Margo Michaels MPH

Over the last 25 years, Margo Michaels has worked with primary care providers, investigators and clinical research staff to strengthen their communication, recruitment and retention skills, as well with patient groups and community leaders to help them better understand clinical trials and their importance. Michaels is the author of over 27 peer-reviewed articles on these issues.

Michaels was the founding Executive Director of the Education Network to Advance Cancer Clinical Trials (ENACCT), a national advocacy organization that focused on increasing patient participation in cancer clinical research, especially among minority groups, until the organization closed in 2014. She also served as an inaugural member of the PCORI Advisory Panel on Clinical Trials and was the Chair of its Subcommittee on Recruitment, Accrual, and Retention from 2014 - 2017. As a Branch Chief at the National Cancer Institute, Michaels led the development of numerous educational programs on cancer clinical trials. Today she is the principal at Health Access and Action Consulting, where she specializes in training related to consumer engagement in health care design and research as well as improving clinical research recruitment practices.

Michaels has developed numerous courses on clinical trials recruitment, accrual and retention with a focus on reaching ethnic and racial minority groups, including a Masters level course for Drexel University School of Medicine and a Massive Open Online Course for Vanderbilt University. She is currently developing an evidence-based online continuing medical education program entitled “The Critical Role of Primary Care Providers in Facilitating Equitable Access to Care and Clinical Trials” along with the University of Florida and The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Michaels serves as adjunct faculty at Drexel University School of Medicine, Boston University School of Public Health, and the Myrtle E. and Earl E. Walker College of Health Professions at Maryville University.