Aultman is proud to offer clinical research as a means of demonstrating our commitment to expanding medical knowledge and providing high-quality patient care. “Through our affiliation with the National Cancer Institute and various pharmaceutical companies,” Mary Amos, director of Aultman research programs shared, “we offer a variety of clinical research opportunities to improve the lives of our patients.”

Some truly amazing things have happened because of clinical trials and many advancements in medical treatment have been made. “Clinical trials provide cutting-edge treatments for our patients and the community, which allows us to provide the best possible care,” said Mary. “Thank you to our many dedicated physician investigators, staff, ancillary departments and patients who help make our clinical trials programs at Aultman a success!”

A clinical trial is a type of research study performed to determine if a new treatment is better and/or has less harmful side effects than standard treatment. These trials are important because they produce the data and knowledge that is used for health care decision-making. There are various types of trials, from treatment to observational. Here at Aultman, we have two primary clinical research departments: oncology and cardiovascular.

The oncology department consists of four research coordinators, two data managers, one regulatory specialist and 18 physician investigators. They conduct trials that cover most major disease sites including breast, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, gynecological, thoracic, head and neck, lymphomas and blood cancers. The cardiovascular department has three research coordinators, one recruitment specialist, one regulatory specialist and ten physician investigators. They run a variety of clinical trials targeting coronary artery disease, heart failure, high cholesterol, arrhythmias, coronary and vascular devices, deep vein thrombosis, health economics and disease prevention. “Both programs moved to a dedicated research unit on Main 3 North in December 2014,” Mary explained. “Between the two, more than 270 new patients were enrolled in clinical trials in 2015.” 

Clinical trial patients can be treated in the hospital, clinic or doctor’s office. In order to provide reliable and generalizable results, each clinical trial must follow strict scientific standards. “To accomplish this, each trial will have a formal written plan, called a protocol, that details what must be done and why,” Mary explained. “If you’re interested in learning more about, or taking part in, clinical trials, talk with your doctor. He or she may know about studies going on in your area.”

For information about oncology trials Aultman has to offer, please contact janet.moore@aultman.com or call 330-363-1250. For cardiology trials, please contact mary.amos@aultman.com or call 330-363-7274. If you have an affiliation with Aultman and would like to know more about the research process at Aultman, please contact jennifer.rippel@aultman.com or call 330-363-3334.