Clinical trials are open to both healthy volunteers and those with an existing illness. All clinical trials have standards, called inclusion criteria, that define who can and cannot participate, including factors such as age, gender, treatment history, and stage of the disease. If you meet those criteria, you may be eligible to participate.

When you participate in a clinical trial, you provide sickle cell disease researchers with valuable information that may help them develop new treatments, or even a cure. Even if your participation doesn’t directly lead to new treatments or a cure, your data will help researchers understand what works and what doesn’t; both of which provide important information.

Aside from the satisfaction that you are directly contributing to sickle cell disease research, you may also:

• Get access to new treatments before they are widely available
• Have your disease monitored more regularly by a team of medical professionals who specialize in sickle cell disease
• Learn more about advancements in sickle cell treatments

Feel like you have more control over your disease

African Americans are typically underrepresented in clinical trial, which means that the medical world is lacking information that could be helpful in finding the next treatment or cure, especially for conditions like sickle cell disease, which is much more common in African Americans than other groups of people. Reluctance and skepticism may be rooted in the history of African Americans’ relationship with medical researchers, and with good reason.  Visit our page on the History of African Americans and Clinical Trials to read about this history and the many advancements that have been in recent years.