Episode Breakdown

• 01:00 —History of DCRI: The roots of Duke’s Clinical Research Institute and the rise of population-scale cardiovascular trials.
• 04:00 —Meet Donna Parker: Donna’s journey from public health and pediatric trials to leading innovation as Director of i-Cubed at DCRI.
• 05:00 —Why i-Cubed? The founding vision to speed up, de-risk, and democratize clinical trials via novel partnerships and commercialization pathways.
• 08:00 —Entrepreneurship Inside Duke: The two “pipelines” for innovation—internal clinician/employee inventors, and industry/startup co-development.
• 09:30 —The i-Cubed Model: Support for entrepreneurs from idea validation to market fit, pricing, and brand development; EIR program details.
• 15:00 —Engaging Pharma and Industry: How traditional players partner with DCRI/i-Cubed for academic insight, validation, and AB testing.
• 21:00 —Macro-Level Shifts: The impact of COVID-19, remote and decentralized clinical trials, and the new frontiers opened by AI and data.
• 25:00 —AI in Clinical Research: From recruitment and protocol creation to governance and practical challenges; why trust and human connection still matter.

Featured Guests

• Donna Parker — Director, i-Cubed, Duke Clinical Research Institute (LinkedIn)
• Mamta Elias — Director, Alloy Partners (LinkedIn)
• Drew Beechler — VP Marketing, Alloy Partners (LinkedIn)

Referenced in the Show

• Duke Clinical Research Institute: dcri.org
• i-Cubed Center: DCRI i-Cubed
• DCRI Think Tank Program: Think Tanks at DCRI

Resources & Related Links

• Alloy Partners
• Partnership inquiries: info@alloypartners.com
• Past episodes of Advantaged: Alloy Partners Podcast

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Advantaged: An Alloy Partners Podcast