EDGE 3 launched in the UK!

EDGE 3

launched in the UK

After launching EDGE 3 in South Africa and New Zealand, we are thrilled to now share that the new and approved EDGE software was rolled out across the UK earlier this month. EDGE 3 was launched across thousands of sites in England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland and is our biggest launch yet. To mark this event, we caught up with Mikayala King, Research Governance and QA Manager from University Hospitals Southampton (UHS) to see how the launch has gone at one of our biggest UK organisations.

Despite Mikayala having an MHRA inspection going on with intense preparations, she shared with us that the launch of EDGE 3 has gone really smoothly and how there was lots of excitement around the new version:

“Everyone was really excited to get to see the new EDGE version and I suspect all through the weekend people were trying to see if it was live yet. When it went live, word went around the Trust in a flash, and everyone was happy they still had their trials and all of the information in workflows, etc. had been moved over so smoothly and they could still access everything.”

During the interview we asked Mikayala how her users have handled the change. Her response was again very positive and she shared a few things which has helped manage the rollout across the Trust:

“Mostly people have been happy to see the change and excited to see how it all works and what they can do and see now that they couldn’t before. We have set up a working group to manage the change and to look at functionality of EDGE 3 to see where there are opportunities to improve or increase our use of the system. The EDGE champions were all involved in the user acceptance testing so have seen the system before. They were already on hand to guide people and our generic inbox was manned by experienced EDGE users to sort out any problems.”

We asked Mikayala what advice and tips she would give other Lead Administrators / EDGE Leads and she replied with the following:

“Don’t panic! A lot of the work has been done for you with the videos and training that EDGE have supplied.  Make sure there is somewhere for people to go if they encounter a problem and don’t let them use it as an excuse to reduce their use of EDGE. Make sure users have ample warning if they are not going to be able to access EDGE whilst the update takes place, so they can prepare and gather information they need before the move over. In EDGE 3, the Notifications automatically revert to default of telling users everything so make sure you have some guidance to hand to help users if they want to switch them off!”

Lastly, we were keen to find out how EDGE 3 will drive things forward at UHS and we were very happy to hear Mikayala’s plans for the updated delegation log:

“We are already embracing the new delegation log. It solved an issue the day after launch in that we were struggling to get a PI at a remote site to sign the delegation log for a study. We were able to customise the delegation log for the study and get the PI to sign through EDGE. This customisability is absolutely key in making this function much more usable. The working group is going to be looking at all of the functionality and I can feedback on where we go with EDGE in the future!”

The UK launch marks the biggest rollout of EDGE 3, and we are so delighted that it has finally happened, after years and years of work behind the scenes here at CIRU. We are now working on plans for the next country to receive EDGE 3. More information will be coming as soon as!

EDGE 3 launched in New Zealand

EDGE 3

launched in New Zealand

Following a successful launch in January to South Africa, we are excited to share that we have now rolled out EDGE 3 Production (LIVE) to our second country, New Zealand. The main sites to receive the updated software are Cancer Trials New Zealand from the University of Auckland (UoA) and Te Pūriri o Te Ora (Cancer & Blood) Research from Te Toka Tumai Auckland.

We spoke with users Sarah Benge, Research Operations Manager and Eibhlin Corrigan, Trials Manager from UoA, as well as Natalie Lowe, Unit Coordinator from Te Pūriri o Te Ora (Cancer & Blood) Research, to hear how the launch went. Both Sarah and Natalie used the words “seamless” when referring to the switch over from EDGE version 2 to EDGE version 3. Natalie followed on to share how her users were “stunned at first” but quickly settled into exploring and clicking around to familiarise themselves with the new layout. For UoA, Sarah gave the following comments:

“For Cancer Trials New Zealand (University of Auckland) the launch was seamless, we had notifications from the EDGE team at University of Southampton and a countdown when we logged into EDGE 2, it all happened whilst we were asleep, and we woke to the new EDGE 3. We only have a few users so transitioning to using the new structure and interface was easy for us.”

