Hena Kauser
Hina Kauser is a Clinical Research Manager and Certified Clinical Research Professional (CCRP) with extensive experience in clinical trial operations, regulatory compliance, and patient-centered research. She currently serves in a leadership role at Cardinal Arthritis and Rheumatology, where she oversees end-to-end clinical study execution with a strong emphasis on ethical research practices, data integrity, and adherence to Good Clinical Practice (GCP) standards. She holds a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology from Walden University, which has further strengthened her ability to integrate population health principles into clinical research strategy and execution.
Her journey into clinical research was deeply inspired by her mother, a physician in India, and shaped by her own immigration experience to the United States. Although she initially aspired to pursue medicine, she instead completed her Bachelor’s in Pharmacy and developed a strong passion for stem cell and regenerative medicine research. Her career path evolved through medical coding, pharmacy practice, and ultimately into clinical research, where she advanced from Data Analyst at IQVIA to Clinical Research Coordinator, Oncology Coordinator, and now Clinical Research Manager. In her current role, she manages the full lifecycle of clinical studies, including startup activities, sponsor budget negotiations, Clinical Trial Agreements (CTA/CDA) management, regulatory compliance, patient recruitment and retention, biological sample handling, and study closeout across blinded and unblinded trial designs.
Throughout her career, Hina has developed strong expertise in cross-functional leadership, strategically guiding study workflows across multiple phases of clinical research while ensuring protocol adherence and patient safety remain top priorities. She also brings prior experience in clinical research operations through roles in data management and reporting, contributing to her analytical and detail-oriented approach to trial execution. Alongside her professional growth, she has navigated significant personal challenges, including raising a child with autism and rebuilding her life after a difficult divorce. These experiences have strengthened her resilience, empathy, and commitment to maintaining balance while excelling in a demanding, high-impact field that advances medical science and improves patient outcomes.
• CCRC (Certified Clinical Research Coordinator)
• Walden University - MPH, Epidemiology
• Gokaraju Rangaraju College Of Pharmacy - M.Pharm.
• Osmania University - M.Pharm.
• 302nd Rank in State PG SET Entrance Exam
• Free Seat Scholarship at Top Pharmacy College
• PhD Scholarship Recipient
• Published in University Annual Publication
• ACRP (Association of Clinical Research Professionals)
• Planning to work with regional institutions to provide resources for immigrant women and men
What do you attribute your success to?
I would attribute my success to my kid, and to being inspired by many women around me, especially my mom. Working with Dr. Arnold has also been incredibly inspiring - even though I've only been working with her for a couple of months, she has such a beautiful, inspiring lifestyle and a positive attitude toward life. I've learned so much just from observing her, including through social media and other professional platforms. I can honestly say she's had a meaningful influence on me. My mom has always been a guiding force, and together with my child and the strong women I've been fortunate to work with, they continue to motivate me in both my personal and professional journey.
What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would just say, you know, dig in. Instead of trying and doing trial and error, dig in, do some research, and be well-informed. Try to figure out your inspirations, try to figure out where your interests lie, and then pick a profession that could take you higher, and have a backup plan for everything.
What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The biggest challenge in clinical research is dealing with budgets with sponsors, along with patient recruitment and retention. In our day-to-day work, especially with IP or pharmacy-related studies, there are strict schedules and dosing requirements that patients must follow. Sometimes medications are shipped directly to patients' homes, so we have to make sure they're not being dosed multiple times, and we have to have those documentations in place. Another major challenge is that patients don't always fully understand or remember the study requirements throughout the entire study lifecycle, even though we give them the entire ICF and all the study information upfront. They hardly remember that throughout the study lifecycle. That directly impacts patient retention and protocol compliance. So balancing sponsor expectations, patient safety, proper documentation, and retention all at the same time is definitely one of the biggest challenges in this field.
What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Discipline. Focus. And emotional control. If you have these three things especially emotional control then management, strategy, and execution become much easier. I mean, if we have emotional control, then we can do the management and strategies and execution very easily. That's what I believe.