February 2008, Volume 5 Issue 1

Clinical Trial Search Eased With New CISCRP Online Tool

The difficult task of finding a suitable clinical trial is about to get easier thanks to CISCRP. The non-profit organization is ready to launch an updated version of its highly successful search engine, www.SearchClinicalTrials.org. The new tool will simplify the process of finding clinical trials for people with specific illnesses. It will debut next month on the website of the Lupus Foundation of America, Inc. (LFA).

What makes the search engine appealing is the easy way in which users will be able to access information on it. “The Lupus Foundation is very excited about our partnership with CISCRP because the new site provides a very comprehensive listing of lupus trials that is easily navigable so you’re not going to get lost in cyberspace,” explains LFA Education & Research Manager Susan Drinan-Bowes. “The information will be accessible and as easy to reach as possible.”

In addition to listing lupus clinical trials by geographic location, the new tool will contain centralized information about clinical trial sponsors, phases, recruitment status, and eligibility requirements, and links to trial sites. Thanks to SCT’s seamless integration into the host site, users will be able to search for lupus clinical trials without leaving the LFA website.

CISCRP President and CEO Diane Simmons says LFA is the first in a fast-growing group of disease advocacy organizations that are hoping to offer their communities greater access to clinical trials by featuring the SCT search engine on their websites. “We are currently speaking with the Hormone Foundation and cancer and Parkinson's disease organizations about collaborating with us on this initiative,” Simmons says. "Enabling people with illnesses to obtain the information they need about clinical research from the organizations they rely on and trust is another way CISCRP fulfills its mission of educating, informing and empowering the public about clinical research participation. It’s a win-win situation for all.” For LFA, the new partnership will help bring the dream of a new lupus treatment closer to reality.

“We are thrilled to be working with CISCRP on this initiative because at the end of the day, our job is all about what we can do for the patients,” says Drinan-Bowes. “We’ve put a man on the moon but there hasn’t been a new FDA-approved drug for lupus in 40 years. Patients are seeking out information about clinical research for lupus and it’s in our best interests to make this information available so that lupus patients can be enrolled in clinical trials with the ultimate hope of developing new and effective drugs to treat this debilitating disease.”

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