During our interview we also asked if there were any hurdles that the sites had to overcome. The response to this question was again very positive. Sarah confirmed she had nothing to overcome, and Natalie told us that there were a few bugs to fix, however, these were resolved quickly by the EDGE team. Natalie also said the following:

“Shout outs to Nicky and the EDGE developers! You’re amazing! We feel honored to be the second country in the world to receive EDGE 3!”

Both Sarah and Natalie have reported how easily and quickly users have adapted to the change and were able to use the system straight away with no issues. Natalie shared:

“Our users have quickly adapted to the shiny new EDGE interface, and this really just highlights how user-friendly the EDGE 3 design is. Although things have been arranged differently and a few things have even been renamed, their new locations/names are logical, so the transition doesn’t actually take that long. The EDGE team have done a stellar job at streamlining the interface to make EDGE 3 an even more powerful and efficient tool than it already was”.

Natalie also gave us some great advice to pass onto other Regional Leads who are yet to experience the EDGE 3 rollout:

“I would just say when you get access to the EDGE 3 User Acceptance Testing platform, make sure you test and explore every part of the system by practicing doing all tasks you normally do in EDGE. If you know that your staff use different features of EDGE or use the same features in different ways, get them involved to test the UAT as well! This will really help you identify any bugs ahead of time and get them resolved before everyone is unleashed on the live system!”

Lastly, we asked how EDGE 3 will drive things forward in New Zealand. Eibhlin shared:

“The arrival of EDGE 3 has reinvigorated our team to look at how we can continue to utilise EDGE in our day-to-day activities. The transformation of EDGE to a modern, slick design and user interface shows how the system is moving to keep up with pace of clinical research. One of our favourites of the new features and functions is the customisable dashboard on the homepage.”

The New Zealand launch is another great milestone reached for the EDGE team which we are thrilled about. Next in line for the update is the UK, which will be our biggest launch yet with thousands of sites across England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland gaining EDGE 3!

Photo of users from UoA, New Zealand with their EDGEY mascot

Photo of users from Te Pūriri o Te Ora (Cancer & Blood) Research, New Zealand

The EDGE Conference is back!

The EDGE Conference is back!

The EDGE 3 Conference

After 3+ years since we put on the last EDGE conference, back in March 2020, literally just before the UK went into lockdown, we are over the moon to share we are making plans for the next one. It’s the conference you have all been waiting for: The EDGE conference! The dates to save in the diary are the 24-25th April 2024 as we are bringing you the 6th EDGE conference: EVOLVE: Engage. Embrace. Empower. An EDGE 3 conference.

The EVOLVE conference will follow the rollout of EDGE 3, our new and improved version of clinical research management software. After COVID and the majority of us all working from home EVOLVE will be a fantastic opportunity for not only users to be reunited with other members of the EDGE community in-person, but also for us the EDGE team to get back out there and connect with our userbase. The aim of the conference is for users to Engage and Embrace the new version of EDGE and to leave ready to Empower their new skills and knowledge learnt at the 2-day event.

We are really excited to be heading back to the Vox which is a venue we have used 3 times previously. The Vox is conveniently located at Resorts World in Birmingham, close to both Birmingham International Airport and Birmingham train station and is at the heart of the UK motorway network.

We are in the very early stages of planning but can ensure to be bringing back the EDGE conference with a bang!

If you would like to register your interest to attend, please do. Not only will you be the first to know when bookings officially open, you also have the opportunity to share a topic suggestion which will be considered along with the opportunity to volunteer to present. To pre-register and for the latest conference information check out our dedicated conference webpage here.

EDGE 3 launched in South Africa

EDGE 3

launched in South Africa

We are thrilled to share with you that EDGE 3 Production (LIVE) was launched in South Africa last month to all sites including University of Cape Town and UCT Clinical Research. South Africa are the first country to receive the new version of software and have acted as our pilot before we rollout to other countries from across the globe. These include England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Canada, New Zealand, Belgium and India.

We recently spoke with Annemie Stewart, Operations Manager and South Africa’s Regional Support Lead for the rollout of EDGE 3, to see how the launch has gone. Annemie spoke very positively and explained how her end-users have been very excited about the change and have adapted very quickly, taking it in their stride: 

“For us, the launch has gone really smoothly, and our users have found it easy to adapt to EDGE 3. They are really taking it in their stride and have been quite excited about the change. The EDGE team have been very responsive to any queries I have had. So we are very happy.”

