Kudos to Dr. Saif Khairat, who received a $2,000 grant from NC TraCS titled “Teleconsent to Overcome Barriers and Gaps in Clinical Trial Enrollment” for 2017-2018. Khairat serves as principal investigator on the grant with an interprofessional team consisting of members Betsy Sleath Co-I (Pharmacy), Paige Ottmar (Public Health) and Christina Smith (RA).
The objective of the team’s initial efforts is to systematically demonstrate acceptance and effectiveness of teleconsent using formal methodologies. The main aim is to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and ethics of teleconsent, including access in remote sites and in underserved communities. The team wants to determine how acceptable participants find the teleconsent process in regards to their perceptions of privacy and their level of comfort in using the technology and to address any potential barriers participants may face. Upon conclusion of this study, they intend to leverage this knowledge to include teleconsent as part of the enrollment process in actual clinical trials.