Jean-Christophe Chiêm

I have always been driven by the desire to use my technical skills in service of a greater cause. With a background in civil engineering specializing in applied mathematics, I initially pursued a career in consultancy. However, my growing will to create social value led me back to academia, where I completed a PhD in public health dedicated to eliciting the perspectives of patients and healthcare stakeholders. This experience instilled in me a deep sense of humility and commitment to a mission larger than any single job. I then joined IDDI as a biostatistician, monitoring the safety of patients enrolled in clinical trials for various pharmaceutical sponsors. Over eight years, I encountered research questions that, at times, felt disconnected from the real needs of patients. Gradually, I had the opportunity to develop a patient-centric approach to clinical trials—ensuring that patients remained at the heart of therapeutic decision-making and shifting the research paradigm to align with what truly matters to them. Today, as a Product Manager at One2Treat, I strive to empower all stakeholders in drug development with the best possible information—starting with the patients themselves.

Cancer has taken friends and relatives from me—so viciously. But naturally, it is my mom whom I miss the most. She passed away within three months, far too soon. When she was diagnosed, she chose to refuse any treatment that might have helped her fight the disease. I wish there had been better therapeutic options available at the time—and that I had possessed more knowledge, more courage to engage in informed discussions, perhaps even just to help myself understand her decision. Today, I see it as my duty to create solutions that empower clinicians, patients, and their loved ones to discuss and choose the best possible therapeutic options together.

My experience in conducting clinical trials has given me valuable insights into biostatistics and the reporting of clinical results. I strive to promote the use of better-suited clinical endpoints based on multiple outcomes, aiming to better capture patients' preferences and needs while carefully weighing the benefits and risks of treatments. I have also developed both quantitative and qualitative skills in gathering the perspectives of patients and clinicians. This naturally led me to reflect deeply on solutions for implementing shared decision-making on a large scale. In this endeavor, I needed to navigate many challenges related to data sharing. I regret that so many barriers hinder the reanalysis of data, often working against patients' best interests. I hope this will evolve in the future—for the benefit of patients above all.