1Day Sooner’s Participant Council serves as a forum to strengthen participant-centered thinking, inform study design and ethics, and guide advocacy
February 24, 2026– Last month, 1Day Sooner held the first meeting of its Participant Council. The meeting brought together 19 healthy research volunteers from 8 countries across four continents to help shape the future of clinical trial participation. In pre-meeting survey results, 75% of Council members reported that a study’s potential impact was a major factor in their decision to participate. But, some Council members emphasized that understanding the real world benefit of a technically-complex trial can be difficult at the point of enrolment.
With this challenge in mind, the first session focused on ways to provide clear, credible, and transparent information that would help volunteers make more informed, values-driven choices. Participants highlighted the importance of straightforward and accessible communication about potential impact.
They also suggested that a singular focus on broad societal impact might not fully account for equity concerns, including the uneven distribution of disease burdens globally and the risk of neglecting rare diseases. However, these discussions were oriented towards developing solutions that will help improve our ability to center participants in research design and ethics. By creating structured opportunities for volunteer input, the Participant Council aims to strengthen trust, transparency, and meaningful engagement in clinical research worldwide.
This first meeting marks an important step towards that goal.
Learn more by visiting the Participant Council website or by reading the meeting notes.
Media Contact:
Tess Lanzarotta
tess.lanzarotta@1daysooner.org