Influential Woman · Clinical Research
Chrisly Guerrier
CEO | Founder & Principal Consultant, Trial Gap Solutions, LLC
FL
Her Story
About Chrisly
I've been in the clinical research field for 10 years and have served as a Clinical Research Director for the past 5 years. I fell into this field after graduating from practical nursing school - I'm a graduate practical nurse, though not licensed. I saw a post for a clinical research position, did some research, and called the site to express my interest. What really drew me in was learning how clinical research benefits people who don't have access to care or insurance, or who have tried everything for their disease and haven't found anything that works. Clinical research provides them an avenue to try something else. My most significant professional achievement has been helping to build clinical research sites from scratch, working with de novo site models. In one case, I grew a clinical research site from the ground up at a dermatology practice and successfully expanded it to two additional sites over the past 5 years. My work focuses on protocol adherence, team building, site optimization, revenue generation, profit and loss management, KPI forecasting, project management, good clinical practice, site compliance, physician partnerships, sponsor collaboration, and contract negotiations. Beyond my clinical work, I'm passionate about expanding access to research for underserved communities, including helping to educate the Haitian population on clinical research, providing clinical care for uninsured individuals in the Little Haiti community, and helping to expand global health research in the Caribbean to reach untapped diverse populations.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Chrisly
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to a lot of great leaders that helped to pave the way. Previous site directors and research operations directors saw something in me and expanded their reach in teaching me the ropes. They saw that I was interested and that I was a sponge, and they pretty much saw something in me and invested their knowledge in me. It's essentially what I am investing in other people today, so I've been blessed in that way to have had such great leaders who took the time to mentor me and help me grow.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I ever received is to let success make your noise. It's easy to say you're the best at this or you're great at that, but it's just words. Let people say it for you. Let people see the fruit of your work. You see yourself better when you look in a mirror than when you just talk about yourself, so let your success speak for itself rather than talking about how great you are.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would tell them to never limit yourself. Don't limit yourself. That goal that you're afraid of, you'll be surprised how good you are at it or at achieving it. Don't let fear hold you back from pursuing your career goals, because you might find that you're actually really talented at the very thing that scares you. Push past those fears and go after what you want.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I think the biggest challenges are that people nowadays are finding it hard to break into clinical research as a career. Either people tend to gatekeep opportunities, or they don't really pass on information or invest in the next generation the way previous directors did with me. There's also a lack of education around clinical research - many people still don't know what it is, or the information they have is not correct. There's stigmatization behind clinical research where people see it as being a lab rat, but they don't understand that things as simple as Motrin, antibiotics, and other medications that help us remain healthy today have all gone through the process of clinical research to check on safety. It's pretty cool to see commercials of medications that you helped to put through the research process, but people just don't know about the important role clinical research plays.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The values most important to me are integrity, transparency, and community. These principles guide both my professional work and my personal life.
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