The need for patient-centred clinical research in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Patient-centredness is an accepted term and is perceived by healthcare professionals to be morally and ethically desirable. We are motivated by the belief that this approach will improve the patient-professional experience of the decision-making process and improve health outcomes. We acknowledge that patients, either as participants or as co-investigators, have positive contributions to make to research.

Pharmaceutical industry, academia and patient advocacy organizations: what is the recipe for synergic (win-win-win) collaborations?

Biological complexity and the need for highly differentiated medicines means that drug discovery and development have become increasingly challenging and expensive. Thus, new paradigms for research and drug development need to be created that bring together a wide array of expertise. One potential solution is collaboration between bio-pharma and academic research centres.