1st randomized clinical trial predates American Revolution
The entrance to the Lowell P. Weicker Jr. Clinical Research Center at UConn Health (file photo)
The scientific community generally accepts May 20, 1747 as the date for the start of the first randomized clinical trial. It's credited to James Lind, a Scottish physician who, as a ship's surgeon in the British Royal Navy, randomized sailors into groups to try to compare the effects of different treatments of scurvy.
Today, 377 years later, UConn Health is running dozens of clinical trials. Here are just a few examples:
- In the Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center, Dr. Swarup Kumar is studying methods of treating multiple myeloma, including an option no other hospital in Connecticut offers. See more from the Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center Clinical Trials Office.
- In the UConn School of Dental Medicine, Dr. Mark Litt is studying methods of treating temporomandibular pain disorders (TMD) without surgery.
- In the Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center (OAIC) at UConn, Dr. Iman Al-Naggar is studying new ways to improve lower urinary tract symptoms in women.
At UConn Health's Clinical Research Center, the number of active clinical trials changes monthly as studies close and new ones open. See CRC's current research listing.
There's also a searchable page to find information about other research studies at UConn Health.
