ICT EP 2.9: Designing Eligibility Criteria That Work in the Real World

Eligibility criteria are meant to bring clarity to clinical trials, but in practice, they often do the opposite.In this episode of Innovating Clinical Trials, Liam and Ted unpack how poorly worded, ambiguous, or misaligned eligibility criteria quietly slow enrollment, frustrate sites, and introduce risk later in development.They explore:- Why small wording choices create big downstream problems- How “gray areas” force sites into interpretation rather than execution- The disconnect between healthcare documentation and research expectations- Why enrollment challenges often originate long before the first patient is screened- What sponsors can do to design criteria that work in the real world- not just on paperThis conversation is a practical reflection on how better protocol design can remove friction, protect sites, and keep trials moving.