About clinical research
What is clinical research?
Clinical research is used to help with understanding how to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease. This may involve comparing treatments or looking at new ones. Often this is looking at the effectiveness of specific medications but it may also be about other medical treatments.
Some research may be about observing people when they are receiving certain treatments, compared to those with the same disease who are not receiving treatment, or who are receiving a different treatment.
In order to test the different treatments some research studies will involve giving a blood sample or may involve undergoing x-rays or other types of scan. You would always receive full information about any trial before agreeing to take part and you are always free to opt out at any time when taking part in a trial.
A good information source about Clinical Research can be found at the UKCRC website.
Why is clinical research important?
Clinical research is important to be sure that the best advice and treatments are being provided. Clinical research improves understanding about the human body and mind both when healthy and when affected by a disease.
Most importantly clinical research is the key to improved patient care.
How are trials adopted by DeNDRoN?
The adoption process involves the study being reviewed by the DeNDRoN Clinical Studies Group (CSG) to ensure the proposed research is relevant and of quality. An adopted study is placed on the UKCRN portfolio and is then entitled to help and support, particularly with recruitment from the local DeNDRoN network. Please contact us for information.
More information about this and the CSG’s can be found on the national DeNDRoN website.
Useful information
The UKCRC produce a booklet “Understanding Clinical Trials” which can be ordered from their website.