Clinical Trials & Research Studies

Clinical Trials & Research Studies

We support clinical trials and research studies to find new ways to manage, treat and prevent asthma, allergies and other diseases. Most current treatments for asthma and allergies were first shown to be effective through clinical trials.

Research studies and surveys drive medical advances and help us better understand health conditions and their impact on people living with them.

Clinical Trials

Clinical trials are research studies that test new ways to manage, treat and prevent asthma, allergies and other diseases. Clinical trials provide information about the safety and effectiveness of new approaches to see if they should become widely available. Most current treatments for asthma and allergies were first shown to be effective through clinical trials.

Clinical trials add to the progress that is being made in the treatment of asthma. They answer important scientific questions and lead to future research. Many people with asthma and allergies live with an improved quality of life because of progress made through clinical trials.

Clinical trials for new treatments involve several steps, called phases. Each phase of a clinical trial answers a different question about the disease and its treatment. Clinical trials follow very strict procedures and ethical standards that protect the participants’ health, safety and privacy.

Trials are carefully designed to have as few risks and as many benefits as possible for everyone who takes party, but each one offers its own possible benefits and risks. It is important to discuss these first with your healthcare practitioner.

Government and international regulations and policies are in place to make sure that research involving people is done according to strict scientific and ethical guidelines. Clinical trial protocols are reviewed by a panel of at least 5 people at the hospital, clinic or university before the trial begins. Many trials also require Health Canada’s approval. The panel, call and Institutional Review Board (IRB), includes doctors, scientists and members of the general public. IRBs help to protect the people who take part in a clinical trial. They also ensure that the trial is well designed, legal and ethical and that it does not involve unnecessary risks.

There are many reasons why someone may choose to take part in a clinical trial. Most people who take part in clinical trials do so for personal reasons. Before deciding whether a clinical trial is an option for you, or someone you care about, it’s important to learn all you can. While a clinical trial may be a good choice for some people with asthma and/or allergies, it may not be the best choice for others. If you are thinking of participating in a clinical trial, talk to your doctor or healthcare practitioner, so you can make the best choice for you.

Please note that information on clinical trials websites are often developed for researchers and may include medical language that can be difficult to understand. You may also want to ask your doctor about privately funded trials or those funded by drug companies that may not be listed on these websites.

To learn more about clinical trials and to access current lists of clinical trials, visit the following websites:

Recherche clinique Québec (RCQ) / Clinical Trials Quebec (CTQ)

Recherche clinique Québec (RCQ) est un carrefour d’information propulsé par CATALIS Québec, un organisme à but non lucratif (OBNL) neutre portant les patients et patientes au cœur de sa mission. À ce titre, RCQ propose une information fiable, impartiale et de qualité au sujet de la recherche clinique. Le contenu offert sur ce site a été développé en cocréation avec des associations de patients et patientes représentant différentes conditions médicales et basées dans différentes régions du Québec, ainsi qu’avec un large réseau de partenaires œuvrant dans l'écosystème de la recherche clinique. Il a également été validé par le ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux du Québec (MSSS).

Clinical Trials Quebec is an information hub powered by CATALIS Quebec, a neutral nonprofit organization (NPO) with patients at the heart of its mission. As such, CTQ offers reliable, impartial and quality information about clinical research. The content offered on this site has been developed and co-created through collaborations with patient organizations representing various medical conditions and based in different regions of Quebec, as well as with a wide network of partners working in the clinical research ecosystem, and has been validated by the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux (MSSS) of Quebec.

Clinical Trials Ontario (CTO)

Clinical Trials Ontario is a leading organization in the clinical trials community dedicated to strengthening, promoting and capitalizing on Ontario’s competitive advantages for conducting high-quality clinical trials. We work collaboratively with industry, research institutes, patients and the public and other health innovation organizations to improve the clinical trials environment and attract investment to the province, while supporting the highest ethical and quality standards. 

Health Canada's Clinical Trials Database

Health Canada, through its Clinical Trials Database, is providing to the public a listing of specific information relating to phase I, II and III clinical trials in patients. The database is managed by Health Canada and provides a source of information about Canadian clinical trials involving human pharmaceutical and biological drugs. Patients can access the database to determine if a clinical trial has met the regulatory requirements. The database may also assist Canadians in finding clinical trials that might be relevant to their medical condition.

ClinicalTrials.gov

ClinicalTrials.gov is a website and online database of clinical research studies and information about their results. The purpose of ClinicalTrials.gov is to provide information about clinical research studies to the public, researchers, and health care professionals. ClinicalTrials.gov is a place to learn about clinical studies from around the world.

Research

The CHILD Study – ongoing

The CHILD Study is a prospective longitudinal birth cohort study. This means that CHILD researchers are actively following the Study participants over time as they grow and develop—from mid-pregnancy into childhood and adolescence. CHILD is designed this way so it can collect information at time points that are considered to be especially critical to the health and development of children.

By following the children prospectively as they grow, as opposed to retrospectively (looking back), CHILD researchers are able to more accurately learn about how different early-life exposures relate to health and disease outcomes.

CHILD Study findings will influence medical practice, parenting choices, consumer product regulation and policy development—from building codes and household purchasing behaviours to decisions about childbirth and delivery, diet , breastfeeding, cleaning products used in homes, owning a family pet and dealing with stress.

CHILD is the largest multidisciplinary, longitudinal, population-based birth cohort study in Canada and is designed to be one of the most informative studies of its kind in the world.

Click here for more information.