Ask HN: How to get into clinical trials (how they work/operate etc)?

2 points by ddorian43 ↗ HN

3 comments

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I got in a clinical trial that was being run by my allergist as part of a multi-center study.

At the time I had allergic asthma and was getting conventional treatment (inhaled steroids, immunotherapy) so I was a control in a study of the effects of the new drug Xolair.

For five years I got all my yearly diagnostics done for free, plus a yearly appointment -- in fact it was better than free because they'd pay me about $40.

Funny enough I am less bothered by asthma now, maybe the immunotherapy worked.

Thanks Paul, but I'm looking into "doing" clinical trials and not "participating" like in your case.

I think I asked the wrong question.

Assuming you are in the US, the FDA regulates all clinical trials.

http://www.fda.gov/ForPatients/Approvals/Drugs/ucm405622.htm

It might be quite difficult for you to run a clinical trial. There are likely more opportunities in the systems that surround clinical trials (patient education, patient/doctor communications, training).

If you don't have a background in biostatistics, start learning. Biostatistics is the interface between the FDA and the clinical trial team.