Clinical Trials

A clinical trial is a research study that aims to answer specific questions about new medications, vaccines, or new ways of using known treatments. Clinical trials help determine whether new drugs or treatments are safe and effective.

Clinical trials are broken down into different phases. Each phase helps answer certain questions, while safeguarding the people taking part. Every new treatment is tested in at least three phases before regulatory agencies consider it safe and effective. During a trial, more and more information is gained about the potential treatment, its risks and how well it may or may not work. Each clinical trial is conducted according to a plan, or protocol. The protocol outlines the kinds of patients who can enter the trial, the schedule of tests and procedures, drugs and dosages, necessary follow up and the length of the study.

A few reasons why you or your loved ones may consider participating in a clinical trial:

People may experience the same disease differently. It’s essential that clinical trials include people with a variety of experiences and living conditions, as well as things like sex, age, race and ethnicity, and sexual orientation, so that all communities can benefit from scientific advances. The more diverse a group of clinical trial participants is, the more we can learn about the safety of medications or vaccines. When you choose to participate in a clinical trial, you will represent people like yourself and from your local community.