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Clinical Trials & Studies

Volunteer participation in clinical trials and observational studies is vital to disease research. No matter how promising a new drug, vaccine or procedure looks when tested in the laboratory or on animals, it cannot be approved for general use in humans until it has been carefully evaluated through several phases of clinical study that include volunteer participants. Observational studies are also crucial to determining cause and effect in human health, including how behavior, lifestyle, genetic factors and other traits may help prevent disease or contribute to disease risk. Some of our studies seek healthy participants for prevention research that may involve dietary changes, vitamin supplementation, increased physical activity or adoption of other health-promoting behaviors. 

Clinical Trials Office

The primary purpose of the Saint Louis University School of Medicine clinical trials office is to improve efficiency and encourage coordination of research efforts among clinical departments.

To achieve this, the office:

Facilitates processing of contracts and budgets through standardized policies and procedures.

Provides training and education to clinical research personnel.

Acts as an informational resource for all research personnel including coordinators, investigators and business managers.

Coordinates with SSM Saint Louis University Hospital around approval processes, with particular attention to Medicare analysis and other required regulatory activities.

To accomplish its goals, the clinical trials office at Saint Louis University, with appropriate departmental input, will:

Act as the office of record for all contract documents.

Track the projects and contracts.

Negotiate the terms of the contract in consultation with departments.

Provide assistance with budget preparation and negotiation, if needed, before approval.

Assist with compliance regarding research issues.

Collect data for internal and external audit purposes.

Coordinate amendments and contract terminations.

Provide assistance to departments in the preparation of paperwork for studies.

Maintain an informational website.

Provide training and education to departmental research personnel and principal investigators.

Create standard operating procedures for the administration of clinical trials.

Provide final signature of agreements and proposals.

As the clinical trials office develops, the range of functions and operations that it can deliver may evolve in conjunction with input from departments, as well as University administrative units.

Regardless of any changes in structure, the office is committed to working closely with University investigators and other research personnel to optimize clinical research operations across the School of Medicine.

Clinical Trials Overview

UC San Francisco is committed to finding new ways to prevent and treat disease in people, and these efforts involve a form of research called clinical trials.

After a proposed treatment, drug therapy or device is found to be helpful and safe in animals in laboratories, it must also prove to be safe and effective in humans. This evaluation period is known as a clinical trial. A clinical trial also can study human behavior.

As a leading health sciences university, UCSF is actively involved in more than 1,700 clinical trials. All trials are conducted in coordination with UCSF Medical Center, which serves as UCSF's academic medical center and is consistently ranked among the nation's top hospitals by U.S. News & World Report. 

Empowering Patients

To review a list of clinical trials available at UCSF, use our Clinical Trials finder. For a summary of clinical trials throughout the United States and the world that is maintained by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), see NIH Clinical Trials.

Find a UCSF Clinical Trial

Browse available trials or search by topic area in a custom tool that collects data from UCSF, ClinicalTrials.Gov and other sources.

Learn More

While clinical trials are considered the fastest way to determine if a proposed intervention is safe and effective, they include both potential benefits and risks. A trial participant has the chance to receive a potentially promising treatment that is not available to the general public and to receive care at the nation's top academic medical centers and research institutes. Broad and diverse participation in a clinical trial also ensures that the treatment, drug or device will be effective for everyone, not just a segment of the population.

However, those participating in clinical trials face the chance that their disease or condition will not improve with the experimental treatment, and they could experience adverse side effects, among other possible drawbacks.

What is most important for patients is knowledge about and access to clinical trials, so they have the opportunity to participate if they choose and can make informed decisions about their health.

Rules on Approval and Adherence

The details of a clinical trial, including all tests and procedures used in the trial, are outlined in a research plan, usually called a protocol. Before a clinical trial can begin, the protocol must be approved by UCSF's Institutional Review Board.

After a clinical trial is approved by the IRB, a UCSF team of researchers, clinicians and other patient care specialists oversees the trial and all interactions with the research volunteers. This team follows strict rules set forth by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other government agencies regarding clinical trial processes. The rules ensure that people who participate in clinical trials are treated as safely as possible.

A clinical trial is paid for by the organization that sponsors the research, which may be a drug or medical device company, as well as by private foundations, gifts to UCSF, faculty members on the trial team or the departments of the UCSF faculty members.

Learn more about volunteering for clinical research at UCSF »

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