Tips for Finding and Enrolling in Spinal Cord Injury Clinical Trials

by Rob Wudlick, SPINALpedia team member, longtime C4 quadriplegic and busy spinal cord injury research advocate.

If you are interested in enrolling in one of the many spinal cord injury clinical trials that are happening across the country, here is invaluable information to successfully find and enroll in one of these trials, and information on how to be a satisfied participant as well. If you have any further questions, please contact us at info@spinalpedia.com

Find

– www.clinicaltrials.gov

– www.scitrials.org

– University and Healthcare System Registries and announcements

Learn

– What are you expected to do and for how long?

– What are the potential risks and benefits?

– Are you eligible: does your health match the inclusion and exclusion criteria?

– Why are they doing this research?

Engage

– Many times you have to email the research team. Email or call the recommend email and usually the clinical research coordinator.

– If you are lucky, they will have a form for recruitment.

– It can take a few weeks for them to get back to you. Patience but continued engagement is helpful. Just not too much engagement.

Enroll

– Contact does not mean enrollment. Many times there are multiple steps and tests to full enrollment.

– Don’t be discouraged if you aren’t accepted into a study you wanted to be in.

– If you are chosen, read the consent form fully!

Note: Being a research participant doesn’t mean that you will get treated or see improvements. It’s good to have low expectations and that your participation is for the greater good of the community to learn more about what the researchers are looking for.