In this ‘Patti’s People’ episode, Patti Peeples of the The Peeples Collaborative catches up with RWE Pioneer, Jeff Trotter – one of the original Patti's People.
Jeff Trotter doesn’t just study evidence—he shapes how we think about it. A longtime advocate for the thoughtful use of real-world evidence (RWE) in healthcare decision-making, Jeff has helped pharma companies, service providers, and policymakers navigate the evolving landscape of value, validity, and what it means to “know” something in medicine. As the industry embraces new technologies, new stakeholders, and new threats to scientific integrity, Jeff remains a clear, incisive voice—grounded in rigor, yet open to rethinking the gameplan. In this conversation, we talk ROI, regulatory shifts, and what happens when facts become optional.
Questions:
00:00: Introduction
00:53: Since our last conversation, what shifts in the RWE landscape have caught your attention?
10:31: The ROI of RWE is getting clearer, but are we asking the right questions about value?
18:25: What happens when society starts to reject facts?
26:00: What’s one RWE project that exceeded expectations?
32:30: Is observational research declining due to the rise of secondary real-world data and AI, or is it poised for a resurgence thanks to its flexibility?
35:12: Can you share an example where you reached a demographic not captured in secondary data?
37:57: How are CROs being challenged to evolve in this new RWE era?
41:58: You’ve been a thought leader in this space for decades. What’s changed most about how you think about your own role in it?
44:29: Rapid Fire Questions
Jeff Trotter
RWE Pioneer
As an entrepreneur, researcher, consultant, and innovator, Jeff Trotter has been a pioneer in the evolving health economics and outcomes research community and is an industry leader in the design and implementation of patient registries, observational studies, and other RWE initiatives. Having founded, led, and sold two companies in the pharma services space and served as an executive with several global CROs, Jeff currently supports the scientific and strategic RWE initiatives of life-sciences and related organizations through his independent consultancy, J Trotter Research & Consulting.
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