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Who Sponsors Clinical Trials?
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and other National Institutes of Health (NIH) Institutes and Centers sponsor clinical trials.
Many other groups, companies, and organizations also sponsor clinical trials. Examples include Government Agencies, such as the U.S. Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs; private companies; universities; and nonprofit organizations.
NIH Institutes and Centers (including the NHLBI) usually sponsor trials that test principles or strategies. For example, one NHLBI study explored whether the benefits of lowering high blood pressure in the elderly outweighed the risks.
Other examples of clinical trials that test principles or strategies include studies that:
- Explore whether surgery or other medical treatments produce better results for certain illnesses or groups of people
- Look at the best age and frequency for doing screening tests, such as mammography
- Compare two or more screening tests to see which test produces the best results
Some companies and groups sponsor clinical trials that test the safety of products, such as medicines, and how well they work. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) oversees these clinical trials. The NIH may partner with these companies or groups to help sponsor some trials.
All types of clinical trials contribute to medical knowledge and practice.
Clinical trials are research studies that explore whether a medical strategy, treatment, or device is safe and effective for humans.
December 26, 2012
Benefits of higher oxygen, breathing device persist after infancy
By the time they reached toddlerhood, very preterm infants originally treated with higher oxygen levels continued to show benefits when compared to a group treated with lower oxygen levels, according to a follow-up study by a research network of the National Institutes of Health that confirms earlier network findings, Moreover, infants treated with a respiratory therapy commonly prescribed for adults with obstructive sleep apnea fared as well as those who received the traditional therapy for infant respiratory difficulties, the new study found.
The NHLBI updates Health Topics articles on a biennial cycle based on a thorough review of research findings and new literature. The articles also are updated as needed if important new research is published. The date on each Health Topics article reflects when the content was originally posted or last revised.
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