Clinical trials help determine whether a drug is safe and effective for MS. Without people living with MS who are willing to serve as volunteers in these studies, we could not look forward to new and better therapies. For more information, search the National MS Society’s Database of Clinical Trials Recruiting People with MS and explore these other sites and resources:
Other Web Sites
ClinicalTrials.gov
A registry of clinical trials that are currently recruiting participants with many disorders in the United States and around the world. Searchable by disease.
MS Discovery Forum Drug Development Pipeline
This section provides key information about compounds under investigation for therapeutic use in MS.
NIH Clinical Trials and You
Visitors to the website will find information about: The basics of clinical trial participation, first hand experiences from actual clinical trial volunteers, explanations from researchers, and links on how to search for a trial or enroll in a research matching program. Health care professionals can read about evidence-based strategies for talking with patients about trials, print audience-tested posters to help promote trials in clinics and offices, and find other educational materials.
PatientsLikeMe
PatientsLikeMe has integrated its clinical trials tool with ClinicalTrials.gov to develop a site that allows patients to find trials listed on ClinicalTrials.gov which are recruiting participants (including studies of drugs, devices, therapy, or non-interventional studies such as genetics or questionnaires); patients can search based on condition, age, sex, location, and other criteria.
CenterWatch
A publishing and information services company that provides information on clinical trials, including a list of MS studies currently recruiting patients.
NARCOMS
NARCOMS is registry of people willing to participate in MS research, initiated by the Consortium of MS Centers to facilitate multicenter studies. The number of participants surpasses 32,000.
CISCRP
The Center for Information and Study on Clinical Research Participation educates and empowers patients, medical and research professionals, the media and policymakers about clinical research participation and what it means to be an active participant in the process. CISCRP also sponsors the Clinical Research Volunteer Community, an online community to share and learn from the experiences of those involved in clinical research. Administers trials search engine, searchclinicaltrials.org.
ResearchMatch.org
A not-for-profit secure Web site, designed to provide people who are interested in participating in research the opportunity to be matched with studies that may be the right fit for them. ResearchMatch is a collaborative effort of the national network of medical research institutions affiliated with the Clinical and Translational Science Awards, a part of the National Institutes of Health.
Books
The Gift of Participation: A Guide to Making Informed Decisions About Volunteering for a Clinical Trial
by Ken Getz
Order through CISCRP
Human Trials: Scientists, Investors, and Patients in the Quest for a Cure
by Susan Quinn
Order through Amazon.com
