Technologies
The timelines associated with clinical trials are often delayed due to difficulties with subject recruitment, which is currently a manual, laborious process. RecruitMe is a web-based service developed by members of Columbia’s Office of Research and Clinical Trials Office that provides connecting platform for clinical researchers and potential study volunteers to connect. This technology provides a detailed database of active and future clinical trials, where users can identify a study of interest, determine if they pre-qualify for the study, automatically contact the study’s investigators, and be informed of other studies of interest that enter the database. Application of this tool for subject recruitment will lead to significant reduction in efforts to recruit clinical study subjects.
This technology maintains a thorough clinical study database that allows potential volunteers to search by category listing, medical condition, or institution. The individual study description page provides more information on the trial of interest. Upon choosing an interested study, users can answer a short eligibility questionnaire to determine if they pre-qualify for the trial. This capability allows for pre-screening of the volunteers and therefore shortens the vetting process for investigators. Users will also be able to enter the RecruitMe’s active registry, which will automatically notify users of any future studies related to the trial in which they demonstrated interest.
A prototype of this technology is currently operational and can be accessed here: https://recruit.cumc.columbia.edu/.
Tech Ventures Reference: IR CU16117