In this inspiring episode, we sit down with Patryk Mikucki, Vice President and Global Head of Country Operations at Alexion AstraZeneca Rare Diseases. With over 25 years of experience across veterinary medicine, academia, and the pharmaceutical industry, Patryk brings a bold, deeply human perspective to the world of clinical trials.

From his unexpected career journey—starting with animal ethics committees in Poland to building operations in Ukraine—to his philosophy of punk-rock leadership, Patryk emphasizes diversity, transparency, emotional intelligence, and hope as essential elements in research.

We discuss:

• The future of AI in pharma and patient-centric innovation
• Building empowered, passionate global teams
• Diversity beyond race: disability, access, and health equity in clinical trials
• The power of real-world evidence and personalized medicine
• His dream of customized, on-demand clinical trials powered by 3D printing

With heart, humor, and fierce honesty, Patryk shares what it really takes to move science forward—without losing sight of the people it’s meant to serve.

💬 “As long as we don’t have solutions for all patients, we are not done.”

Veteran clinical-operations leader Doug Schantz joins Clinical Trial Files to trace a career that spans emergency-room stretchers and first-in-human gene-therapy trials. In this lively conversation Doug unpacks:

• how a paramedic’s mindset shaped his approach to Phase 1-4 global programs at Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Alexion, and AskBio;
• the biggest headaches—and hidden advantages—of running studies across borders and therapy areas (oncology, neuroscience, cardiovascular, rare disease, gene therapy);
• practical lessons on in-house vs. outsourced monitoring, risk-based quality management, and building site relationships that last;
• the future of gene-therapy trials—and the three traits he’d engineer into a “perfect” clinical site;

Whether you’re running your first study or steering an entire portfolio, Doug’s candor and hard-won playbook will leave you with fresh tactics—and a few laughs—to bring back to your own trials.

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Physicist-turned-NLP expert Thomas Wood joins hosts Karin and Taymeyah to explore how artificial intelligence is shortening the road from protocol to patient. Thomas recounts founding Fast Data Science, explains why a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant sparked his open-source Clinical Trial Risk Tool, and reveals the AI workflows already cutting months—and millions—from large pharma studies. The panel marks Alan Turing’s 113th birthday, trades “one thing I wish AI could do today,” and tackles myths around machine learning in healthcare. Looking ahead five-to-ten years, Thomas sketches a future of decentralised, patient-centric trials, but warns of regulatory and data-governance hurdles that still loom. New to the field? Stick around for book picks, career tips and a closing thought experiment for Turing himself.