Rho announced Dr. Meagan E. Spychala has been promoted to Assistant Vice President of Patient Engagement and Program Strategy.
In her new role, Dr. Spychala will serve as the company’s expert on patient-focused clinical research activities, incorporating the patient and caregiver voice and experience into the clinical development program. She will also lead the company’s engagement and relationship-building efforts with sponsors and the patient advocacy community to foster further support for patient- and family-centric clinical research.
“Throughout her 14-year tenure at Rho, Meagan has displayed an extensive knowledge of all facets of clinical development, whether it be study design, protocol writing or risk management,” said Laura Helms Reece, Dr.P.H., chief executive officer for Rho. “Perhaps what is most impressive is her ability to recognize the uniqueness of each clinical trial, especially in rare disease clinical research, and understand the importance of each patient in the development program. Overall, Meagan has continued to be of immense value to our team, and I’m confident that she will thrive in her new role.”
Dr. Spychala first joined Rho in 2005 as a biostatistician and has accumulated close to 17 years of clinical development experience, providing scientific and technical oversight on trials of varying phases, sizes, therapeutic areas and complexities, including rare and autoimmune diseases like pulmonary arterial hypertension, systemic sclerosis, systemic lupus erythematosus, multiple sclerosis, and ulcerative colitis. Prior to her new role, Dr. Spychala was a Statistical Scientist and served as the co-Principal Investigator (PI) for the Medical Countermeasures Clinical Studies Network (MCM-CSN), a federal contract that provides support for clinical studies relevant to the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority’s (BARDA) vision to create a nation with the capability to respond quickly and effectively to deliberate, natural and emerging threats by providing a range of clinical study services.