Stanford part of national consortium to help people participate in clinical trials
BY RUTHANN RICHTER
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People interested in participating in research studies can now connect online with scientists nationwide through a new nonprofit service called ResearchMatch.org, the first of its kind in the country. The Stanford University School of Medicine is one of 51 institutions participating in the free, easy-to-use service, a secure online tool that brings together medical researchers and people who want to learn more about research studies.
ResearchMatch is a product of the Clinical and Translational Service Awards Consortium, a network of 46 medical research institutions nationwide working to improve the conduct of biomedical research. The consortium is led by the National Center for Research Resources, part of the National Institutes of Health.
“We are looking forward to participating in this project, which holds the promise of creating an important link between Stanford investigators and study volunteers in the community,” said Harry Greenberg, MD, the medical school’s senior associate dean for research.
At Stanford, the ResearchMatch program is being coordinated by Spectrum, an interdisciplinary group that works to streamline, accelerate and promote the translation of basic discoveries into practical solutions for improving human health. Steve Alexander, MD, Spectrum’s medical director for compliance, training and operations, said many community members are interested in finding clinical studies, but there is no easy way for them to access this information. Last year, he said some 450 people called Spectrum seeking information on trials. At the same time, he said, there is a great need for participants in clinical studies, which may fail for lack of volunteers.
“Recruitment is the Achilles’ heel of medical research,” said Alexander, professor and chief of pediatric nephrology. “Finding enough study participants is very difficult. So if this enhances recruitment at all, it will be a real plus.”
ResearchMatch works by connecting people living in the United States with medical researchers who are approved to recruit potential participants through the system. Potential participants first must complete a short registration form online. This information remains confidential through ResearchMatch’s secure system. Medical researchers can search the non-identifiable data to find possible matches for their studies. Participants then can choose whether they want to make their contact information available.
For more information on the program, visit the Web site at www.researchmatch.org.
For more background on clinical and translational research at Stanford, visit the Web site: http://spctrm.stanford.edu or contact the Spectrum Office of Compliance, Training and Operations: clinicaltrials@med.stanford.edu, or (650) 498-6498.
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