Personal Science Week - 230810

More research studies

Personal Scientists are happy to help other scientists, including professionals who are always looking for contributors to clinical studies and trials.

This week we point to a few studies you may want to join.

Enroll in research trials

The non-profit organization ResearchMatch funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is a clearinghouse for many clinical trials and other research studies that are looking for subjects. Register and they’ll email you whenever they spot a new trial that meets your criteria. Or you can search for specific trials at their companion site TrialsToday.

For example, here are some looking for healthy volunteers to study insomnia:

Research Studies to Consider

If you liked our CGM discussion in PS Week 230406 , you may want to sign up for The Scripps Research Digital Trials Center new PROGRESS study. They’re looking for 1000 people (500 with diabetes and 500 without) to join their 10-day trial, where they’ll give you (Free) a DEXCOM G6, plus full blood, microbiome, and genetic tests and results. If you complete everything, they’ll also reward you with up to $175.

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If you suffer from chronic lower back pain, please see the Back Home study. I found about it through UCSF’s eHeart Health, a program I’ve been participating in for years. Unfortunately — or fortunately? – my back pain (which I’ve largely solved through careful exercise) is too irregular to be of interest to their study, but you may want to try. The signup is super-quick (a minute or less) and they promise to keep you informed about new studies and digital tools that might help.

(We talked about back pain in PS-Week 220908)

Crowdsourced Health Treatments

Stuff That Works boasts more than 3 million registered users and almost 100 million data points on hundreds of common conditions. Users answer a few questions about their experience with a specific condition and the site summarizes the treatments that were most tried and those that were most effective. For example, here’s what they list for “migraine”:

There are many similar sites, notably Patients Like Me, but I find this one to be more well-organized and focused on solutions rather than meeting or collaborating with others.

About Personal Science

Listen to experts, but be skeptical. That’s the idea behind Personal Science, where we use the techniques of science to understand and solve personal questions. Often, but not always, Personal Science involves quantitative or statistical reasoning based on self-collected raw data, but the overall thought processes can apply to every aspect of daily life.

In general, Personal Science requires a skeptical, yet open-minded curiosity about the world, humility in the face of incomprehensible complexity, and a constant desire to be proven wrong. Personal Scientists, above all, rely on their own direct experience, never taking somebody else’s word for it. Nullius in verba — take no one’s word for it.