After a bout with illness gave her a clear perspective on the value of exceptional medical care, Laura E. Hile was motivated to pursue a career in health care. She prepared for her professional pursuits by attending Butler University, where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in history in 1987. From 2000 to 2012, she secured experience as a medical writer and senior CPA/CRA with Eli Lilly and Company, among multiple other roles. She went on to serve as a senior clinical research associate for Quintiles (now IQVIA) from 2013 to 2015 and was a clinical on-site project manager with Roche Diabetes Care, Inc., from 2015 to 2016. Following these positions, Ms. Hile spent a year with inVentiv Health Clinical as a contract project management consultant and subsequently became clinical operations lead with Syneos Health from 2017 to 2020. For the next year, she worked as a clinical trial manager with PRA Health Sciences, and since 2021, she has excelled as a senior clinical trial manager with Worldwide Clinical Trials.
Ms. Hile attributes her success to her eagerness to learn and grow professionally. She also credits her willingness to help others, exceptional listening skills, and empathetic nature as contributing factors to her accomplishments. She takes pride in ensuring that she fully understands the aspirations and goals of everyone she speaks to. Taking time for herself is important to her success as well, thus, in her personal time, Ms. Hile enjoys traveling, visiting art galleries, and writing.
Ms. Hile’s involvement in health care research began when she was exposed to clinical research in orthopedics. She gathered experience conducting research for an investigator working under a surgeon involved in the study of orthopedic devices that were not yet approved for public use. Because of the speculative nature of these medical devices, specific legal protocols involving informed consent and approval by an institutional review board were necessary. By the time she left her position, Ms. Hile had advanced to co-authoring manuscripts and abstracts.
Following this position, Ms. Hile’s career in medical research blossomed. She transitioned from orthopedics to oncology and became involved in an ovarian cancer study, during which she learned how patient data is collected, recorded, entered into a database, and sent to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for review. Her varied, hands-on experience has led her to hold many different roles throughout her career, proceeding to work as a medical writer and project manager, now operating as a senior clinical trial manager. In this latest position, she attends key meetings, answers vital questions, solves logistical issues, helps with triage, and visits remote data storage locations.
Ms. Hile is particularly proud of a project she worked on which endeavored to increase staff engagement. The initiative involved organizing various collaborative activities such as magazine drives and holiday events, singing carols, and visiting clinics. This helped Ms. Hile and her team to understand the needs of patients and families better and reinforced that their work was essential and directly influenced the lives of others. Ms. Hile also recalls her work in oncology following her mother’s second diagnosis of breast cancer. She gained a deeper understanding of the specialty after working with the oncology clinic and cancer center and organized another holiday gathering, which inspired her and reaffirmed her passion for her work.
As such, Ms. Hile enjoys comprehending medical topics in greater detail by breaking down and analyzing complex information. She stresses the importance of using accessible language when drafting study protocols, as the document must serve as a road map for everyone working at the study site. If a document is not understandable to all involved, then it fails to serve its purpose, asserts Ms. Hile, who now possesses a deeper understanding of data collection and is not afraid to push back if she feels changes must be made or vital information is being missed. She is proud to synthesize data and produce accurate, detailed reports for regulatory authorities.