Annemie also shared some feedback on how EDGE 3 now looks, which is beneficial to users accessing EDGE 3 for the first time:

“It looks a bit different. So the first time you open it, it's like OK, whoa, it looks different, but then you realise it's exactly the same functionality. I feel like the interface has been transposed basically, so if you just make that switch in your head then it's easy to find stuff again. The added bonus is it now looks better on mobile phones so it's really helpful to have the new fresh look.”

We also asked Annemie to share a useful tip for other Regional Support Leads who are yet to go through the EDGE 3 rollout:

“I think the tip would just be, you know, communicate as early as you can to your users about when exactly this is going to happen. Ask them to make sure they log in on the first day after the upgrade to check for themselves and to ensure all their projects are still the same. Advise them to check that they can add new users, that sort of thing so that you know any minor hiccups can be can be sorted out right away.”

Annemie highlighted to us that EDGE 3 brings some great improvement on workflows, including functionality to tag staff and set reminders. This is something that Annemie believes will really improve their turn around time for studies starting up and shared how this change from EDGE 2 will really drive things forward for South Africa:

“Well, for us EDGE 3 has really great improvement on the workflows as we can tag people and set reminders. I think that's really going to help us improve our turnaround time for the startup of new projects. We're also really excited to start using the new calendar. Whereas before, we didn’t really use the calendar that much.”

The South Africa launch is a huge milestone for us and we continue to support Annemie as well as firm up our release plan for our global userbase. More information on this will be shared with our users as soon as possible.

Photo of the EDGE & CIRU team celebrating the launch of EDGE 3 to South Africa

The Year Ahead

The Year

Ahead

by Baljinder Gill, Head of Operations & Delivery

I started at the Clinical Informatics Research Unit in 2015 after many conversations with Professor James Batchelor, CIRU Director, who back in 2014 was advising me on the informatics challenges to support the 100,000 Genome project - University Hospital Southampton (UHS) were one of the Genomic Medicine Centres. I remember having a cup of coffee with him and in passing he said he was looking for a new Head of Operations and Delivery to support the rollout of EDGE nationally and internationally. Moving from the Hospital to the University was an important decision for me, and over the 7 years I have been in the CIRU, it’s been a challenging but very exciting role, working with a dynamic and skilled team and the growing EDGE community. I have seen the EDGE Programme go from strength to strength and am very excited for the future of EDGE. Our other CIRU services have developed over the years as well, adding value and opening up exciting times for the Unit as a whole.

We have a big year ahead with the launch of EDGE 3 being our primary focus and are thrilled that the rollout of the LIVE new version has begun with sites in South Africa. The EDGE team are now hard at work preparing things for further EDGE 3 LIVE launches to the rest of our subscribers globally and I know there is much excitement around the subject of EDGE 3. This year will also see changes to the UK’s Clinical Research Networks and the EDGE team will be on hand to support these changes.  

This year we also plan to continue strengthening our team by improving and creating roles across the Unit to ensure we can provide the best service to our clients and improve our offerings to the research and healthcare world. This has already included additional job roles for the EDGE Knowledge team including three new Client Manager posts. The new post holders will be working closely with our CORE team who specialize in eCRF’s and electronic forms for research. CORE are also involved with high profile studies that have been gaining a lot of media attention lately and have expansion plans in place for this year to help opportunities grow further.

The AXIS (Access Extract Integrate Safe Data) team has significantly grown with the inclusion of two new Analysts, expanding their capabilities and skill sets. AXIS are working on and managing 20+ projects from national collaborative projects such as Health Informatics Collaboratives to local ground-breaking research initiatives. Through the delivery of these projects they have formalised data extraction pipelines, workflow processes, and created tools to identify more efficient methods of working. AXIS are also playing a lead role in the Wessex Secure Data Environment pilot and are also in the process of hiring another two analysts over the coming months to continue their trajectory.

