Thank You for a Great Year!

 

As an ENCORE community member, we hope you have enjoyed hearing from us this year. Each month we strive to provide you with accurate information on health topics that are relevant to you and our enrolling studies. 2018 has been a momentous year for us and has seen complete many trials for novel medications that we believe will improve global health. We are thankful for dedicated volunteers like you that make this possible!

 

This month we would like to do something a little different and provide you with insight into clinical trials. A lack of clinical trial education is routinely cited as the number one barrier to enrolling trial participants. Clinical trials are required by the FDA to prove the safety and effectiveness of new medications and volunteer participants are necessary to complete these trials. We understand that this concept is often intimidating. However, there are several measures in place to make our trials as safe as possible, including:

• Physicians in charge of all study activities
• Pre-Clinical Testing
• Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)
• Informed Consent Forms
• Routine Participant Labs and Clinical Assessments
• Clinical Trial Data Safety Monitoring Boards

 

Investigational products are thoroughly studied during pre-clinical testing before the trials are designed and the first human participant is enrolled. Pharmaceutical companies spend millions of dollars to bring medications to market and they want to be nearly certain that the medication will fulfill its intended purpose. However, volunteers are needed to complete the FDA clinical trials. When designing the trial protocols, participant safety is always the number one priority!

 

Every trial is overseen by an Institutional Review Board (IRB). The purpose of the IRB is to protect the rights and welfare of human research participants. The IRB evaluates the possible risks and benefits of the trial before it is allowed to open. They are also responsible for approving the trial protocol and the informed consent. Along with the consent form, a discussion with our medical staff allows you to make an informed decision on whether or not the trial is in your best interest. Lastly, participants in the study are continuously monitored for safety and there are many tests completed during the trials to alert researchers at the first sign of potentially serious side effects. We hope that every patient that has worked with us has felt that it has been a safe and positive experience!

 

Thank you again for helping us improve global health and find new ways to treat medical ailments! 2019 is going to be another exciting year at ENCORE Research and we hope to get the chance to work with everyone reading this letter.

 

Happy Holidays,
ENCORE Research