EDGE Goes Global: Connecting with Our International Users in South Africa and Canada

The EDGE team is preparing for two exciting international visits, travelling to South Africa and Canada to meet with our international users, strengthen partnerships and support the continued development of EDGE across their research portfolios.

First Stop: South Africa

This week, Tim Gibbons, Head of Trading Services, and Director Professor James Batchelor are heading to Cape Town, South Africa, to meet with our long-standing colleague Annemie Stewart at the University of Cape Town Clinical Research Centre.

The visit will provide an opportunity to review the rollout of EDGE across an expanding portfolio of studies and sites, including Groote Schuur Hospital, Uganda Heart Institute, Windhoek Central Hospital, Lusaka University Teaching Hospital and Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital.

While in Cape Town, Tim and James will also spend several days working with our newest South African EDGE group, the University of Cape Town Lung Institute.

Wendy Simons and Tammy van de Merwe visited the EDGE team for four days in September 2025 to begin their EDGE journey. Almost a year later, we’re excited to be working alongside them again as they move into the next phase of implementation.

This will include developing their use of EDGE’s Delegation Logs, Participant Flow, as well as Finance and Ethics Tracking functionality, helping to support their research processes and evolving needs.

Tim Gibbons, Head of Trading Services

Professor James Batchelor, Director

Next Stop: Canada

Following the South African visit, our Head of Operations, Baljinder Gill, and Client Manager, Ben Grace, will travel to Canada to meet with our lead Canadian site, the Canadian Cancer Clinical Trials Network (3CTN).

Their visit will include the annual check-in with 3CTN and attendance at its annual Stakeholder Meeting in Toronto on 17–18 November 2026.

This event brings together professionals from across the academic cancer clinical trials community to share insights, explore network performance and participate in collaborative workshops.

Bal and Ben will also take the opportunity to meet with other Canadian EDGE sites during their trip, catching up with teams, sharing experiences and discussing how EDGE continues to support their research activities.

Baljinder Gill, Head of Operations

Ben Grace, Client Manager

Strengthening International Partnerships

These visits highlight the importance of working closely with our international EDGE community. By meeting users in person, we can better understand their needs, share knowledge and support them in making the most of EDGE.

We look forward to catching up with our colleagues in South Africa and Canada and sharing more updates from both trips soon!

From EDGE user to EDGE team: Jen Peach

Jen Peach, Knowledge Team Manager,

I have more than 10 years of experience working in clinical trials within an NHS acute trust. Before joining the EDGE team in 2017, I worked across several areas of clinical research, including Clinical Trials Pharmacy, Cancer Research and Research and Development (R&D).

Having used EDGE myself throughout my time in the NHS, I understand first-hand the challenges faced by clinical research teams and the importance of having the right tools to support their work.

My career in clinical research

I spent approximately seven years working in Clinical Trials Pharmacy, taking on a variety of roles, including Senior Assistant Technical Officer, QA Lead and Team Manager.

My responsibilities covered a wide range of clinical trial activities, from managing Investigational Medicinal Products (IMPs) and maintaining pharmacy trial files to overseeing accountability records, temperature monitoring and the ordering and destruction of trial medication.

I also worked closely with sponsors, Contract Research Organisations (CROs), R&D teams, Principal Investigators (PIs) and Chief Investigators (CIs). This included reviewing the pharmacy sections of Clinical Trials Agreements, supporting trial finances, responding to data queries and attending site initiation and monitoring visits, both in person and remotely.

This experience gave me a thorough understanding of the operational and administrative demands involved in delivering clinical trials, as well as the importance of accurate records, effective communication and well-managed processes.

I then spent six months working as a Clinical Trials Assistant with cancer research nurses for the Central South Coast Cancer Research Network. In this role, I supported patient recruitment and visits, completed paper and electronic Case Report Forms (CRFs and eCRFs), maintained study site files and source data, and responded to sponsor and CRO queries.

My next move took me into R&D, where I spent approximately three years working as a Clinical Trials Facilitator. Here, I supported CIs, PIs and students throughout the research lifecycle, from the initial concept through to study closure.

I organised feasibility meetings involving sponsors, investigators, research nurses, clinical trials assistants and support departments. I also reviewed Clinical Trials Agreements, worked with sponsors and CROs, and collaborated with support departments to ensure study costs were accurate and accounted for.

This work took place during the early development of the costing processes that would eventually evolve into what is now the Interactive Costing Tool (ICT) developed by colleague Stevie Barre and EDGE Community Champion Mat Davis.

