Accel Research Sites

This time of year, it’s pretty common to hear about 12 drummers drumming and 5 golden rings. But as 2022 nears, we at Accel Research Sites have been looking back and thinking about what some of our end-of-year numbers would look like.

To say it’s been another groundbreaking year in healthcare is an understatement. Worldwide, people continued the battle against COVID-19, and healthcare professionals were at the center of the fight, treating those affected, researching to understand the virus and developing new treatments and vaccines.

At Accel Research Sites, we were proud to stand alongside our colleagues in this fight and to be part of advancing healthcare and making the world a better, healthier place. In addition, we were able to celebrate our team, share our work and grow. Read below to learn about just a few of the things we accomplished this year.

Reaching new patients

We know we would not be where we are without our patients—and we appreciate each one of them. Dedicated volunteers are critical to helping others and helping move medicine forward. This year, we made serious strides in reaching and enrolling new patients, all of whom could help or be helped by clinical trials. That included adding more than 30,000 patients to our database, enrolling more than 8,000 patients in studies and completing more than 20,000 clinical visits.

• Number of new patients in our database: 36,646
• Number of patient phone calls made: About 10,500
• Number of patients enrolled in studies: 8,427
• Number of clinical visits completed: 24,871
• Number of prescreening visits: 2,141
• Number of screened patients: 3,376
• Number of randomize patients: 2,618

Starting new trials

As the pandemic continued to rage around the world this year, we at Accel continued working on important studies to combat it. That included 28 COVID-related trials with more than 3,500 patients. But we didn’t stop there. At Accel, our researchers and staff continued moving forward on vital trials for treatments, vaccines and equipment that impacted other diseases. In 2021, we’re proud to have worked on nearly 500 trials and to have been awarded almost 150 new studies, so we can keep making a difference in 2022 and beyond.

• Number of active trials: 477
• Number of vaccine trials: 36
• Number of Phase 1 trials: 26
• Number of studies submitted for: 419
• Number of pre-site qualification visits: 84
• Number of new studies awarded: 149

Sharing our mission

At Accel Research Sites, we’re proud of what we do…so naturally, we love sharing it with others. In 2021, that meant reaching the community through events and lunch and learns. The media also took notice, drawing from our respected network of providers for interviews. Many of our providers became go-to sources, sharing their expertise at every stage throughout the pandemic. In fact, nine of our physicians at six sites in three states were in the media this year. Our mentions even included photos that ran in the Wall Street Journal, on CNBC and in Fox Business. Some of our participants were featured in a story in Business Insider, and our clinicians and staff were featured in trade publications through Centrial and Orlando Medical News.

• Total number of media mentions: 142
• Number of broadcast hits: 71
• Number of print/digital hits: 71
• Number of community outreach events: 34
• Number of lunch and learn events: 21

Growing our team

With so much going on, we were proud to continue the growth of our business in 2021. Early this year, Lora Parahovnik took over as CEO. Under her leadership, we have seen unprecedented success this year. We were able to hire nearly 100 new employees, as well as expand both our physician and CRO networks. We also celebrated the opening of a new facility in Decatur, Georgia, which features overnight accommodations, exam rooms, a pharmacy, labs and more. We were proud to partner, too, with Stetson University and Georgia State University for academic collaborations. And we were proud to celebrate the people who made it possible—our staff.

• Number of new employees: 99
• Number of physicians onboarded: 16
• Number of new CRO/leads/partners: 10
• Number of new facilities: 1 in Decatur, Georgia, featuring 10,845 square feet with a Phase 1 unit and infusion suite
• Number of academic collaborations: 2
• Number of internal promotions: 6
• CEUs and furthering education courses: 7 employees
• 10-year anniversaries: 2
• 9- year anniversaries: 2
• 7-year anniversaries: 3
• 6-year anniversaries: 2

This year was truly unique for us at Accel Research Sites—but we couldn’t be prouder of where we’ve been and where we’re going. Thank you to our patients, sponsors, physicians and staff who made it all possible. We look forward to continuing to advance healthcare in 2022—for you and all the communities we serve.