UKTMN Update - Letter from the new Chair

10th June 2025

Dear all,

This time last week we were in Newcastle-upon-Tyne hosting our UKTMN Annual Conference. I am writing to thank everyone who travelled to Newcastle to attend this fantastic event and to thank you all for the warm welcome I have received, as the incoming UKTMN Chair. 

I am truly delighted to have been appointed to the role of Chair by my fellow UKTMN Executive Group members. I have been a member of the UKTMN Executive Group for almost 10 years, and I have worked in a variety of trial management positions for much longer. I am extremely passionate about the trial management profession and appreciate the value that trial management professionals can add to the delivery and operationalisation of clinical research. I am committed to providing the voice of our profession, in what is a very exciting time for trial managers. There are lots of new initiatives and training opportunities for you to be involved in, and with the new Clinical Trial Regulations on the horizon, we have an extremely busy time ahead.

Without Eleanor’s leadership of the Network though over the last six years, we’d not be where we are today!  Thank you, Eleanor, for being such a true advocate for our trial management profession. You have achieved so much to be proud of as Chair. Eleanor has increased the recognition of the critical role played by trial management staff, and whilst stepping down, will continue her involvement as an Independent Advisory Group representative. I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank Natalie Wakefield (UKTMN Manager), Tom Daykin (UKTMN Administrator), Riti Desai (UKTMN Deputy Chair) and the other Executive Group members, for their continuing support and expertise.

We were really pleased to see so many of you at the annual conference last week. It was a superb event, that had been designed based on your feedback from previous conferences. We hope that you enjoyed the mix of talks from invited speakers, trial manager presentations, posters and opportunities for networking.

I am looking forward to taking the UKTMN into the future with support from you all, our amazingly talented UKTMN members! We always welcome your suggestions and ideas for the future, so please do get in touch via email [email protected], Twitter @UKTMN or LinkedIn @UKTMN

With very best wishes

Sarah A Lawton
UKTMN Chair