Stephanie Wellford has more than 13 years of experience leading multicenter observational, mechanistic, Phase 2 and Phase 3 clinical trials with a strong focus on asthma and allergy indications. Ms. Wellford currently serves as the senior project director of the NIAID DAIT Asthma and Allergy Statistical and Clinical Coordinating Center (AA-SACCC), where she oversees the performance of all study activities as well as milestone tracking and timeline management. She facilitates resourcing and oversight of functional area teams to drive studies from protocol development through publication.

Ms. Wellford has served as the lead project manager of clinical trials for the NIAID-funded Inner-City Asthma Consortium (ICAC) and provided support to other trials across the disease group. She served as the project management functional lead of the disease group prior to becoming the program director.

Over her tenure at Rho, Ms. Wellford has built strong relationships with asthma and allergy counterparts at DAIT, consortium leadership centers, investigative sites and other external vendors in the respiratory disease space. Having performed numerous roles in clinical trial operations and management, including onsite clinical monitor, clinical team lead, and project lead, Ms. Wellford is a well-seasoned project leader. Her expertise in project management and clinical operations provides a distinctive perspective to clients that ensures high-quality clinical trials in complex therapeutic areas.

Ms. Wellford received her bachelor’s degree in public policy, with a concentration in health, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has co-authored and presented multiple posters at SCT and SoCRA annual conferences.

Why Respiratory?

“Respiratory diseases affect people of all ages, all walks of life, and have huge impacts on both health and overall quality of life. Much of my career has been spent studying asthma in children and adolescents. I never thought I’d use this knowledge personally until I had a child of my own requiring nebulizer treatments, prednisone bursts, rescue medication, and an asthma controller medication before he was even three years old. Understanding the severity of respiratory diseases and the impact of appropriate treatments, I am driven to continue to do my part improving the health and lives of people suffering with these diseases.”

This is what drives Stephanie:

“What makes it all worth it to me came in an “ah-ha” moment early in my career during an onsite monitoring visit that I’ll never forget. I exited the elevator and walked into the site team offices as I usually do, but this time I found hand-colored pictures and notes from study participants displayed on the wall. In the scribble of a 7 or 8-year-old, I read something along the lines of, “thank you for making my asthma better.” This child’s note has stuck with me and is always a reminder of how we are changing lives every day.”