Clinical Data Managers

Data management and analysis has been a focus of many industries for decades. In the early 1960s, statistician John Tukey introduced his ideas about the evolution of mathematical statistics and their use in gathering and interpreting data in easier and more accurate ways, in his article "The Future of Data Analysis," published in The Annals of Mathematical Statistics.

Computers were starting to be used in major corporations and institutions in the 1970s and the data management and science field was growing. In 1976, the Association of Computing’s Special Interest Group on Management of Data was founded to represent the burgeoning data management profession. By the 1990s, computers had proliferated in the world, and the growth of software programs and the Internet expanded the roles of data management specialists, including clinical data managers. The Society for Clinical Data Management was established in 1994, with the aim of advancing the profession of clinical data management through education, certification, and the establishment of best practices and standards.

The field of clinical data management continues to evolve as the tools, technologies, and processes for data management continue to be improved upon and/or replaced with faster, more efficient systems. Today, clinical data managers use a wide variety of software programs for data analysis and management, including analytical software, autocoding software, database reporting and query software, as well as medical software.

The use of artificial intelligence (AI), including machine learning (ML), is increasing in the field. In 2023, eClinical Solutions LLC, a data analytics platform and biometrics services firm, surveyed professionals working across clinical operations, data management, statistical programming, and biometrics functions. Fifty-three percent of respondents cited AI/ML as the top industry trend. "This surge is attributed to the continuing growth in complexity of trials and challenges handling the volume and diversity of data types," according to 2024 Industry Outlook: Driving Tomorrow’s Breakthroughs with Clinical Data Transformation, a report that presents results from the survey.