Trials Finder

“Dating” Platform

for Spinal Cord Injury Patients and Clinical Trials

People suffering from a spinal cord injury are typically interested in clinical trials in the hope of improving their health. Principal investigators of clinical trials, on the other hand, are desperately looking for suitable trial participants. This new website aims to “match” these two groups.

Clinical trials are essential. They are necessary to assess the safety and efficacy of new forms of therapy. Moreover, successful trials in humans are required by law before a new drug or treatment can be approved. Even though participation in a clinical trial does not necessarily promise or aim to improve the health of the participants, many spinal cord injury patients would nevertheless like to take part in one. Hope springs eternal, after all. But which clinical trial is most suitable? And what exactly happens in the individual studies? Patients and their families usually struggle to find answers to even such basic questions.

A validated database of all clinical trials worldwide does exist, but it remains a rather confusing labyrinth for non-specialists. In addition, most studies are described in technical jargon, meaning even one’s own family doctor might find it difficult to understand the material. A group of scientists recently came up with the idea of creating their own website exclusively for clinical trials in the field of spinal cord injury research, clearly structured and in lay language. Wings for Life not only funded this website, but also redesigned it from scratch and implemented it technically. The result is a platform that is precisely tailored to the needs of its various users. Patients can now quickly and easily find suitable trials, and then contact the organisers directly via the website. Furthermore, users are notified by e-mail as soon as a new study of interest is listed. Study organisers, in turn, waste less time searching for suitable participants, while researchers appreciate the possibility of improving the evaluation of study data. It is a win-win situation for everyone involved and constitutes yet another building block for speeding up the introduction of new treatments to patients in the future.

As you can probably tell, we are very proud of our contribution to the new SCI Trials Finder. We would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to the company Intuio, who handled the relaunch.

Now online: www.scitrialsfinder.net

Mobile optimised: most internet users browse on their mobile phones.