3CTN launches user newsletter

The Canadian Cancer Clinical Trials Network (3CTN) has recently launched a new communication initiative for its EDGE user community: the EDGE Essentials newsletter.

Published every two months, the newsletter is designed to strengthen communication, showcase EDGE’s features, and increase awareness of its functionality, to optimise usage and encourage greater adoption across Canada. Each edition highlights key features, explains how they can benefit users, and includes a practical Tip of the Month to help users get even more out of EDGE.

The reason behind the initiative:

We asked Lead Administrators Rebecca Xu and James Schoales what the reason was for launching EDGE Essentials. They responded:

“With EDGE releasing updates, we wanted to make sure users were aware of the new functionalities and how they can be used. Additionally, we wanted to increase awareness of already existing functionality to encourage full usage of EDGE.”

How it’s going:

Rebecca and James informed us that their EDGE Essentials newsletter is already proving to be a highly effective engagement channel, achieving strong open rates and expanding  reach well beyond Lead Administrators. EDGE Essentials has driven increased participation across the broader community, with many new users signing up for EDGE drop-in sessions and joining working groups.

With strong aims of increasing awareness of existing functionality, being able to highlight important updates, answer frequently asked questions as well as being able to reach users beyond Lead Administrators, we are incredibly proud of 3CTN’s new venture and wish them every success with it.

Feeling inspired? Take a cue from 3CTN and consider launching a newsletter for your own end users to keep them informed, engaged, and confident in using EDGE. Let us know if you roll this out at your organisation, we would love to hear from you.

Raisa Chowdhury - Project Lead, James Schoales - Portfolio Data Analyst and Rebecca Xu - Manager, Portfolio & Informatics

EDGE returns to the UKCRF

Stevie Barre, Programme Manager, and Roberto Aguiar, Technical Business Support Manager, will be attending the Annual UKCRF Conference at the Business School, Trinity College, Dublin, on 9–10 July.

This year marks Stevie's second UKCRF Conference, and he is looking forward to returning alongside his colleague Roberto to connect with clinical research professionals from across the UK and Ireland. The conference provides a valuable opportunity for the EDGE team to engage directly with the people who use the platform every day, strengthening relationships, sharing knowledge, and gathering insights that help shape the future of EDGE.

Speaking ahead of the event, Stevie highlighted why the conference is such an important date in the calendar:

"The UKCRF Conference enables us to meet with many delivery teams predominantly working clinically who are, in many respects, the real EDGE front line. It gives us the opportunity to hear first-hand about the challenges they face, gather valuable feedback, explore new ideas, and better understand how EDGE can continue to support their work. It's also a fantastic chance for attendees to meet members of the EDGE team, ask questions, share experiences, and for us to strengthen the relationships we have with our clients."

The UKCRF Conference is recognised as one of the leading events for the clinical research community, bringing together professionals from across research delivery, academia, and the NHS to discuss innovation, collaboration, and best practice. For the EDGE team, it is an invaluable opportunity to listen to users, showcase the latest developments, and gain a deeper understanding of the evolving needs of research teams.

If you're attending the conference, be sure to stop by the EDGE stand to meet Stevie and Roberto. Whether you have questions about the platform, would like to discuss your experience with EDGE, or simply want to say hello, they'd be delighted to meet you.

To find out more about the conference, visit the UKCRF website here.

Stevie Barre & Roberto Aguiar, EDGE

EDGE Development - Nicky Morris, EDGE Product Manager

Bringing new features to EDGE

Over the last month, we delivered our second release of the year. This was a significant release with a number of new features and enhancements. I thought this would be a good opportunity to share a little about how we build releases, explain our development process, and highlight how users can get involved.

How we develop EDGE

The EDGE team works using an agile development approach. This means we deliver regular improvements and enhancements through small iterations, focusing on collaboration, continuous feedback and incremental delivery, allowing functionality to grow and evolve over time. We follow a user-centred design approach to the build, involving users throughout the discovery, and design phases to ensure new functionality addresses real-world needs.

Our development backlog is shaped by several sources. Over the last month, we have been working on onboarding new Trusts, implementing recommendations from internal reviews and external penetration testing, and delivering improvements based on user feedback and discussions.

New 'My Saved Searches' functionality 

One recent example is the new 'My Saved Searches' functionality. We are beginning a programme of work focused on helping users stay informed about new studies in EDGE that may be relevant to them. Saved Searches is the first step in that journey, allowing users to save search criteria and receive notifications when new studies matching those criteria are added.

This is a good example of our agile approach to development. Our broader goal is to support users throughout the entire study engagement process - from discovering relevant studies through to recording expressions of interest and assessing feasibility. Rather than delivering everything at once, we are starting with the first step: helping users find studies more effectively. Future developments will build on this foundation.

Help shape the future of EDGE development

To support this process, we are looking at creating a dedicated space within our community forum where the EDGE team and the community can discuss ideas and help shape future development of the EDGE service. We encourage anyone interested in influencing the direction of the platform to get involved. More information will be shared in an upcoming user newsletter. If your an EDGE user and wish to subscribe, email us here.

Nicky Morris, EDGE