Clinical research

Clinical research studies human participants or their health data to understand health and disease, evaluate interventions, or improve healthcare.

Clinical trial: A prospective study that assigns participants to interventions to assess their effects on health outcomes. Trials test interventions through planned comparisons, often using random assignment.
Informed consent: A voluntary decision to participate made after receiving relevant information about a study. Consent protects participants’ autonomy before research procedures or data collection.
Drug development: The process of discovering, testing, and bringing medicines toward authorization and use. Clinical studies evaluate candidate medicines in people after earlier development stages.
Randomized controlled trial: A clinical trial that assigns participants by chance to intervention and comparison groups. It is a specific trial design that can strengthen causal comparisons.
Evidence-based medicine: The practice of integrating research evidence with clinical expertise and patient values in care decisions. Clinical findings supply evidence used alongside expertise and patient preferences.
Observational study: A study that examines exposures and outcomes without assigning participants to interventions. These studies investigate health patterns when researchers do not control treatment or exposure.
Research ethics committee: An independent body that reviews research involving people to protect participants’ rights, safety, and welfare. Ethics review evaluates risks, safeguards, and consent materials before a study proceeds.
Vaccine efficacy: The reduction in disease risk provided by a vaccine under controlled study conditions. Trials estimate whether vaccination prevents disease in defined populations.
Case-control study: An observational study comparing people with an outcome to people without it, examining prior exposures. It can efficiently investigate rare outcomes but is vulnerable to selection and recall bias.
Clinical practice guideline: A systematically developed recommendation to support decisions about healthcare for specific circumstances. Guidelines translate bodies of clinical evidence into recommendations for care.

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