Diabetes Clinical Trials

Gain early access to the latest advancements in diabetes treatment when you participate in diabetes clinical trials through OU Health Harold Hamm Diabetes Center in Oklahoma City and Tulsa. As part of a clinical trial, you get new treatments before they become widely available. You also help others living with diabetes and contribute to medical research that leads to better treatment methods for everyone.

Many Opportunities to Participate

At OU Health Harold Hamm Diabetes Center, you’ll find clinical trial opportunities for people with or without diabetes or for people with other health conditions. Each trial has its own eligibility requirements. When you qualify for a trial, you receive study-related medical evaluations, education and study medications, usually at no cost to you.

Successful clinical research requires many people and organizations. Most importantly, research needs participants who voluntarily choose to join this unique opportunity to contribute to the developing knowledge in diabetes treatment, pediatric endocrinology and other important topics.

What to Know About Diabetes Clinical Trials

Once a proposed treatment or medicine shows signs of being helpful and safe in test tubes and animals, it must also prove safe and effective in humans. This evaluation period can be known as a clinical trial, a research study or a protocol. Clinical trials help doctors find new and better ways to prevent, detect, diagnose, control and treat illnesses.

What Researchers Learn from Clinical Trials

Clinical trials produce a wide range of valuable information that helps researchers:

• Develop new treatment options for a medical condition
• Improve upon or find new ways to use existing treatments
• Develop new screening and diagnosing techniques
• Improve disease prevention practices
• Enhance the quality of life for patients and communities

Although any given trial won’t address all of these outcomes, every trial sets out to accomplish at least one of them. Often, clinical trials yield unexpected benefits, such as when an advancement for one medical condition also helps improve another condition. Researchers must stay informed about the findings of their colleagues as knowledge accumulates, stimulates more focused study and increases the likelihood for discoveries that improve people’s lives.

Typical Clinical Trials at Harold Hamm Diabetes Center

Most clinical trials at Harold Hamm Diabetes Center consist of drug studies that fall into four types:

• Phase 1 studies enroll a small number of volunteers to help determine the best dosage and potential side effects of a newly developed medication.
• Phase 2 studies expand the trial to a larger number of volunteers to learn more about side effects, how the body uses the drug and how the drug helps the condition treated.
• Phase 3 studies compare the effectiveness of the new medication with other drugs, typically better known and already on the market, to determine whether the new drug treats the condition better or has fewer side effects.
• Phase 4 studies occur after a drug receives approval for market (ready to be prescribed by someone like your family physician). In Phase 4, researchers gather information on the drug’s effect among various populations and any side effects associated with long-term use.

Phases 1-3 take years — sometimes decades — to complete and, theoretically, Phase 4 continues indefinitely. This rigorous process helps ensure the public’s access to medications that are effective and safe.

Before a project begins, the university’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) conducts a thorough examination to ensure protection of participant rights and the welfare of human research participants.

For non-drug clinical trials enrolling at Harold Hamm Diabetes Center, you’ll find study details at this website or in printed materials well before you decide to volunteer.

Clinical Trials at Harold Hamm Diabetes Center

Take the first step toward participating in a clinical trial at Harold Hamm Diabetes Center in Oklahoma City by enrolling in our Volunteer Registry. Once you join the Registry, you’ll receive up-to-date information on clinical trials of potential interest to you, with no obligation to participate.