From Grief To Global Advocacy For Clinical Research In Infectious Diseases with Christian John Lillis
Send us a textA routine dental visit, a few days of diarrhea, and then the unthinkable: septic shock and a life lost within 24 hours. Our guest, Christian John Lillis, shares how losing his mother Peggy to a community-acquired C. diff infection exposed a silent public health crisis and led him to co-found the Peggy Lillis Foundation (https://cdiff.org/). From that moment, advocacy turned concrete: raising awareness, training volunteers to speak with lawmakers and media, and pushing for policies that reflect the true burden of C. diff and other infectious diseases.We dig into what a modern, patient-centred clinical trial should look like. Christian explains why initial cure is not the only outcome that matters; for C. diff, the recurrence rate can define whether someone can work, travel, or care for family. We unpack why decentralized trials, telehealth diagnostics, and home nursing can transform access, speed up recruitment, and improve diversity—critical for evidence that holds up in real life. We also examine antibiotic stewardship, exploring how pathogen-targeted therapies can reduce collateral damage and help fight antimicrobial resistance while maintaining or improving efficacy and tolerability.Policy and incentives are central. Christian outlines the limits of market-driven R&D for smaller but deadly pathogens like VRE and CRE, and why tools such as GAIN, LPAD, and potential subscription models are needed to fund anti-infectives society desperately requires. We talk global spread, declining vaccination, and the communications gap that leaves many people vulnerable to misinformation. On the personal level, he shares practical steps for self-advocacy: bring someone to urgent visits, prepare questions, be firm and respectful, and share your story to fuel change.If you care about patient advocacy, clinical trial innovation, C. diff awareness, antibiotic resistance, and public health, this conversation offers both a roadmap and a rallying cry. Subscribe, share with a friend who works in healthcare, and leave a review telling us one change you’d make to make trials truly patient centred.Transformation in Trials is a podcast investigating how we can change life sciences to get treatment to patients faster. Getting treatment to patients faster requires well-functioning organizations. How do we do that? Ivanna Rosendal has written a book called Maneuvering Monday, about how a group of people try to make their organization better. You are certain to have a good laugh at their expense. And potentially get inspired how you can help make your company better. I have been independently producing this episode since 2021. You can now support the show by Buying Us a Coffee. Each episode costs 99USD/ 85 EUR to produce.Join the show as a guest - apply via this Form. Support the show________Reach out to Ivanna RosendalJoin the conversation on our LinkedIn page
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