Clinical research can make a difference in your life and in the lives of your family, friends, and neighbors. Click here to find out how.
Pittsburgh is home to world-class scientific research and to people who know and love their football with a fierce devotion. When L.C. Greenwood, a former member of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ famous “Steel Curtain” defensive line from the four-time Super Bowl championship teams of the 1970s, speaks, Pittsburghers listen.
To engage the Pittsburgh community in its activities, the University of Pittsburgh's Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) commissioned a video hosted by Mr. Greenwood for viewing here on this Web site as well as in local doctors’ offices, at live-audience events, and as a public service announcement on local television stations.
Mr. Greenwood has participated in research studies himself and knows how important it is to meet enrollment expectations in order to improve the prospect that promising research findings will be translated into clinical practice.
The video also profiles Peggy Drummond, a woman who had radiation and hormone treatments for breast cancer as a part of a study and feels strongly about the importance of participation. “It was just a wonderful opportunity for me to help someone else with cancer down the road,” she says. “Basically, the clinical trial was folded into the cancer care I was already getting. I did not feel that it was an inconvenience.”
The purpose of the video is to introduce the Pittsburgh community to clinical research and to create research-informed patients. Successfully translating scientific research into clinical practice depends on the general public’s willingness to enroll in clinical trials. However, finding appropriate volunteers can be difficult, as is the task of convincing them that they, also, can benefit from participating in research studies.
Many people distrust or have no interest in clinical research, don’t know what its benefits or risks are, or have no idea how it can affect their health care. By removing such barriers, the expectation is that people will develop a vested interest in clinical research because they’ll see how it can translate into better health care.
Pitt is implementing a novel approach to combat the dearth of study participants by developing a Research Participant Registry—a database of people willing to participate in research and an ongoing list of current studies being conducted through the University.
Melanie and Arthur Sudduth have been a part of a study for the past several years. After hearing about a study on heart disease at an outreach event at their church, the Sudduths decided to get involved because they “loved the fact that it was community-based—that the community doesn’t have to come to [the researchers]. They come to the community.” They like the idea of participating in clinical research to benefit others, but Mr. Sudduth was also surprised that he immediately benefited from the study. “It was enlightening because I didn’t know all the problems I had,” he says.
Researchers see Mr. Sudduth’s experience as ideal—to further the goals of research and to benefit the participant—and hope that people who see the video will think about participating in clinical research to have good experiences such as Peggy Drummond, the Sudduths, and L.C. Greenwood have had.
