Today, Fox Trial Finder, The Michael J. Fox Foundation's online clinical trial matching tool, reached 50,000 registered volunteers! With a rich pipeline of new therapies in human testing, this is an exciting time to participate in research and help speed a cure.
If you are one in that 50,000, thank you for helping us reach this milestone and for your interest in clinical research. We hope you’ll continue to use the tool to find recruiting studies in your area or that you can complete at home.
If you’ve yet to register with Fox Trial Finder, sign up today to be matched with Parkinson’s trials looking for people like you, with or without PD. Users can search the more than 500 active Parkinson’s studies and be alerted when new studies begin in their area. Fox Trial Finder lists online studies, too, where people can contribute to research from their own homes.
Many Studies Are Looking for Volunteers
Clinical trial recruitment is a challenge across all diseases, and Parkinson's is no exception. Eleven percent of drug trials for central nervous system diseases — which includes PD — fail to recruit a single subject and 37 percent do not meet their recruitment goal.
These statistics are particularly concerning given the urgent need for a therapy to slow or stop Parkinson’s progression and for improved symptomatic treatments. There are many therapies in testing — a thin-film strip for rescue from “off” episodes, a drug for drooling, an antibody to slow the Parkinson’s process — but to advance they all need trial volunteers.
In parallel, we need to learn more about Parkinson’s disease so we can identify more targets and test the impact of new therapies. Observational studies don’t test an intervention but collect data and samples to teach researchers more about PD and how we can stop it.
Fox Trial Finder Is a Bridge to Research Participation
Fox Trial Finder connects interested volunteers to both interventional trials testing new treatments and to observational studies. Trial site contact information is listed and users can securely message study teams through the site.
As friend of the Foundation Gary Rafaloff says, “No amount of money can ever make up for a lack of volunteers and only we can speed the timeline to finding the cure.”
If you haven’t registered with Fox Trial Finder, take a moment to do so now.
If you’re already on the site, log on and check your clinical trial matches.
Join our October 15 webinar to learn more about Parkinson’s therapies currently in clinical testing.