DIA Medical Writing & Scientific Communication Conference - 2026

Session Overview: This session explores the evolving role of medical writers in delivering truly patient-centric and stakeholder-focused communication across the clinical development lifecycle. It will examine how regulatory expectations such as EU CTR are reshaping patient-facing documents like ICFs and lay summaries, alongside the responsible use of AI to enhance readability and efficiency. It will also highlight gaps in current plain language summary practices, particularly around real-world evidence and timeliness, challenging whether we are genuinely improving patient access to information. Finally, the session addresses the often-overlooked issue of fragmented communication across functions and presents a practical approach to building an integrated patient communication ecosystem that improves consistency, efficiency, and patient understanding. Together, these perspectives encourage medical writers to move beyond compliance-driven writing toward a more strategic role in enabling clear, consistent, and meaningful communication for patients and stakeholders.