Would you like to participate in a clinical trial? Or would you like to contribute to research with your experience as a patient?

The success of clinical research in Switzerland is dependent not only on the goodwill of patients, but also increasingly on their active involvement. In fact, the real experts on diseases are the patients themselves. For this reason, a dialogue between researchers and the people who are affected is necessary: in order to provide information on the one hand and to incorporate the experience of patients into research projects on the other.

How can patients become more involved in clinical research? What information can patients access to acquire the necessary know-how? Active and informed patients can not only help to improve existing therapies, but they can also contribute to the development of new therapies. This may include, for example, involving patients in decision-making processes about what conditions are necessary for participating in a study.

An environment characterised by mutual trust, reciprocity and transparency lays the foundation for a dialogue between researchers and patients. The SCTO aims to offer a platform for patients who are interested in becoming actively involved. For this reason, the SCTO supports the European Patients' Academy on Therapeutic Innovation EUPATI and places great value on always involving the patient’s voice at events.

• More about the European patients' academy EUPATI
• More about our events in the field of Patient Empowerment
• GET-IT Glossary — Plain language definitions of health research terms
• Better treatments for neglected patients — Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), a collaborative, patients’ needs-driven, non-profit drug research and development organisation