La Trobe University’s Clinical Trials Platform offers industry partners a smarter, more cost-effective way to design and deliver high-quality clinical trials. Tailored for early-stage companies and specialising in non-traditional trials, it combines academic rigour with industry practicality, providing affordable, flexible support throughout the trial process.
Meeting demand for practical trial support
The platform was created to meet a growing need among health innovators for faster, more responsive clinical trial support, particularly around contracting, ethics, and data management.
“We were hearing from partners that it just took too long to get projects off the ground,” explains Lauren Mitchell, Senior Manager, Clinical Trials Platform.
“Contracts were slow, the ethics process was confusing. There was a real need for a centralised, dedicated support service.”
It is the newest of La Trobe’s six Research Platforms, launched just three years ago to bridge the gap between research ambition and practical delivery.
Rather than focus on pharmaceutical trials, the platform is tailored to La Trobe’s strengths in allied health, nursing, midwifery, psychology, and public health. This means the platform supports a broader, more diverse range of trial types, from testing mental health interventions to evaluating the effectiveness of nutritional supplements.
“A lot of people don’t realise what is considered a clinical trial,” says Ms Mitchell. “It’s not just developing new drugs or medical devices – if you’re testing the effects of a vitamin or psychological interventions, that is a clinical trial.
“Basically, if you’re testing a product or intervention on humans and you are evaluating a health-related outcome, it is likely a clinical trial.”
We’re not a big CRO, but that’s exactly the point. We offer expert support at a level that’s realistic and accessible, especially for smaller businesses that don’t have a million-dollar trial budget.
Affordable expertise, from ethics to analysis
The Clinical Trials Platform offers flexible, modular services that span the full trial lifecycle, including: trial design; protocol development; funding applications; health economic analysis; ethics submissions; governance; recruitment; data management; monitoring; and, statistical analysis (in partnership with La Trobe’s Statistics Consultancy Platform).
“If you need support with ethics, we can help you with that,” says Ms Mitchell. “If you need support with building a database, randomisation, recruiting participants, monitoring, ethics – we can help with any part of the trial. You don't have to contract the whole project.”
Support is fully scalable and modular, making it ideal for start-ups, small to medium enterprises (SMEs), and industry partners who need targeted help rather than full-service Contract Research Organisation (CRO) engagement.
“We’re not a big CRO, but that’s exactly the point,” says Ms Mitchell. “We offer expert support at a level that’s realistic and accessible, especially for smaller businesses that don’t have a million-dollar trial budget.”
One platform, university-wide expertise
Its services are underpinned by a centralised approach, ensuring that expertise developed across the university is available to all partners. In-house offerings like Good Clinical Practice (GCP) certification and the Trial Methodology Seminar Series are already used internally and will soon be open to external partners.
“We’ve designed our GCP training and our systems around the kind of work we do – things like psychology research, nursing, nutrition studies,” says Ms Mitchell. “That’s where we’re different.”
The platform is also closely linked to the Academic and Research Collaborative in Health (ARCH), a La Trobe-led network that provides access to diverse urban and regional trial populations, enhancing practical relevance and recruitment opportunities.
Supporting innovation in action
The platform is already supporting precinct partners like Epigenes, a health innovation company at La Trobe’s Bio Innovation Hub. They used the platform to design a database for capturing trial data – an essential step in validating their product.
Looking ahead, the team expects to work closely with companies based in the BioNTech mRNA manufacturing facility now under development on La Trobe’s campus.
“We'll see a lot of startup companies using that space for their clinical trial research soon, and they might look to partner with the Clinical Trials Platform,” says Ms Mitchell.
Ms Mitchell hopes the platform will become an integral part of industry-led and funded health research in the coming years.
“We’re hoping that every clinical trial application to MRFF or NHMRC includes us in their planning and budget,” says Ms Mitchell. “That way we can be part of the project from the start, making sure ethics and governance is obtained, recruitment stays on track, and the trial runs smoothly.
“If you’re not sure how or where to start when planning a clinical trial, or what’s involved, just get in touch. We’ll help you figure out what you need and make it happen.”
For more information and to explore collaboration opportunities, visit La Trobe University’s Clinical Trials Platform website.
The Clinical Trials Platform is also a key component of the Australian Centre for AI in Medical Innovation (ACAMI), a collaborative initiative between the Victorian Government and La Trobe University. Designed to accelerate clinical trial development, ACAMI leverages AI, machine learning, and big data to enhance research capabilities and provide access to La Trobe’s extensive affiliated networks.
In 2025, La Trobe will host an engaging ACAMI webinar series, offering valuable insights into industry advancements. Stay informed about upcoming events by subscribing to the Industry newsletter, or following La Trobe Industry on LinkedIn or Eventbrite.
