Overhauling Systems

My work with the National Institutes of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, provided ample opportunities to improve business functioning, create programs, create evaluation systems, and improve customer satisfaction. I am so grateful for such meaningful work with so many smart, dedicated professionals leading the way in health research.

In addition to the improvements to organizational operations, I served as the Director of Marketing and Community Relations for 25 years.

Setup & context

Historically, clinical researchers would place an ad to recruit for participants when they did not have any current participants. They relied on the reputation of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and assumed people would easily come to participate. Recruitment was slow, with starts and stops, wasting a lot of time and money.

The challenge & problem PROCESS

The NIH campus increased security measures making it very difficult for people to get to the NIH. Once on campus, the buildings were confusing. NIH also faced clinical research competitors close by. These competitors had more money, staff, and flexibility. I faced numerous federal rules and policies every day. I leveraged relationships and thought outside the box, and continuously pivoted.

I worked across functions and created new processes and standard operating procedures for procurement of marketing services. This cut down purchasing times and ensured timely payment to vendors.

I collected data to identify pain points in the patient recruitment funnel and provided government-sanctioned solutions to save staff time, improve efficiencies, and save money on advertising. Investigators were able to fill their studies faster

I collected data to identify barriers to participating in NIH research. I once again leveraged relationships and worked across functions and departments to provide novel solutions to improve the customer experience.

Launch, impact, results

I changed the culture of a government agency to proactively and strategically plan for recruitment to clinical trials. I created branded identities and campaigns for each research study. Through the years I pivoted to new technologies to meet people where they get their information.

My model was used as a best practice and replicated by other Institutes. I ensured the NIH was an authentic partner in the community. I started the first initiatives at the NIH Clinical Center to systematically address health inequities and lack of representation in clinical trials.

I saved research investigators money and time. I improved the experience of our research participants which improves word of mouth referrals, their feelings towards research, and their impressions towards the federal government.