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Empowering Alzheimer’s Research with Scalable Atlassian Solutions
Project Snapshot
The Knight Family Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network Trials Unit (Knight Family DIAN-TU) at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis is a global leader in Alzheimer’s research, dedicated to finding treatments to prevent the disease before symptoms begin. Through innovative clinical trials and international collaboration, Knight Family DIAN-TU is driving progress that brings hope to individuals and families impacted by Alzheimer’s worldwide.
- The Knight Family DIAN-TU team at Washington University strengthened operations to support global Alzheimer’s clinical trials across 38 sites in 15 countries.
- As trial operations expanded, Knight Family DIAN-TU contracted with Isos to enhance trial coordination, unify data, and reduce operational burden.
- Isos implemented a scalable Atlassian solution featuring six Jira projects, Assets for centralized study data, and robust automations for trial workflows.
- The platform now digitally tracks thousands of clinical events, eliminating 12 hours of manual work per week for a single drug arm through a single enhancement. It also provides actionable insights through real-time dashboards.
- Isos helped Knight Family DIAN-TU increase adoption of Jira and Confluence and integrate Microsoft 365, which has improved day-to-day operations.
The Challenge
Knight Family DIAN-TU leads some of the most ambitious and significant clinical trials in Alzheimer’s prevention, focused on people with rare, inherited mutations that all but guarantee they will develop the disease at young ages. As the research portfolio expanded to include a new global trial involving 38 clinical sites across 15 countries, operational complexity increased significantly. The coordination required to activate, manage, and monitor these trials introduced new visibility, standardization, and data challenges.
In preparation for launching this critical prevention study, Knight Family DIAN-TU embarked on a large-scale initiative to unify processes and tools across internal teams and in collaboration with global collaborators. Isos assessed that Knight Family DIAN-TU demonstrated exceptional leadership and operational discipline, managing core responsibilities such as global site readiness, study startup, responsibility assignment, and timely assessment completion.
Although Jira was already in use, Knight Family DIAN-TU also relied on spreadsheets, email, Microsoft Teams, and frequent meetings. This approach showcased adaptability and collaboration, but created fragmentation and made it difficult to maintain a single view of progress, ownership, and status. Knight Family DIAN-TU saw an opportunity to consolidate onto a unified, scalable platform to support growing global operations and improve confidence in data and processes.
The Solution
Knight Family DIAN-TU contracted with Isos Technology to help the team maximize the potential of the tools at their disposal. Isos collaborated closely with Knight Family DIAN-TU to customize new Jira projects that targeted trial activation and allowed for the scalability of operations.
Driven by a clear vision and deep commitment to excellence, Knight Family DIAN-TU played an active and engaged role throughout the process. Through thoughtful planning and hands-on support, Isos delivered solutions that removed obstacles, improved visibility, and gave Knight Family DIAN-TU the clarity to advance critical work.
To centralize study data, Isos implemented Assets for static information such as countries, site locations, and equipment, while using custom fields in Jira for variable data. The combination allowed Knight Family DIAN-TU to eliminate multiple spreadsheets and manage all core trial operations within a single platform.
To ensure accurate tracking and coordination, team members at Knight Family DIAN-TU manually entered completed visit dates each week to track scheduling of trial events at the site. While this process was effective, it was also time-intensive. Isos implemented an automation that ingests CSV files provided by the external systems and uploads the data into Jira. This single enhancement now saves twelve hours of manual work each week for a single drug arm, allowing staff to focus on other initiatives.
Knight Family DIAN-TU uses clearly defined workflows and tagging to manage task assignments and keep work progressing without redundant status meetings. Isos also provided guidance and recommendations for integrating Microsoft Outlook and Teams with Jira, allowing staff to manage Jira tasks using the tools they use every day.
Isos provided hands-on training to ensure Knight Family DIAN-TU gained full autonomy over the platform. The team now has the skills to manage Jira projects, expand their use, and configure them independently.
The Results
With support from Isos, the Knight Family DIAN-TU team significantly strengthened research operations and cross-functional coordination through a network of Jira projects designed to absorb all aspects of trial management and coordination, ultimately supporting long-term scalability and future growth.
- 1,000s of clinical visits tracked in Jira, eliminating manual data entry
- Scalable infrastructure established, supporting long-term growth and future global trial expansion
- 5% increase in Jira and Confluence usage
- Increased adoption and engagement within the team
- Improved visibility into project status and task ownership
- Fewer meetings and status updates needed to move work forward
Solution Benefits
Streamlined Clinical Operations
Jira and Assets provide a single platform to manage protocols, Jira tasks, and trial data, reducing administrative overhead and providing clear alignment across trial teams.
More Time for High Value Work
Automating routine processes saved the Knight Family DIAN-TU team hours each week. Manual tasks like updating tracking of trial events data now happen seamlessly, allowing staff to focus on advancing clinical research.
Improved Change Management
Automated issue creation and tracking enable clear ownership and audit trails. Changes are now traceable, supporting higher quality control.
Future-Ready Operations
With the proper training and support, the Knight Family DIAN-TU team can manage and expand their tools independently, without relying on outside help for every change.
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