Clinical trials: Making a difference to science

You don’t have to be a scientist to contribute to science.

Participating in a clinical trial can help provide information that may result in life-saving vaccines, treatments, medical procedures, and more. Baylor College of Medicine offers many kinds of clinical research studies to choose from, all with different research questions and goals.

Questions to ask about research studies

Why is volunteering important? Research has led to many important discoveries, impacting millions of lives. Participating in a research study may or may not help you personally, but always has the potential to help others in the future.

If you’ve never participated in a research study before, but are interested in volunteering, here are some important questions to ask from the Office of Research at BCM:

• Why is the research being done?
• Will there be any side effects?
• What will the researcher do with my information?
• What will happen to me as part of the research?
• If the research has to do with a medical condition, how is this research related to my treatment for my medical condition?

Check out more questions to ask about clinical studies and information about why volunteering is important.

Current BCM clinical research studies

BCM offers a range of clinical trials, including:

• Congenital Heart Defect studies – see details on the news release or follow them on Facebook
• The Butterfly Girls – read more on the website and watch the video for an in-depth look into research goals
• Pneumoccocal Vaccine Study – view more information on the website

Find a listing of clinical studies at BCM to see all of our current research trials

Have you ever participated in a clinical study? If so, what was the experience like for you? Has the data yielded from the research study resulted in any notable treatments or valuable information? Share your experiences here.

-By Jordan Magaziner