New Columbia Site Finds COVID-19 Trials Near You

Columbia University researchers in May created COVID-19 Trial Finder, a public website which helps patients, clinicians, and healthy volunteers search for nearby COVID-related clinical trials. Potential candidates can also pre-screen their trial eligibility on the site with a short survey.

There are more than 1,500 ongoing COVID-related trials, including more than 300 in the US, according to ClinicalTrials.gov. But it can be difficult for people to find trials, especially when patients are under COVID stress. Trial Finder attempts to make the search easier and advance coronavirus research—to improve patient care. The site lists over 2,000 studies, with over 450 in the US.

“The process of finding the right trial, based on location, eligibility, and any other factor, can be overwhelming and turn people off to the process,” said Chunhua Weng, PhD, professor of Biomedical Informatics at Columbia University and a member of the Columbia Data Science Institute. “We believe this system, based on our DQueST research, can provide frontline workers, clinicians, and patients a simplified portal to the right trial for them.” Learn more.