For Researchers

What researchers need to know about this site

UCSF Clinical Trials displays data about active studies at UCSF in a way that is intuitive and user-friendly. This information is pulled from ClinicalTrials.gov every week.

To optimize your listing on both sites, visit clinicaltrials.gov and ensure that:

  • Enrollment status is correct. Only recruiting trials can receive potential participants.
  • Site contact information is current, including email address.
  • The fields "Brief title" and "Brief summary" are written in easy-to-understand language. These are the fields that are most visible when the data is imported into the UCSF site. See how to make updates. Need help writing an easy-to-understand study description for recruitment? Request a free Plain Language Consultation.

Please be aware that people may contact you via UCSF Clinical Trials to inquire about a study. We urge you to respond to them quickly and work directly with these potential participants.

Study pages

  • Study data is pulled from ClinicalTrials.gov. Be sure your studies are kept updated there. Here's how. Changes you make there will flow to this site within a week. Using plain language in the Summary field will make your study more approachable by the public.

  • The "I'm Interested" button is presented on the UCSF site when a study has an Available or Recruiting status in the clinicaltrials.gov record. This allows people to send their contact information to the study team.

  • If your study is seeking participants only from referrals or other non-public means, using the status "Enrolling by Invitation" will remove the "I'm Interested" button while allowing the study to remain on the UCSF site.

Condition pages

  • Studies are included in condition pages based on the conditions listed in the clinicaltrials.gov record. Studies with multiple conditions in their record will be on multiple pages.
  • On condition pages, studies that have one of the clinicaltrials.gov open recruiting statuses appear before those that are active, and not recruiting. Completed, terminated or otherwise closed studies are not listed on this site.

What to do if your study isn’t on the site

  • Enter your study in ClinicalTrials.gov. Only studies listed on ClinicalTrials.gov will display on UCSF Clinical Trials. The NIH requires that clinical trials they fund be added to clinicaltrials.gov. Observational studies may be listed as well.
  • Make sure the study includes UCSF or a partner (ZSFG, CHORI, etc) as a location, sponsor or collaborator in the ClinicalTrials.gov record.
  • Ensure that the recruiting status at clinicaltrials.gov is one of the open statuses or is Active, not recruiting. All other Closed studies are not listed on the UCSF site.
  • If your study is still not listed and you believe it should be according to the above, please send your NCT number to ClinicalTrialsFinder@ucsf.edu.