Staff Profile: Jalpa Patel, Lead Developer
Jalpa Patel is used to doing things that have never been done before.
The lead developer in the Applied Research Informatics Group at the Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Sciences (NUCATS) Institute was the first woman in her community to study abroad. Today, Patel is managing Northwestern’s version of Study Tracker while leading the charge to design and implement a version of the platform for the first time at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago.
“It’s so exciting to be engaged with Lurie Children’s in the early design and implementation phase of this project,” says Patel. “This research collaboration has the potential to make Study Tracker a global Clinical Trial Management System in Streeterville.”
Patel grew up in Gujarat, a state on the western coast of India known for its immense coastline and beautiful textiles. She arrived in the United States near the end of 2006 and earned a master’s degree in computer science at Loyola University in 2008. Patel started as a system analyst/programmer at Northwestern later that year and has been promoted numerous times over the course of 12 years.
“I enjoy working at NUCATS because not everyone is a doctor, nurse, or patient care provider, but everyone’s goal is the same: to improve human health by helping accelerate discoveries,” says Patel. “Coming from a more technical background, I feel lucky to be part of a team contributing to the improvement of clinical and translational research.”
I enjoy working at NUCATS because not everyone is a doctor, nurse, or patient care provider, but everyone’s goal is the same: to improve human health by helping accelerate discoveries.”
Jalpa Patel, lead developer in the Applied Research Informatics Group at the Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute
The Study Tracker system that Patel works with day-to-day is a set of web-based clinical research tools that help to improve efficiency, safety, and security for subjects in scientific studies. The research subject tracking log of Study Tracker is used for all human clinical trials initiated by investigators at Northwestern University and Northwestern Medicine. The system enables the oversight of many aspects of research including tracking and reporting of protocol information and accrual data, financial management, and billing compliance. It also integrates with the IRB and many other systems, like Epic, to facilitate study and facilitate data transfer between research and the clinical care system.
“We are constantly updating the application with new features, which involves getting to understand those features, the workflow, and then defining requirements,” says Patel. “Working with stakeholders to understand business needs and converting those needs into software features is one of the most important and rewarding parts of my work.”
Patel also relies on her technical savvy and imagination for creating new things at home, helping her children manage a YouTube channel that features science experiments and kid-friendly cooking.
“As a family, my husband, Rakesh, and kids, Mishi and Mirav, love playing various board games, including Monopoly and carrom,” she says. “Coming to America has created a great mix of experiences, including seeing snow for the first time, and participating in Halloween and Thanksgiving, while also passing along things like carrom and celebrating Diwali with my children.”
“Being at Northwestern has allowed me to grow professionally, and I truly enjoy collaborating with various teams to improve the overall research experience at the University,” says Patel. “I also greatly appreciate the NUCATS Institute’s efforts to innovate and improve processes to increase the quality and efficiency of clinical trials.”
Written by Roger Anderson
