I enjoyed attending the annual meeting of the International Society of Pharmacoepidemiology (ISPE2025) in Washington on 22-26 August 2025.

The first planery session was about Pragmatic (Simple) trials. These trials benefit from both worlds. Patients are randomised to balance baseline bias, but no other requirement or measurements are done. The researcher seeks study outcomes only. In other words, randomisation with real world observation. Simple trials have their place but are underused. Hybrid methods, including getting the outcomes from a database should make conducting these studies easier. Hopefully we will see more Simple clinical trials. They are beneficial for interventions with small treatment effects and when it is difficult to eliminate baseline bias.

Best wishes
Saad