Clinical research studies, also called clinical trials, help researchers and doctors find out if an investigational medicine (a medicine they are studying) works, how it works, and how much of the medicine will be safe for people to take.
These studies must be done before a new medicine can be approved for doctors to prescribe to their patients. Right now, there are over 300,000 clinical studies in progress all over the world.
For each study, researchers develop study entry requirements, such as age, gender, previous treatment history, and other medical conditions. It is important to test medicines and medical products in the people they are meant to help. For this reason, it is important to do research in people of all races, ethnicities, and genders, because different people may respond differently to treatments, depending on other diseases they may have and sometimes on their race and ethnicity.
Participating in a clinical research study presents many benefits, including:
- Getting actively involved in your own healthcare
- Potentially gaining access to investigational medicines
- Having access to specialists or researchers in the condition being studied
- Helping others by advancing medical research