COMMUNITY

Our Community Across Europe & Beyond

A representative selection of the Future:Trials community – partners, institutions and innovators.

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Charlotta Norgaard

CEO and Founder of Patient in Research

Charlotta Norgaard is a Patient Expert, clinical trial advocate, and founder of Patient in Research, specializing in patient-centered innovation across clinical development, digital health, medtech, and pharmaceutical research. Combining extensive professional expertise with lived experience as a clinical trial participant, she helps organizations transform patient engagement from a compliance activity into a strategic advantage.

Charlotta's work spans research and development and across the entire lifecycle, supporting startups, researchers, technology companies and sponsors in designing solutions that align with real patient needs, improve adoption, strengthen clinical trial participation, and generate meaningful outcomes. Charlotta has contributed to the development of combination therapies integrating medicines and digital technologies, including mobile health applications, patient-facing platforms, user validation, and beta testing.

As a mentor and trainer for EIT Health startup programs and innovation bootcamps, she has guided health and technology entrepreneurs in validating concepts, reducing development risk, refining value propositions, and embedding patient insight into both product strategy and business growth. Her expertise helps innovators avoid costly assumptions and build solutions that are not only technically feasible but also relevant, trusted, and usable by the people they are intended to serve.

A recognized international speaker and advisor, Charlotta works at the intersection of clinical research, technology, and patient engagement, helping organizations create more effective clinical trials, accelerate innovation, and develop healthcare solutions that deliver measurable value for patients, healthcare systems, and industry alike.

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Patient in Research is a patient-centered consultancy specializing in clinical research, healthcare innovation, digital health, and patient engagement across the full research and development lifecycle. Founded by Patient Expert and clinical trial advocate Charlotta Nørgaard, the company helps pharmaceutical, biotech, medtech, and technology organizations integrate meaningful patient insight into the development of therapies, clinical trials, digital solutions, and healthcare services.

Working at the intersection of science, technology, and lived experience, Patient in Research supports sponsors, CROs, startups, research institutions, and innovation teams in designing more effective, inclusive, and patient-centered research. The company provides strategic guidance on patient engagement, clinical trial design, participant experience, recruitment and retention strategies, decentralized and hybrid trial models, digital health innovation, patient-facing technologies, user validation, and beta testing.

Patient in Research has contributed to initiatives involving combination therapies, digital therapeutics, mobile health applications, and technology-enabled care models, helping organizations align innovation with real-world patient needs while strengthening adoption, trust, and long-term impact.

Through advisory services, workshops, startup mentoring, and international speaking engagements, including innovation programs within EIT Health, Patient in Research helps organizations reduce development risk, improve relevance, and create solutions that are both scientifically robust and meaningful to the people they are intended to serve.

As clinical research continues to evolve through decentralized trials, digital technologies, AI-supported solutions, and patient-centered innovation, Patient in Research enables organizations to move beyond assumptions and build research and healthcare solutions grounded in patient experience, usability, and real-world value.

Dr. MMag. Agnes Bugajska-Schretter

(PhD, Master in Economics)

Business Development at Medical University of Vienna

Agnes holds a PhD in Genetics and a Master’s degree in Economics and brings more than 20 years of leadership experience in the international biotech and pharmaceutical industry. Her expertise spans the entire innovation continuum—from discovery and development, to medical and marketing, strategic partnerships, funding, and commercialization in several therapeutic areas. She has supported and mentored numerous life science start-ups, taught master students and served as an evaluator at international innovation biotech competitions.

At the Medical University of Vienna, she works at the interface of science, medicine, and industry, translating innovative research into clinical development opportunities and strategic collaborations.

The Medical University of Vienna is one of Europe’s leading academic medical institutions, combining excellence in biomedical research, education, and patient care. With more than 6,500 employees, 32 departments and clinical institutes, and 12 medical theory centres, it represents one of the largest and most research-intensive medical campuses in Europe (https://www.meduniwien.ac.at/web/)

The Department of Clinical Pharmacology, chaired by Prof. Markus Zeitlinger, scientific advisor to the European Medicines Agency (EMA), has over 30 years of experience in clinical drug development and has contributed to more than 1,000 clinical trials, spanning first-in-human, early-phase, pivotal registration, and real-world studies. Its multidisciplinary team provides integrated expertise across the entire translational and clinical development pathway (https://klinische-pharmakologie.meduniwien.ac.at/en/about-us/department-of-clinical-pharmacology/).

In 2026, the Medical University of Vienna will open the new Center for Translational Medicine (CTM), a state-of-the-art research facility directly connected to Vienna General Hospital (AKH Wien), ranked among the world’s leading hospitals. The CTM will offer a unique ecosystem for Phase I/II clinical research, including GMP facilities for cell and gene therapies, radiopharmacy, preclinical infrastructure, and dedicated translational research laboratories, further strengthening Vienna’s position as a premier European hub for clinical and translational medicine (https://bauprojekte.meduniwien.ac.at/en/stories/perspectives-with-markus-zeitlinger-and-anselm-jorda/).

LinkedIn - Medical University Vienna

LinkedIn - Department of Clinical Pharmacology