In this free webinar, learn practical signal detection approaches that reduce placebo response and improve clinician-rated outcomes in major depressive disorder (MDD) clinical trials. Attendees will gain insight into how targeted rater preparation, guided questioning and consistent scoring practices contribute to reducing variability in clinician-administered assessments. The featured speakers will share approaches for reviewing site-generated data using combined statistical, algorithmic and expert-driven oversight to identify risk patterns earlier. Attendees will learn the ways centralized clinician scoring can reinforce uniform application of rating scales across sites. The speakers will share techniques for shaping participant expectations to promote more accurate self-report and clinician-rated outcomes. Attendees will also learn design considerations in eCOA systems that reduce common user errors and support cleaner, more reliable outcome data.
TORONTO, Dec. 17, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Placebo response remains one of the most significant challenges in major depressive disorder (MDD) clinical trials, often obscuring actual treatment effects and delaying the approval of promising new therapies. Despite its widespread recognition, the placebo effect remains poorly understood. It refers to a measurable improvement in a participant’s condition following an inactive treatment and is particularly impactful in psychiatric trials where clinician-administered outcomes are central to study success. The subjective nature of these assessments, combined with rater variability and participant expectations, makes MDD trials especially vulnerable to elevated placebo response rates and inconsistent outcome signal detection.
This webinar is designed to help attendees improve the quality, reliability and interpretability of clinician-rated outcomes in MDD trials. Participants will gain foundational knowledge of the placebo effect, its origins, mechanisms and relevance to current trial design, while exploring modern, evidence-based strategies to minimize its impact. Through a combination of expert guidance, real-world case examples and practical tools, the session will focus on strengthening rater performance, reducing data variability and improving trial signal detection.
Training Objectives:
- Explore methods to mitigate placebo response via rater-focused education and calibration, structured interview guides and specialized mitigation training
- Examine central monitoring approaches, including algorithmic and data-based review, and risk-based expert analysis
- Understand centralized rating and scoring models using trained clinicians
- Identify best practices for managing participant expectations
- Learn how eCOA design can prevent common rater errors before they impact data
Registerย for this webinar to learn practical signal detection approaches that reduce placebo response and improve clinician-rated outcomes in MDD clinical trials.
Join experts from Cogstate, Luka Luciฤ, PhD, Senior Director, Clinical Science, Psychiatry; and Svenja Wacker, PhD, Neuropsychology Science Director, for the live webinar on Wednesday, January 21, 2026, at 11am EST (5pm CET/EU-Central).
For more information, or to register for this event, visit Enhancing Signal Detection and Mitigating Placebo Response in Major Depressive Disorder Clinical Trials.
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