Article Courtesy of Patrick Smith | Dome

Before a new medication or device gets approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, its developers must demonstrate that the drug is both effective and safe in carefully designed and conducted clinical trials. Relying on patient volunteers who meet eligibility requirements, clinical trials prove — or disprove — the effectiveness of new drugs, treatments and tests.

Medical innovations often start with an idea for a new drug or intervention that is tested rigorously in laboratory experiments and preclinical models. Most never make it to human studies, and only the most promising advance to human clinical trials. During clinical trials, research science meets patient care. They are the backbone of any medical advance and may lead to important ways to treat people who have serious diseases. But how can potential volunteers find trials that suit them?

At Johns Hopkins, home to nearly 2,000 ongoing clinical trials, an easy-to-use website now tells people who want to volunteer for clinical trials what they need to know about each study conducted at Johns Hopkins Medicine: Who is eligible? What are possible benefits and risks? Where is the study taking place? Who is leading it?

“Up to now, people who came to Johns Hopkins looking for clinical trials were directed to a site hosted by the National Institutes of Health to get information about trials here at Johns Hopkins,” says Sara Evans, M.S., information technology director of clinical research. “We wanted a site specifically for people who want to know what’s happening here at Johns Hopkins.”

The government site, clinicaltrials.gov, is a repository for research trials around the world. Trials at Johns Hopkins are included among more than half a million studies being conducted not only by academic medical centers but also by government agencies, private research organizations and the pharmaceutical industry. While useful, navigating the gigantic database can be daunting for some users, and they may not be able to determine which Johns Hopkins physicians are leading clinical trials that might be right for them.

Evans says the strong reputation Johns Hopkins has built provides visitors to its site with confidence that the clinical trials conducted at Johns Hopkins and featured on its site are up to the institution’s high standards.

“We have a lot of patient-friendly information on our site,” she says. “Even if none of the clinical trials are the right match for the individuals, they still can learn about the expert care available at Johns Hopkins.”

Mark Sulkowski, MD, professor of medicine and senior associate dean for clinical trials, served as faculty leader for the project to bring Johns Hopkins clinical trials to the web. He worked closely with Evans and Cassie Lewis-Land, M.S., assistant director of the Recruitment Innovation Unit at the Johns Hopkins Institute for Clinical and Translational Research, led by Daniel Ford, MD. Sulkowski and the Johns Hopkins Office of Clinical Trials team created a welcoming front door for people interested in clinical trials for themselves or others.

For example, Sulkowski conducted clinical trials at Johns Hopkins that led to a cure for people with hepatitis C. Building on that success, he is now focused on clinical trials seeking to find better treatments for people with hepatitis B. The entries in the database for these trials include information on the status and phase of each study, the location where the trial is open, a summary, eligibility requirements, contact information for the study team and a link to Sulkowski’s Johns Hopkins Medicine profile.

“Patients or their family members who visit the clinical trials search site can find information about research that might be right for them as well as learn more about expert clinicians who may be able to help,” says Sulkowski. “We believe this site will help people better access the world-class clinical care and research at Johns Hopkins.”

Evans says that, in her nearly 30 years at Johns Hopkins, she has enjoyed her work helping to develop the clinical trials site most of all.

“This really has been my favorite project,” she says. “I’m so happy we’ve been able to connect the pillars of what we do — research, patient care and education — in one place online.”