Parexel, one of the world’s leading global clinical research organizations and a CureSearch Industry Advisory Council member, is sponsoring the 2022 My CureSearch Walk to honor and remember those affected by cancer. Formerly the National Walk, My CureSearch Walk gives supporters like you the chance to walk from anywhere, anytime during September in honor of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.
Parexel helps life sciences and biopharmaceutical companies transform scientific discoveries into new treatments that will ultimately benefit the patients who need them most. They don’t just focus on the patient. They focus on the person.
“Beyond searching for medical answers and treatments, patients are people first and so much more than their healthcare needs,” said Clare Grace, Chief Patient Officer at Parexel. “The more we can understand our patients around the world, the more passionate we can all become about embedding empathy into the framework of everything that we do.”
One example of how Parexel is embedding the patient voice into clinical trial design is by appointing its first Patient Ambassador – Stacy Hurt. She offers unique perspectives, both as a patient and a caregiver. Stacey’s son, Emmett, suffers from a disease so rare, it doesn’t even have a name. Now a teenager, he is still unable to walk, talk, stand up or care for himself. In addition, Stacey was diagnosed with an aggressive stage IV colorectal cancer that metastasized into 27 other places throughout her body. While her prognosis was bleak — an 8% five-year survival rate – in 2015, she was declared cancer free after 55 chemotherapies, 20 PET scans, chronic nausea and neuropathy, radiation sessions and two surgeries.
“When I was approached to be a Patient Ambassador, I was so excited that a company was investing in a patient-oriented role,” said Stacey. “I have been very vocal about the need for patients and caregivers to be on the inside of an organization and help build clinical research from the inside out. Parexel gives me the opportunity to do just that.”
Today, in her Patient Ambassador role, Stacy helps guide the design and delivery of patient-centric clinical trials from inside the organization.
Click here to read Stacey’s story.
CureSearch will also host in-person walks in Denver, Charlottesville, the Twin Cities, Salt Lake City and Omaha. Visit curesearchwalk.org to register, join a team, or organize a Walk event in your own community!