Learning About Clinical Trials

Clinical trials, part of clinical research, look at new ways to prevent, detect, or treat disease. They can lead to medical advances that help improve people’s health and quality of life. Many people don’t participate in clinical trials for various reasons—fear, lack of trust, or lack of awareness, to name just a few. Click the resources below to learn more about clinical trials and how to educate members of your community about them. Here are a few helpful links about clinical trials.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is the regulatory agency that ensures the safety and efficacy of drugs, diagnostics, and devices. A Consumer Update published by the agency Clinical Trial Diversity explains why it is important.

Participating in Research Video Series:
Office for Human Research Protections has created a series of short videos with basic information about research. These videos are intended to help potential participants understand how research works, what questions they should consider asking, and things to think about when deciding whether to participate in a study.

• Clinical Trials and You provides an overview of clinical trials, including registry lists, personal stories, and information on how to help raise public awareness of clinical trials.
  • Educational resources such as tip sheets, infographics and videos _target the general public and special populations such as children, seniors, and Spanish speakers.  
• ClinicalTrials.gov is a registry and results database about publicly and privately supported clinical research being conducted around the world. To find NIAMS-sponsored clinical trials, use the search term: NIAMS.

Personal stories about participating in clinical trials