There are busy times ahead for other departments within the Unit who are more research focused, including the IBRN (International Blast Injury Research Network). Following two successful funding applications, the IBRN have two workshops set for 2023 which focus on the health consequences and blast engineering aspects of the 2020 Beirut Blast and mass-casualty explosive events. The IBRN is establishing a World Universities Network dedicated to urban blast research, alongside continuing projects investigating injuries and health system responses following the 2020 Beirut Blast. Early this year, the IBRN will be re-visiting its scope and vision to reflect current and emerging priorities to drive future research and activities of the Network. The IBRN continues to support the activity and research of its members through regular meetings and online seminars.

Resident media savvy Dr Michael Head, Senior Research Fellow and the Lead for RESIN (Research Investments in Global Health), is currently looking at the impact of the pandemic upon funding trends for cancer research. Michael has also been involved in research for COVID-19 and most recently the War in Ukraine, alongside colleague Dr Ken Brackstone. The pair are also leading on several projects in Ghana across 2023, including the priority areas of climate change and health. They will be working with their policy and advocacy networks, including the Ministry of Health, WHO, UNICEF, and the British High Commission. Michael is also working with the Social Impact Lab to take the first cohort of UoS students to Ghana, as part of the new Spark Ghana programme.

CIRU will be welcoming further Digital Health Fellows from Sri Lanka and International Research Fellows from other areas of the world, with whom we will be working in close collaboration. I can see further connections taking place across the globe as our Director James continues to spread the ‘CIRU’ word to whomever he meets throughout his busy work schedule.

It has certainly been a year of highlighting the Power of Data and, more importantly, the aspect of sharing data knowledge and expertise.

Looking back to that cup of coffee with James in 2014, I realise what a fortuitous conversation that was. I have had the pleasure of seeing our dynamic and skilled staff in the Unit develop and flourish supporting the clinical research community, a community which through the COVID-19 pandemic showed how the phrase “Strength through Collaboration” has never been more apt.

Looking forward, I see a very exciting year ahead for us here at CIRU and I look forward to the community joining us on the journey ahead.

The CIRU 2022 Retrospective

The CIRU 2022 Retrospective

2022 wrapped up!

This year has been another busy, exciting, and challenging year within the CIRU with one big focus on everyone’s horizon: EDGE 3!

The year kicked off with a flurry of snow and activity at CIRU with our early phase EDGE 3 user engagement, which involved 15 of our EDGE Super Users from across the globe. We gave these select folks a sneak peek under the hood of what we had been working on for the last two years. From their keen eyes we got fantastic feedback and it helped shape our Development roadmap for the rest of the year. To keep close tabs on this work, our Knowledge Officer Nicky Morris stepped across to work as our Product Manager overseeing all aspects of the EDGE 3 build and launch.

Our Marcomms team, Beth Mathis and Gela Jenssen, have been in full force through the year preparing a plethora of new materials for our Users and EDGE 3. Most excitingly, we have seen the launch of two familiarisation videos for all Admins and Users to help guide them through the new look and feel of EDGE 3.

We completed a significant project in late August when we moved the last of our global hosting structures into the Microsoft Azure Cloud. This last piece of the puzzle completed a two-year project for our Infrastructure Specialist, Lawrence Surey, and Development Team Leads, Dave Miller and Andy Bush.

Since late October our Knowledge Team have been working flat out with each of their UK CRN’s and International partners to demo EDGE 3 UAT. Whilst we would all liked to have been looking at the EDGE 3 launch in the rear-view mirror by Christmas, we are entering 2023 at an exciting time with the production launch only a short while away.

We sadly said goodbye to some fantastically talented members of our team in 2022 as Kim Harris and Richard Munday moved on to new roles. However, we welcomed some new faces into the CIRU with Melanie Williams arriving into our EDGE Knowledge Team in the first of our new Client Manager posts. There was a new arrival in our CORE team with Nadine Nowe-Andrews joining us in mid-summer and shortly after, the Development Team welcomed Ian Blunt in late August.

So as 2022 rounds off it must be said that we are extremely grateful to all you out there who have helped us evaluate EDGE 3 and have provided us with your experience, knowledge, and time to help ensure we are building you a product we are all proud of.

We look forward to working with you more in 2023 and wish everyone a very Happy Christmas and New Year.