Modernized Study Design & Execution
Modernized Study Designs that Accelerate Evidence Generation
Demonstrating safety and value. Driving access to treatments for patients.
Modern Study Designs that Optimize Evidence Yield
Capitalize on forward-leaning technologies to support the value proposition for your treatment.
Modernized study execution leverages advanced technologies, digital capabilities, and real-world evidence platforms and strategy to ensure your program designs — including hybrid and decentralized clinical trials — are not only more effective, but also more efficient. We combine leading data acquisition and interoperability technologies with innovative, modernized study design strategies that will maximize the value of your research spend through efficient endpoint capture as well as evidence development and curation.
Why UBC for Hybrid & Decentralized Studies
Decentralized clinical trials demand a range of deep expertise along the entire spectrum of study designs, from traditional to hybrid and fully virtual.
To unleash the full potential of modernized study designs, you need a partner that unites thought leadership with dynamic research infrastructure, with research development solutions including:
- Central patient coordinating center and remote investigator strategy customized to your study
- Best in class decentralized study technology platform
- Direct-to-patient recruitment and engagement
- Nationwide home nursing reach
- Third-party logistics coordination including investigational product and clinical supplies
In addition to our implementation of virtual site networks and technology, UBC provides deep experience across the entire range of traditional full-service research capabilities, including late stage research. And, as a founding member of the Decentralized Clinical Trials & Research Association (DTRA), we have our finger on the pulse of the latest advances and possibilities in the industry – while driving some of these advances ourselves.
Our Specialties
Realizing the full potential of real-world evidence to enable smarter decisions and drive better patient outcomes requires robust, modernized study design. Our integration of real-world evidence strategy, modern real-world technology, and streamlined data infrastructure expands recruitment, improves the patient experience, and accelerates research.
Decentralized & Hybrid Studies
- Patient enrollment strategies
- Enhanced patient study experience, facilitated through in-home nursing and telehealth
- Decentralized data collection platform
Patient & Site Recruitment
- Rare disease patient finding
- Digitally enabled, direct-to-patient recruitment strategies
- Foundation and patient advocacy group collaboration
Frequently Asked Questions
What does UBC mean by 'modernized study design'?
The market calls it decentralized research. UBC uses ‘modernized study design’ because the approach is broader — combining decentralized, hybrid, and direct-to-patient models with real-world data, advanced site and patient recruitment, and interoperability technology to design studies that fit the question rather than the other way round. Vocabulary aside, the work covers the same scope.
How is a decentralized or hybrid trial actually structured?
A central patient coordinating center coordinates remote investigators, nationwide home nursing reaches patients where they are, direct-to-patient recruitment and engagement reduces site burden, third-party logistics handles investigational product and clinical supplies, and the decentralized technology platform stitches data capture together. Some studies are fully virtual; most are hybrid, with site visits retained where they add clinical value.
What's UBC's track record on decentralized trials?
UBC was a founding member of the Decentralized Clinical Trials & Research Association (DTRA) and has been running decentralized and hybrid studies since before the market settled on the language. The team contributes to industry guidance through DTRA while running live programs, which is part of how regulatory expectations shape study design in real time rather than catching up later.
How does UBC find patients for rare or hard-to-reach populations?
Through digitally-enabled direct-to-patient recruitment, foundation and patient advocacy collaboration, real-world data tokenization for identifying eligible patients in administrative data, and integrated registries that connect across data sources. For rare conditions where patients are dispersed, this combination opens recruitment beyond traditional site catchments without trading away data quality.
What real-world data sources does UBC access?
The team is data-source agnostic by design. UBC works with EHR, lab, claims, and genomic data, and partners with Datavant for tokenization and linkage, Komodo for administrative claims and EHR access, and additional providers including Concert AI and Truveta. The selection follows the evidence question — choosing the dataset that answers it rather than fitting questions to a single warehouse.
What technology underpins this work?
UBC Evidence Engine and a purpose-built EDC support modernized study execution, with patient identity management and interoperability technologies handling the connections between sources. ePRO and eCOA tools support patient-reported and clinician-reported outcomes, telehealth supports remote visits, and front-end edit checks reduce data quality issues at source. The technology is meant to disappear into the study, not become the story.
How does this integrate with the rest of the evidence plan?
Modernized study design rarely lives on its own. The work usually connects to integrated evidence strategy upstream and to safety, HEOR, and patient access downstream, so the data being generated feeds regulatory submissions, payer narratives, and post-launch decisions rather than ending at the study report. That joined-up design is part of the brief, not an add-on.
Learn More About UBC’s Modernized Study Designs
Interested in learning more about how UBC’s modernized study designs can help you unite evidence and access to inform complex decisions?
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Bekki Bracken Brown
President & Chief Executive Officer
Bekki Bracken Brown serves as the President and CEO of UBC, guiding the company’s mission and values, including the improvement of access for patients to receive better outcomes. She oversees all aspects of UBC, such as operations, business growth strategy, sales and marketing, and acquisition support.
With over 20 years of industry experience, Ms. Brown brings knowledge from a successful career in senior management from her tenure at Quintiles, INC Research, and, most recently, with Syneos Health. She’s been a member of the North Carolina BIO Board of Directors since 2019. She is also a member of the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association — Southeast Chapter and CHIEF, an organization that supports women executive leaders. Ms. Brown earned her bachelor’s degree at Duke University.