The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) works diligently to improve clinical trials, the final stages of therapeutic development. Trials face a lot of hurdles to success, and some never overcome them. We want to improve their odds.

Over a year ago, we began sharing what we’ve learned about how to increase the success of Parkinson’s studies in a series of articles in Applied Clinical Trials. The series, called Eye on Patient Advocacy, features case studies written by MJFF staff who work on trial recruitment and retention.

• In "Using Facebook Ads to Recruit Clinical Study Participants," we explore how we used digital marketing to recruit volunteers for the Fox Insight online study. The case study includes sample ads, methods, costs and results from the marketing pilot.
• For the article, "Developing an Effective Multimodal Recruitment Plan," our team explains how one study used a comprehensive strategy combining digital and in-person outreach to complete recruitment six months ahead of schedule.
• Engaging influencers, in this case physicians, can also improve trial recruitment. In "Building a Physician Referral Network: A Case Study," MJFF staff describe how to build lasting relationships with community physicians, who can facilitate patient recruitment.
• Recruitment is only half the challenge — we also must retain study participants. In "Retention Strategies for Keeping Participants Engaged," we delve into how we are achieving an 86% retention rate for a longitudinal study that began in 2010.
• Many obstacles to study participation are practical. In "Overcoming Transportation Barriers to Trial Participation," four members of our staff provide details about a pilot test we conducted with a ride-sharing service to get people back and forth from trial sites.
• The final article, "The Importance of Site Selection," covers how to choose clinical sites that will maximize your chances of success. Our case study details the site selection process for a trial with a highly complex protocol.

The best practices and lessons learned we shared in Applied Clinical Trials’ Eye on Patient Advocacy series is a snapshot of what our recruitment and retention teams can offer. Visit the Study Recruitment page of our website for more resources.