According to the World Health Organization, over one million clinical trials are conducted annually across the world. In 2024, the U.S. hosted approximately 20% of all trials, followed by China and India. Imagine all those thousands of patients traveling to clinics, submitting their samples, taking their treatments, and hoping that they – or those who follow […]
Council of Medical Specialty Societies
Wow! How? Patient-Led Research Scorecards
Most stakeholders in biomedical innovation – scientists, clinicians, patients, caregivers, funders, regulators – recognize each other as allies in the fight against disease. But they often lack shared principles and practices to guide the work they do together. For example, a research organization may say they value patient input, but they do not recognize their […]
Wow! How? Patient-Led Research
A scientific journal article written primarily by patients about their health condition has been downloaded over a million times. We reached this milestone after years of activism, advocacy, and demands for justice. The internet supercharged everyone’s ability to connect with information and with each other. The crucible of the pandemic then forced us into new […]
The Promise of Patient-Led Research Integration
The Council of Medical Specialty Societies (CMSS) and Patient-Led Research Collaborative (PLRC) have developed a collaborative research model for use by patients and patient organizations, funders, research institutions and other traditional biomedical research teams. The project was funded by a grant from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). The model is represented by a set […]
Patient-led research is a key element of pandemic response
On August 12, the Council of Medical Specialty Societies hosted the fifth webinar in their series focused on COVID-19 and clinical registries. If you missed it — or want to watch it again — here’s the video: Here, also, are the panelists’ slides and a collection of tweets posted in advance of and during the […]
Advancing clinical registries to support pandemic treatment and response
The biomedical research model has a blind spot. People living with a condition or disease are traditionally seen as passive sources of data, not active participants in the research. We as a society miss out on promising avenues of inquiry. It’s time to widen our lens. On August 12, I’ll moderate a discussion about how […]





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