What is a Clinical Trial?
Clinical trials evaluate whether drugs, medical devices or other medical treatments are safe and effective for human use.
In a clinical trial, participants receive specific interventions according to the research plan or protocol created by the investigators. These interventions may be medical products (such as drugs or devices), procedures, or changes to participants’ diet or other behavior. Clinical trials may compare a new medical approach to a standard one that is already available, to a placebo that contains no active ingredients, or to no intervention. Some clinical trials compare interventions that are currently available. When a new product or approach is being studied, it is not usually known whether it will be helpful, harmful, or no different than available alternatives (including no intervention). The investigators try to determine the safety and efficacy of the intervention by measuring certain outcomes in the clinical trial participants. For example, investigators may give a drug or treatment to participants who have high blood pressure to see whether their blood pressure decreases. All of these results are important because they advance medical knowledge and improve patient care.
Why Clinical Trials are Important?
In general, clinical studies are designed to add to medical knowledge related to the treatment, diagnosis, and prevention of diseases or conditions. Some common reasons for conducting clinical studies include
- Evaluating one or more interventions (for example, drugs, medical devices, approaches to surgery or radiation therapy) for treating a disease, syndrome, or condition.
- Finding ways to prevent the initial development or recurrence of a disease or condition. These can include medicines, vaccines, lifestyle changes, or other approaches.
- Evaluating one or more interventions aimed at identifying or diagnosing a particular disease or condition.
- Examining methods for identifying a condition or risk factors for that condition.
- Exploring and measuring ways to improve the comfort and quality of life of people with a chronic illness through supportive care.
We are actively recruiting patients for the following clinical trials:
- Declare
- Guide-It
- Odyssey