Best Practices and Potential Pitfalls Enriching Clinical Trials with PROs

Dr Barry Ticho is the Chief Medical Officer at Stoke Therapeutics, where he is helping to lead the company’s efforts to develop first-in-class therapeutics to treat rare diseases. Prior to joining Stoke, Barry was Head of Development of mRNA treatments for Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases at Moderna Therapeutics. Previously, he was Head of External R&D Innovation for Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases at Pfizer, and prior to that he was Vice President of Clinical Development at Biogen. Barry obtained his MD and PhD degrees from the University of Chicago and completed pediatrics training at Northwestern University and a cardiology fellowship at Children’s Hospital in Boston. He was on clinical staff at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital and conducted laboratory research on the regulation of cardiac development.

Wessam Sonbol is a healthcare technology leader dedicated to advancing clinical research through digital innovation. As CEO and founder of Delve Health, he has pioneered the use of wearables, remote monitoring, and AI-driven analytics to transform decentralized clinical trials across multiple therapeutic areas, including cardiovascular, metabolic, neurology, rare-disease and oncology research. His expertise lies in real-time patient data capture, digital endpoint collection, and automated engagement strategies to enhance trial efficiency and outcomes. With over 20 years in clinical research and healthcare analytics, Wessam has held leadership roles at Optum, Comprehend Systems, and other Pharma organizations, focusing on data-driven decision-making, patient retention, and regulatory-compliant digital health solutions. His work has been instrumental in integrating biometric wearables, digital scales, ECG monitors, smart inhalers, and remote patient-reported outcomes (ePROs) into clinical research to improve adherence, protocol compliance, and real-world data collection. Wessam offers a strategic vision for leveraging wearable technology and AI-driven insights to accelerate drug development and improve patient outcomes.

Dr. Nataliya Agafonova serves as Chief Medical Officer at Longeveron, bringing over 20 years of leadership expertise in clinical development and drug development across a diverse range of therapeutic areas. Throughout her distinguished career, Dr. Agafonova has held senior leadership roles at leading biotech and pharmaceutical companies, including Otsuka Pharmaceutical, Bristol Myers Squibb, Celgene, Biogen, Amgen, and Genzyme Corporation. Her work has spanned critical therapeutic areas such as autoimmune diseases, rare disease, hematology, neuroscience, and oncology. She has played a pivotal role in advancing innovative therapies, leading to the successful approval and commercialization of multiple products in both the U.S. and European markets. Dr. Agafonova’s expertise is grounded in her early career as a practicing physician at the Ukrainian Research Institute of Oncology and Radiology. She earned her medical degree from the Ukrainian National Medical University and completed her internal medicine residency at Kharkov State University Hospital in Ukraine. With a proven track record of delivering transformative therapies and improving patient outcomes, Dr. Agafonova continues to drive innovation in regenerative medicine and other groundbreaking fields of medicine.

Dr. Jason Sager is a Cornell Medical School trained, distinguished physician-scientist with 12 years of clinical experience as a pediatric oncologist (Johns Hopkins with mentor Bert Vogelstein, NCI, and Dana Farber), and 20 years of translational clinical early drug development experience in oncology at Genentech, Novartis, Sanofi, and Ikena Oncology. He is now Chief Medical Officer of Accent Therapeutics where he leads the clinical development of Accent’s pioneering small molecule precision cancer therapies to target critical intracellular dependencies that span multiple types of cancer. He is excited to be advancing Accent’s two leading programs targeting DHX9 (ATX-559) and KIF18A (ATX-295) in the clinic. In 2014, Dr Sager also founded Sagely Health, a Health IT company, that guides cancer patients to achieve their best possible outcome, by identifying and accessing science-based innovative therapeutics and diagnostics that otherwise would likely be overlooked. On the way to constructing a web-based platform that aims to one day serve millions of patients, Dr Sager and his team have already made a significant impact by assisting more than a hundred adults and children through their personalized consultation service. Dr Sager’s experience and endeavors reflect his unwavering passion for bettering the lives of cancer patients. He is dedicated to raising, maintaining, and focusing energy into improving all aspects of the cancer system, aiming to accelerate breakthroughs while delivering high-quality, compassionate care. Outside of his professional efforts, Dr Sager enjoys spending family time hiking with his wife and two daughters, as well as cycling near his home in Newton, MA.

As Chief Medical Officer of Signant Health, Dawie’s deep expertise across multiple therapeutic areas, multinational development leadership, and experience in associated commercial growth support the expanding impact of the Signant Science and Medical team. With over twenty years of experience combining medicine and business, Dawie oversees Signant's scientific and operational strategies.