Deciding whether to participate in a clinical trial is a personal decision, and there's no single right answer for everyone. This page walks through the practical questions worth thinking about before you reach out — not to talk you into or out of anything, but to help you have a more informed conversation with your doctor and, if you choose to proceed, with a study coordinator.

Questions Worth Asking Yourself

Has your current treatment plateaued?
Many people who look into clinical trials are already working with a pulmonologist or primary care physician and have tried standard treatment options without the results they'd hoped for. If your symptoms are still affecting your daily life despite following your current plan, that's often the starting point for exploring what else is being studied.

Can you commit to the visit schedule?
Clinical trials involve a defined schedule of screening, study, and follow-up visits — the frequency varies by study, from every few weeks to monthly. Being realistic about your availability, travel distance to the research site, and any work or caregiving constraints is worth doing before you start the screening process.

Are you comfortable with some uncertainty?
Investigational treatments are, by definition, still being studied — they have not completed the full FDA approval process for the condition being studied, and some study designs include a placebo arm. Being at peace with that uncertainty, and understanding what it means for your specific study, matters more than any other single factor.

Do you want closer monitoring?
One thing many participants value regardless of outcome is the more frequent monitoring that comes with a study protocol — more regular check-ins, testing, and physician contact than typical standard-of-care visits.

What a Clinical Trial Is Not

• It is not a replacement for your regular physician relationship — most protocols expect you to continue seeing your existing doctor throughout.
• It is not a guarantee of symptom improvement — no one can promise a specific health outcome.
• It is not irreversible — participation is voluntary, and you can withdraw at any point without it affecting your ongoing medical care.
• It is not free of time commitment — screening alone can take one or more visits before you're confirmed eligible.

A Simple Way to Decide

Consider talking it through with your doctor using three questions:

1. Has my current treatment stopped working well enough for me?
2. Am I able to commit to the visit schedule a study like this would require?
3. Do I understand — and am I comfortable with — what "investigational" means for this specific study?

If the answer to all three leans toward "yes," reaching out for a screening call is a low-commitment next step — screening itself doesn't obligate you to enroll.

What Happens If You Reach Out

Contacting us starts a conversation, not a commitment. A member of the research team will ask some initial questions to see whether one of our active studies might be a fit, and if so, walk you through what pre-screening and screening involve. You can ask questions at every stage, and you're free to step back at any point. For a full walkthrough of what to expect after that first call, see our participant guide.

If you're wondering whether time and travel are compensated, see our compensation explainer. And if eligibility criteria are what's holding you back from reaching out, our eligibility guide covers how inclusion and exclusion criteria typically work.

Current Areas of Research

Whether a trial is right for you also depends on whether we're currently studying your condition. Learn more about eligibility and current enrollment status:

• Severe Asthma clinical trials
• COPD clinical trials
• Chronic Cough clinical trials
• Bronchiectasis clinical trials

For general questions not covered here, visit our full Clinical Trials FAQ.

Important Disclosures

This page is provided for general informational purposes to help prospective participants think through their decision and does not constitute medical advice. All studies are reviewed and approved by an independent Institutional Review Board (IRB) and are conducted in compliance with ICH-GCP (Good Clinical Practice) guidelines and applicable FDA regulations. Clinical trials are investigational research studies; participation does not guarantee any therapeutic benefit. Participation is completely voluntary. Please consult your physician to determine whether a clinical trial may be appropriate for your individual situation.