Presented by Clinical Leader & Life Science Connect
Recognizing the CROs
sponsors trust most.
The CRO Leadership Awards honor the contract research organizations that clinical trial sponsors rate highest. They're based entirely on sponsor feedback, gathered and analyzed by Tufts CSDD.
Presented by
About the awards
Real sponsor experience. Objective recognition.
Clinical Leader and Life Science Connect created the CRO Leadership Awards to give sponsors an objective, data-based resource when they're evaluating CRO partners.
Based only on sponsor feedback
Unlike marketing-driven rankings, the awards come from quantitative feedback from sponsor-side professionals who've worked with the CROs they rate. That reflects real-world experience and helps set a standard of excellence across clinical research.
Independent research by Tufts CSDD
The Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development designs and conducts the sponsor survey, analyzes the results and determines the award categories and winners.
Areas of recognition
How sponsors rate their CRO partners.
Tufts CSDD determines the final award categories. Areas of recognition may include:
Time, cost-efficiency and quality
Delivering studies on schedule, within budget and with high-quality results and integrity.
Governance
Oversight, accountability, issue escalation and decision-making processes.
Project management
Coordination, planning and execution of study activities.
Culture and workstyle
Collaboration style, communication, company philosophy and mission, and organizational fit.
Technology
Tools, platforms and systems that support data access, monitoring and trial efficiency.
Operations and financials
Day-to-day execution, resource allocation, financial management and reporting, and financial transparency.
Primary services
Core CRO offerings like protocol design, medical writing, site management, study monitoring, statistics and data management.
The 2027 survey
Share your CRO experience.
The 2027 survey is open through Friday, November 20, 2026. Your feedback helps recognize the CROs raising the bar in clinical research.
Are you a clinical trial sponsor?
If you work at a pharmaceutical or biotechnology company and have firsthand experience with the CROs you evaluate, we'd love to hear from you. All responses are confidential and only reported in the aggregate.
Take the surveyAre you a CRO?
You can invite your eligible clients to share their experience. Our survey toolkit has the survey link, a ready-to-send invitation, LinkedIn posts and the participation guidelines.
Get the survey toolkitWho's eligible: sponsor-side professionals with firsthand experience working with the CROs they rate. The survey's screening questions confirm eligibility. CRO employees can't take the survey, nominate their own company or submit responses on behalf of clients, and CROs that do may be disqualified. There's no cost to participate.
Our research partner
Research conducted by Tufts CSDD
Tufts CSDD is a leading academic research center within Tufts University School of Medicine. It performs objective, data-driven analysis of drug development trends, practices and performance.
For the CRO Leadership Awards, Tufts CSDD designs and conducts the sponsor survey and analyzes the results to identify the top-rated CROs. Its independent, evidence-based approach keeps the awards grounded in real sponsor experience.
All sponsor-company responses are confidential and only reported in the aggregate.
Our 2027 sponsors and partners
Thanks to the companies that make the awards possible.
Save the date
Join us at SCOPE Summit 2027
The 2027 CRO Leadership Awards will be presented on Wednesday, March 3, 2027, during SCOPE Summit at the Rosen Shingle Creek in Orlando, Florida. Stay tuned for more details soon.
More 2027 sponsors will be announced soon. Interested in sponsoring? Reach out to your Life Science Connect account manager or talk to our team.
2027 winners
Winners will be announced after the research is complete.
Once Tufts CSDD finishes its analysis, we'll share the 2027 winners here, by category.
Did your company win? Congratulations! Email info@clinicalleader.com and we'll send everything you need to promote your achievement.