Let's talk medical research

Receiving a multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnosis can feel overwhelming and isolating for many. MS is a neurodegenerative disease that often involves challenging symptoms — but knowing what to expect and what resources are available can help.

For many people, participating in a research study presents an interesting opportunity with many benefits to volunteering. While there are many types of clinical research, all with distinct goals and timelines, trial volunteers will follow a similar path when taking part. Read on to learn more about the process.

When conducting medical research, recruiting patients can be one of the most difficult processes. Reaching the right patients and engaging them with a study poses a pervasive challenge. Fortunately, there are strategies to overcome these difficulties and keep a study’s timeline on track.

Rare Disease Day, typically observed on February 28th, will be celebrated this year on February 29th! Rare Disease Day is an awareness holiday intended to generate change for the 300 million people who are diagnosed with a rare disease worldwide, as well as their families and caregivers.

Electronic patient-reported outcomes (often abbreviated to ePRO) are tools intended to collect patient data in clinical trials through methods such as diaries, phone apps, tablets, and other devices. These tools are useful for streamlining the work required by site staff and also create a more patient-centric environment in clinical trials.

We’re here with Antidote’s tenth installment of Talk of the Towne, and it’s a very special one! We recently attended SCOPE 2024, where we met up with our partners at Rare Patient Voice and recorded our first Talk of the Towne episode live and in person.

Individuals living with an illness are likely well-versed in the art of discussing difficult topics with their family and friends. However, for those who are considering taking part in a clinical trial, there may be extra questions to consider when sharing their intent to enroll.

Behind every new treatment is the incredible team of doctors, researchers, patients, and clinical trial specialists who worked on the research that made it possible. Because every therapy must be rigorously tested through clinical trials before it can be approved, the process from creation to entering the market can be an arduous one — but it’s one that makes medical breakthroughs possible.

While effectively recruiting patients is a necessary part of every study, it can also incur significant costs. Patient recruitment is one of the largest budget categories in a clinical trial, but often, this is due to ineffective outreach methods and expensive screen failures that contribute to excessive spending.

In the human eye, the cornea's function is to refract light onto the lens and retina to maintain vision function — but this role is dependent on the corneal epithelium’s ability to renew itself continually. The corneal epithelium provides a barrier to protect the interior of the cornea from damage, but when it becomes injured, this function becomes impaired.