Clinical Trials

Message from the Clinical Trials Director:

Welcome to the UW Ophthalmology Clinical Trials website and thank you for taking the time to learn about our Clinical Trials program and research opportunities.

We offer several clinical trials seeking to advance treatments for a variety of ocular conditions. Our clinician-scientists are also studying new ways to prevent, detect, or treat many sight-threatening conditions with the help of their patients. Clinical trials and research provide the foundation for important discoveries such as new drugs or devices, thus we cannot thank patients enough for their willingness to participate in our clinical trials and research studies.

Our study team is committed to making your participation enjoyable. Please contact our study team with any questions or to find out whether you are eligible for any of our current trials or research studies. On behalf of the study team, allow me to thank you for your interest in helping the field of ophthalmology move forward.

What is a clinical study?

A clinical study involves research using human volunteers and in general is designed to add to medical knowledge related to the treatment, diagnosis, and prevention of diseases or conditions.

Clinical Trials

A clinical trial, or research study, is the scientific term for a test or study of a drug, therapy, surgical procedure or medical device. The studies are performed to determined whether the drug, therapy, procedure, or medical device is effective for people to use.

In a clinical trial, participants receive specific interventions according to the research plan or protocol created by the investigators.  Clinical trials may compare a new medical approach to a standard one that is already available, to a placebo that contains no active ingredients, or to no intervention.  When a new product or approach is being studied, the goal is to determine whether it will be helpful, harmful, or no different than available alternatives (including no intervention). The investigators try to determine the safety and efficacy of the intervention by measuring certain outcomes in the participants.

We have a critical need for volunteers for these studies. If you are interested in participating in a clinical trial being run by the department of Ophthalmology please contact the clinical trials study team members listed in the column to the right.

Why Participate?

Future medical discoveries are not possible without clinical research. And clinical research is not possible without volunteers. By taking part in research studies, you can try a potential new treatment that may (or may not) be better than standard treatments available. Your participation may also help people who may be suffering from the same disease or condition in the future. We have a critical need for volunteers for these studies.  Eighty-five percent of studies get started late and 40 percent never finish because of a shortage of volunteers.  Researchers are working hard to find new and better ways to treat diseases, but they need people like you to help contribute. When you participate in a research study, you are helping to move research forward.  This means that cures and treatments are able to reach people more quickly.  You can help make history by participating in research. Working together, we can improve healthcare for years to come. Join us to improve the health of others.

Who Can Participate in a Clinical Study?

Clinical studies have standards outlining who can participate. These standards are called eligibility criteria and are listed in the protocol. Some research studies seek participants who have the illnesses or conditions that will be studied, other studies are looking for healthy participants, and some studies are limited to a predetermined group of people who are asked by researchers to enroll.

Eligibility. The factors that allow someone to participate in a clinical study are called inclusion criteria, and the factors that disqualify someone from participating are called exclusion criteria. They are based on characteristics such as age, gender, the type and stage of a disease, previous treatment history, and other medical conditions.