

We proudly hosted the 31st Annual Conference from September 14-17, 2022, gathering our global clinical research community virtually in an engaging learning and networking environment. This year’s event was brimming with more experts, content, networking and learning opportunities as part of our commitment to offer new ways to learn, grow, and connect with other clinical research professionals.

We were thrilled with this year’s attendance and energy as we shared ideas to promote safe, efficient, and high-quality clinical research. We also hosted award presentations recognizing our members’ steadfast dedication to advancing this ever-evolving field.

In case you missed this year’s conference, we’ve summarized the event in this wrap-up post featuring conference highlights, themes, and special recognition award winners.  Also, as a benefit to our broader clinical research community, plenary session recordings from this conference (and past conferences) are available on our website here.

Conference Highlights & Themes

We kicked off the first of a four-day event with a warm welcome and introduction by SOCRA Board Incoming President Jennifer Li, BSC, CCRP, and President, Abby Statler, Ph.D., MPH, MA, CCRP. The Opening Plenary continued with intriguing talks from distinguished speakers, Clara Vila-Castelar, PhD, Marianna Azar, PhD, MA, BA, and Quincy Byrdsong, EdD, CCRP, CIP, covering topics ranging from multicultural dementia research to human research ethics. The first day concluded with a lively panel discussion with a question-and-answer session moderated by SOCRA President, Jennifer Li, BSC, CCRP.

The 2022 Annual Conference featured an education-rich program featuring over 80 engaging presentations on current industry information, tools, and best practices. Breakout training sessions live and on demand allowed attendees to earn the maximum amount of CE (51.75) in six educational tracks featuring the following essential themes:

  • Advanced Management
  • Behavioral Health
  • Canadian Regulatory
  • Compliance / Noncompliance
  • Device Research
  • Enrollment / Retention and Informed Consent
  • Ethics in Research
  • Finance and Billing
  • Responsible Conduct of Research
  • Site Management
  • GCP and Audit Preparedness
  • International Trials and ICH
  • Investigator-Initiated Research
  • IRB Issues-Solutions-Methods
  • Monitoring/ Monitoring Effectiveness
  • Oncology Research
  • Pediatric Research
  • Project Management
  • Quality Management
  • Study Start-Up

The Closing Plenary on the final day featured presenters Jeannie Y. Farnsworth, MS, BS, MRQA, CCRP, Michael Torok, PhD, Judy Johanson, and Barbara Wright, BGS, covering career advice, tips for cultivating a culture of quality, a heart-wrenching research patient story, and FDA updates. Two live panel discussions with question-and-answer sessions rounded out the final day.

In addition to the talks and breakout sessions, this year’s conference buzzed with recognition events, including the President’s special recognition award, Chapter Award, and poster presenter special recognition awards. Read on to learn about the recognized award winners and their incredible contributions to the clinical trials industry.

President’s Award Winner

We were pleased to honor Nancy Wintering, MSW, LCSW, CCRP, this year for her distinguished service, presenting her with the 2022 President’s Special Recognition Award. Serving as the Assistant Director of Research for the Marcus Institute of Integrative Health at Thomas Jefferson University, Nancy is an esteemed industry leader and valued SOCRA member, having served on the SOCRA board of directors, as a SOCRA Source Journal author, and as an Annual Conference speaker and session chair.

Navigate to this inspiring interview with Nancy to uncover interesting insights and perspectives on clinical research, SOCRA, the future, and much more. Interested in hearing more from Nancy? Check out our upcoming virtual conference for Clinical Investigators and Key Research Staff (insert link).  Nancy also chairs the SOCRA Project / Program Management Workshop available virtually and in-person.

Poster Winners

Our peer-driven Poster Program allows leading clinical research professionals to share their research, findings, and achievements with their colleagues through posters, abstracts, and presenter videos. We welcomed 35 participants this year, covering various research topics in clinical trials and clinical research management. With help from a diligent 13-member poster evaluation committee, we celebrated the following poster presenters with a Special Recognition Award during the Closing Plenary. Poster winners were announced by Poster Program Chair John Petrich, MS, RPh.


Category: Clinical Trials
Poster winner: Ashben Sharma, MS, MSc
Poster:  Effectiveness of Educational Intervention on COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptability Among Healthcare Students of Rural India: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Category: Clinical Research Management
Poster winner: Katherine Ingram, PhD, CCRP

Poster: Thematic Analysis of IRB Stipulations from Studies Supported by the Clinical Research Support Center at the University of Minnesota


A special thanks to our incredible finalists and all of this year’s Poster Program participants!  View the winning abstracts in the November 2022 SOCRA Source here.

Looking Ahead to SOCRA 2023

As we close the door to the 2022 Annual Conference, we’re looking forward to reconvening for a live and in-person event next year. Join us for the 32nd Annual Conference,September 29-October 1, 2023, in charming Montreal, QC, Canada. Visit our website or connect with us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube to stay up-to-date on this and future SOCRA conferences to help us continue our mission of fostering high-quality research for a healthier world.


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