Who Can Volunteer Guidelines

Every clinical trial has a unique set of guidelines about who can or cannot participate. The guidelines are used to:

• Identify appropriate volunteers
• Protect volunteers’ safety
• Help ensure that researchers will be able to answer the questions they plan to study

To participate in a clinical trial, potential volunteers must meet certain standards, called "inclusion criteria." There are also factors that can exclude some people from participating, called " exclusion criteria." Inclusion and exclusion criteria are often related to:

• Age
• Gender
• Type and stage of a disease
• Previous or current medications
• Existing medical conditions
• Recent participation in a clinical trial

In order to join a clinical trial, a potential volunteer must qualify by satisfying both the inclusion and exclusion criteria.

Clinical trials discussed here require people with specific medical conditions. However, some trials involve healthy volunteers. Those trials are outlined in the Phase I Clinic section of this website.