How we got here

June 2020

The GCTC launched to produce reliable and proportionate Guidance for RCTs in all health interventions.

Jan - Mar 2021

Guidance development of the first draft. Quicksand, a design-thinking and innovation practice based in India, began consultations with RCT teams and participants in India, South Africa, Nigeria, Thailand, Brazil, Sierra Leone and Kenya to gather insights from diverse RCT types and settings.

July 2021

Final draft published for open consultation

October - November 2021

Finalising the final version of the guidance.

June -July 2020

We ran a global survey to hear from researchers whose trials had been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic to capture the innovative practices that have enabled some trials to continue and the challenges that have affected others.

April 2021

Further consultation with multidisciplinary stakeholders and programme of participant/public focused workshops.

August 2021

Produced the report on Conducting Clinical Trials During a Pandemic: Reviewing the resilience of the ecosystem for Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs). This report was based on the global survey of researchers experiences, we ran in 2020.

Sep -Dec 2020

We consulted our Steering Group and over 80 experts through a series of workshops focusing on the writing process and Guidance document content.

May -June 2021

Guidance development of the second draft. Quicksand completed its consultations and produced a report with findings and recommendations for the guidance.

August - September 2021

The public consultation on the draft guidance where we received global feedback to help shape the guidance and ensure that it is applicable in all settings.

Translation of draft guidance into Arabic, simplified Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, French

Website visits from over 120 countries

30th September, close of formal consultation