About Clinical Trials

At GI Alliance of Illinois, our clinical trial treatment options include the following conditions:

  • Celiac Disease
  • Clostridioides difficile
  • Crohn’s
  • Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE)
  • Ulcerative Colitis

What Is A Clinical Trial?

Clinical trials are medical research studies performed on participants to determine whether new medical approaches, treatments, therapies, or devices are safe and effective. Providers use clinical trials to learn how diseases develop and progress, find new ways to improve treatments, innovate new therapies and preventative measures, and review treatment changes over time. Clinical trials are the beginning steps to market a drug or other therapy.

The Four Phases of Clinical Trials

Clinical trials advance through four phases to test a treatment, find the appropriate dosage, and look for side effects.

Phase 1

Designed to test safety and tolerability, Phase 1 typically involves a small number of healthy volunteers.

Phase 2

More participants are involved in Phase 2 to measure the drug’s effectiveness. Additional dosing information may be obtained.

Phase 3 

Studies conducted during Phase 3 of a clinical trial will involve large groups of patients or very large groups of participants with a specific disease the trial drug intends to impact. Researchers also compare results among those taking the experimental drug with results from those who are taking a placebo. Drug intervention testing may also be used in combination with other medications or treatments during Phase 3. If, after all these tests prove safe and effective, the FDA approves it for clinical use.

Phase 4

During Phase 4 clinical trials, researchers test the drug or medical device’s effectiveness, safety, and side effects after it has been approved by the FDA. In Phase 4 studies, doctors monitor how people use the drug long-term.

Stages of Clinical Trials

Preclinical

Several Years

Phase 1

Months

Phase 2

Months to Years

Phase 3

Years to Decades

Phase 4

Ongoing

Preclinical

Several Years

Phase 1

Months

Phase 2

Months to Years

Phase 3

Years to Decades

Phase 4

Ongoing

Why Partcipate in a Clinical Trial?

Clinical trials are an important part of the research process, helping scientists to find new, better ways to treat patients. GIA of Illinois is proud to offer clinical trial participants personalized care, cutting-edge medications and treatments, and highly individualized care tailored to their lifestyle at no cost—resulting in more frequent and personalized treatments than practices who do not participate in trials.

Common reasons to participate in a clinical trial include:

  • All other treatment options have been exhausted to no avail, and no further treatment options are readily available
  • To obtain access to advanced treatments and protocols for their disease before the protocol becomes available to the general public
  • To assist researchers learn more about the impact of the trial protocol to benefit other people
  • To obtain access to medications and treatments required for their condition, free of cost throughout the trial

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