Joining the EDGE team

My connection with EDGE began while I was working in the NHS.

When I first joined the trust, we were using the original version of EDGE, with separate instances for cancer and non-cancer research. I later moved onto EDGE 2 when it launched, continuing to use the system until I left the trust in 2017 to join the EDGE team.

During my time in the NHS, I moved between departments, giving me experience of how different research teams used EDGE to support their work.

Since joining the EDGE team, I have seen the system develop considerably. What began as a tool I used in my own day-to-day role has evolved into a much more comprehensive system that supports research teams with managing their trial portfolios, participants and finances.

Having experienced this development both as a user and as a member of the EDGE team, I have a unique perspective on how the system has grown to meet the changing needs of clinical research.

Understanding the challenges users face

Working in the NHS research environment gave me first-hand experience of the pressures that clinical research professionals manage every day.

From staff and time constraints to funding pressures, tight deadlines and increasing demands from sponsors, I understand that research teams have to balance a wide range of responsibilities while ensuring studies are delivered effectively and in line with requirements.

I know that the systems they use need to support their work, make processes more manageable and help them use their time effectively.

Having worked across pharmacy, cancer research and R&D, I also recognise that different teams have different priorities and requirements. Understanding these perspectives is essential when developing and improving a system designed to support the wider research community.

We understand the users, because we used to be them

For me, having experience of working within the NHS is an important part of what I bring to the EDGE team.

Having been an EDGE user myself, I understand the practical realities of working in clinical research and the difference that the right tools can make to busy teams.

My experience helps me appreciate not only what users need from the system, but also the challenges they face in their roles and the pressures under which they work.

As EDGE continues to develop, I believe this understanding remains invaluable. By drawing on our own experiences as former NHS research professionals, we can continue to improve the system with the needs of its users in mind.

After all, we understand the users because we used to be them.

New ‘Saved Searches’ Functionality Now Live on EDGE

Arpana Basu, Technical Business Support Manager

We are pleased to announce the launch of ‘My Saved Searches’.

A new functionality within Project Search on EDGE, designed to help users stay informed about new studies that may be relevant to them.

Making it easier to find relevant studies

The requirement for Saved Searches was identified by our Product Manager, Nicky Morris, as part of the Expression of Interest (EOI) work. One of the first steps in making it easier to record an EOI is to increase engagement with EDGE and make it easier for users to find studies of a particular type.

The new feature allows users to save their search criteria and receive notifications when new studies matching those criteria are added to EDGE. This provides a simple and effective way to keep track of emerging opportunities without having to repeatedly carry out the same searches.

We hope this functionality will support users throughout the project engagement process, particularly when discovering projects that may be relevant for assessing feasibility and expressing interest. By helping users identify relevant studies more efficiently, Saved Searches can make it easier to stay informed and engage with projects at the right time.

Stay informed with notifications

Saved Searches can be used to receive both internal EDGE notifications and email notifications. Users who wish to receive either type of notification should ensure that their personal notification settings are configured accordingly. These settings work in the same way as other EDGE notifications.

Users can also create and save as many searches as they need, allowing them to monitor different project criteria and areas of interest simultaneously.

Supporting users behind the scenes

The Knowledge team has also played a role in bringing this functionality to users. As part of the work, I was involved in testing the new functionality and then creating the Knowledgebase articles and support text to provide guidance for users.

This ensures that users have clear information available to help them understand and make the most of Saved Searches as part of their everyday use of EDGE.

With the introduction of ‘My Saved Searches’, EDGE provides users with a useful tool for keeping up to date with new studies and identifying projects that could be relevant to their organisation or future engagement.

We look forward to seeing users make the most of this new functionality as part of their ongoing use of EDGE.

From EDGE user to EDGE team: Roberto Aguiar

Roberto Aguiar, EDGE Technical Business Support Manager,

Before joining EDGE, I worked for 2 years as a Clinical Trials Administrator within the Trials Pharmacy at University Hospitals Southampton NHS Foundation Trust.

It was a varied role that gave me valuable experience across a wide range of research activities and processes, providing insight into the work that goes on behind the scenes to support clinical trials.

A key part of my role was managing the day-to-day operations of the studies assigned to me, working closely with pharmacy technicians and pharmacists to ensure that research activities ran smoothly. This included managing Investigational Medicinal Products (IMPs), from ordering and processing deliveries to responding to queries relating to stock levels, patient accountability and temperature excursions. Maintaining accurate records and ensuring that IMPs were managed appropriately was an important part of supporting patient safety and compliance with study requirements.

