Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation Creates Trial-finding Website
Pulmonary fibrosis patients have a new tool for learning about clinical trials of potential treatments.
The Clinical Trial Finder is an online platform that the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation developed. It offers information on the more than 100 research opportunities listed on the National Institutes of Health’s ClinicalTrials.gov website.
An overarching goal is for the Clinical Trial Finder to help facilitate patient enrollment in trials.
In the new platform, patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers can find details on publicly and privately supported trials, including patient recruitment criteria and contacts.
The Clinical Trial Finder lets members of the pulmonary fibrosis community filter trial information by category and location. This makes it easier and quicker for patients to identify trials suitable for them.
“We want to empower patients to actively participate in identifying clinical trials,” Dr. Harold R. Collard, the foundation’s senior medical advisor of research development, said in a press release.
Until the foundation consolidated information on clinical trials in one place, it was scattered in a confusing and overwhelming array of sources. This made the process of searching and finding a suitable clinical trial a daunting task.
Patients can use the Clinical Trial Finder website or the PF Health patient app to find trial information quickly. The foundation said it is a first step toward creating a PFF Therapeutics Network that can improve pulmonary fibrosis patients’ lives.
The information on the platform is not meant to be a substitute for a medical consultation. The foundation encourages patients to discuss clinical trial information with their healthcare provider before endorsing any study.
“Getting information has been the hardest thing,” said Bill Burke, a PF patient and support group leader from Williamsburg, Va. “Before this, it was pretty impossible to search for clinical trials.”
