Virginia Commonwealth University launched a new website Friday that it hopes will make it easier for researchers to find the clinical participants they need.
VCU’s C. Kenneth and Dianne Wright Center for Clinical and Translational Research has created a website called StudyFinder, which will allow interested participants to find a clinical trial in which they may be qualified to take part.
“We’re trying to minimize the barriers for potential research participants to see what’s available,” said Tim Aro, manager of clinical research informatics with the Center for Clinical and Translational Research.
If the participant does find a study, that person can then easily contact the researcher in charge, he continued.
“One thing that’s a real challenge is recruiting — finding sufficient numbers of volunteers,” Aro said. “It’s the only way these research projects can be productive and provide the results necessary to develop the right treatments and methodologies. Getting the number of research participants up is critical to basically bolster the science and make it that much stronger.”
Ultimately, Aro added, all the research that goes toward making advances in treating diseases is made possible in part by people who participate in clinical trials.
Some trials require patients with a disease, such as cancer or diabetes, but others need healthy volunteers, so options are available for virtually everyone, Aro said. More than 200 VCU studies are currently on the website.
The center was created about six years ago through a National Center for Advancing Translational Science award granted by the National Institutes of Health. StudyFinder is one of the initiatives that the grant covered, Aro said.
Development of the website began in early 2016 and was carried out in collaboration with the University of Minnesota, which had the original coding for the system that was then tailored for VCU’s use.
The goal is to look at the efficacy of StudyFinder in terms of how it impacts recruitment for clinical trials, Aro said.
“We want to make sure it’s a good process and that all the folks that benefit — the participants and the researchers — have input as to how the tool can be enhanced and augmented for the future,” Aro said.
The center also is working to develop a smartphone application for StudyFinder that will make the platform easier to use on mobile devices, ensuring the website is easily accessible.
“What you see now is just one iteration,” Aro said. “We want to continue making improvements, monitor the efficacy of the tool and ensure it continues to improve to meet the needs of all the key constitutions — the participants and the researchers.”
Visit StudyFinder at https://studyfinder.cctr.vcu.edu.