My responsibilities also extended to the set-up and ongoing management of clinical trials. I supported the creation of pharmacy folders, updated systems with study data and helped ensure that the necessary documentation and processes were in place before a study began. I also scheduled monitoring visits with study sponsors and Contract Research Organisations (CROs), following up on any queries raised during these visits.

Whilst working in Clinical Trials Pharmacy, I was responsible for finance related tasks such as preparing pharmacy invoice pro formas and helping with financial queries relating to invoices sent to sponsors and CROs. My job was also very clinical-based. I coordinated participant treatments between the Oncology pharmacy and research nurses. This involved ensuring that IV medication was delivered at the scheduled time, helping to support the smooth running of treatment schedules and the wider patient journey. I was also responsible for organising IMP deliveries to research nurses or directly to patients' homes, where required. These activities relied on careful coordination and communication between multiple teams to ensure that medication reached the right place at the right time.

My responsibilities continued through to the end of a study, where I managed the close-down process. This involved checking that all documentation had been signed off, working with sponsors to resolve outstanding queries, reviewing finances and ensuring that all applicable costs had been invoiced.

During my time within this role, I was of course introduced to EDGE. In particular I used it for tracking the setup of studies and other processes and datapoints of a studies lifecycle. EDGE was the tool used for tracking and recording of the pharmacy costs and we also used it a lot of the time to confirm the participant details when dispensing clinical trial medication as well as when dealing with the IMP returns.

Working as a Clinical Trials Administrator gave me a broad understanding of the processes involved in delivering clinical research within an NHS pharmacy and helped me take my next step in 2019. This is when I joined EDGE as a Knowledge Officer where I managed  client accounts, created new functionality requests based on user feedback and was responsible for the CPMS integration. Then in around 2023 I moved to the Product Team where I started my current role as Technical Business Support Manager. Now I oversee the product backlog (tickets used to create new functions to the system), support EDGE integrations with other systems, support the data implementation of new organisations and maintain the responsibility for the CPMS integration.

I feel my past experience working in research has given me first-hand knowledge of research processes, the challenges faced by NHS teams and the importance of developing solutions like EDGE that support the people using them every day.

Taking EDGE Finance Training on the Road in Northern Ireland

EDGE colleagues Roberto Aguiar and Stevie Barre recently returned from their trip to Northern Ireland, where they delivered EDGE finance training across three Trusts, Western Health and Social Care Trust, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, and Southern Health and Social Care Trust.

The visit provided an opportunity to work directly with teams on the ground, supporting the rollout of finance tools that Stevie and EDGE Community Champion Mat Davis have developed and refined over the years to complement EDGE’s finance functionality. Stevie had the following words to say regarding this recent trip:

“Getting out on the road across all three sites and visiting the teams was a fantastic experience for both Roberto and me. Meeting everyone in person made a massive difference. Putting faces to names made it much more personable and gave the teams an opportunity to get to know me as their Client Manager.”

The engagement across all three sites was a real highlight for both Roberto and Stevie. Teams asked insightful questions, shared practical suggestions and provided valuable feedback on how the tools could support their day-to-day work. Roberto shared:

“It was also great to see first-hand how EDGE and the finance tools could help teams save time, improve efficiency and support cost recovery, helping to maximise funds available for reinvestment in research.”

The feedback given has already led to improvements, with Stevie and Roberto taking ideas from the sessions to further refine the tools and explore ways to make EDGE even more efficient.

With a warm welcome at every site and strong engagement from each team, the visit was a valuable opportunity to share knowledge, strengthen relationships and demonstrate the wider benefits EDGE can bring to finance and research management. From all of us at EDGE, we would like to say a big thank to you all of those involved across the Northern Ireland sites!

Stevie & Roberto pictured with Liz Macari, Research Administrator, Paulette Higgenbotham, Research Facilitator and Diane Mackey, Research Manager, Western Health and Social Care Trust

Stevie & Roberto pictured here with Roisin McKenna and Roisin McNulty, Pharmacy, Rachelle Moore, Research Manager, Denise McFarland, Nursing and Mairead McAreavey, Research Administrator, Southern Health and Social Care Trust

Stevie & Roberto pictured with Julie Hamilton and Carolyn Hewit, Research Finance, Fionnuala White and Chris Wright, Respiratory Research, Jo MacAllistar, Cancer Trials, Dermot Ryder, Angela Toner, Michelle, Roisin, Research Facilitator CRF and Andrew Sloane, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust