Cape Breton University Welcomes National Clinical Trials Consortium to Sydney

Cape Breton University (CBU) is proud to welcome the Accelerating Clinical Trials (ACT) Consortium on September 25-26, 2025. Nearly 300 researchers, clinicians and industry partners from across Canada and beyond, including a delegate from the World Health Organization, will gather on our campus and in our community to explore international developments in clinical trials and strengthen collaboration across Canada’s research landscape.

This marks the first time the ACT Consortium has chosen Cape Breton as a host site, highlighting the crucial role CBU and the Cape Breton Medical Campus (CBMC) play in expanding research capacity and enhancing health outcomes for rural and remote communities.

“Clinical trials provide important health opportunities for Canadians and represent the highest form of evidence regarding treatment effects. The goal of the Accelerated Clinical Trials Consortium is to improve the ecosystem for doing clinical trials in Canada and, in the process, bring more clinical trials to Canadians,” says Dr. P.J. Devereaux, Senior Scientist, Population Health Research Institute (PHRI); Co-Chair, ACT Operations Committee.

“The ACT consortium is hosting its annual meeting in Cape Breton because ACT is committed to ensuring all Canadians, including those in rural settings, have access to clinical trials,” he adds. “A large proportion of Canadians receive their medical care outside of major urban areas. ACT wants to create a greater democratization of access to clinical trials for all Canadians.”

Highlights from the conference agenda include:

• A keynote presentation on the WHO Global Action Plan for Clinical Trial Ecosystem Strengthening
• Ethical challenges and innovations in patient consent models
• Updates on ACT-supported high-impact trials
• A patient perspective session with New Brunswick cancer patient and clinical trial participant Kim Doucette
• Lessons learned from preparing to conduct trials in Indigenous communities
• Discussions on increasing equity in access to trials

At Cape Breton University, research is rooted in impact. Hosting the ACT Consortium demonstrates our commitment to connecting rural realities with national health research priorities. Clinical trials, alongside population health and health care systems, are a core pillar of the CBMC research mandate, which is administered and led through CBU’s Office of Research and Graduate Studies.

“Rural communities and regions outside large urban centres, like Cape Breton, very often have limited, if any, access to participation in clinical trials. This is an inequity for these communities and a detriment to the overall health-care system in Canada,” says Dr. Tanya Brann Barrett, Associate Vice-President, Academic and Research at CBU. “Through our connection with the ACT consortium, Cape Breton University is helping to build clinical trial capacity to ensure rural communities are represented in this critical research. Moreover, we are upholding the research mandate of the Cape Breton Medical Campus, which is to improve rural health outcomes.”

The acceleration of clinical trials being held in Cape Breton also creates meaningful opportunities for Cape Breton Medical Campus students. Learning in a community where trials are designed and underway provides students with hands-on exposure to research methods.

Registration for the conference is now closed, but media are invited to attend select sessions and arrange interviews with consortium members and local leaders.