Every year since 2015, ECRIN (whose mission is to support multinational clinical research in Europe) celebrates International Clinical Trials Day (ICTD) on May 20th, the anniversary of the first-ever clinical trial, led by James Lind in 1747 on sailors with scurvy. ICTD is an opportunity to discuss – with health policy actors, health authorities, researchers, health professionals, patients and citizens – the issues and challenges of clinical research, and in particular patient-centred research.