Q&A with Medical Director of ARC Clinical Research
Local Newspaper Four Point News Interviews Dr. Anurekha Chadha
February 08, 2017
2/6/2017
Austin Regional Clinic’s new Clinical Research division broadens the organization’s research scope to include a wide range of conditions, explained Dr. Anurekha Chadha, Medical Director for the new division in an interview with local newspaper Four Point News.
She says the research opportunities are open to anyone in the community who wishes to participate and meets the eligibility requirements.
Below is an excerpt of the Four Point News interview where Dr. Chadha explains the value of medical research and how patients can enroll in the upcoming trials.
Four Point News (FPB): How will the new research division at Austin Regional Clinic impact the local residents who are patients?
Dr. Chadha: Patients will now have access to treatments that might not have been available before. We will work to bring study opportunities that can provide the most potential benefit to all those who take part. The expansion of ARC research, to be located at Wilson Parke, extends into common diseases like asthma, diabetes and high cholesterol. These research opportunities are available to everyone in the community who wants to take part — ARC patients living in the area as well as those who are interested but don’t see an ARC physician. Clinical research provides people the opportunity to actually help further the development new treatments for the common diseases we all know too well and to give back to the local, regional, national and global health system.
FPB: How do interested people volunteer to be a part of the medical research trials?
Dr. Chadha: This program is designed to involve those who have the potential to benefit from participation in the study. We’ll ask volunteers to participate if they meet the criteria for the study and people can reach out to us to learn if we have a study for them.
FPB: Is there a schedule of what will be researched and when?
Dr. Chadha: Right now we have three studies currently starting or ongoing that are looking for volunteers. Two studies are for people with the flu and one for people with arthritis pain in the knee or hip. We are in discussions with global researcher companies to bring their studies into our office. Some of these studies are for those with allergies, asthma, lung disease from smoking, diabetes, and others for common diseases. We’ll continue to network with national and global research companies to find new study opportunities that could benefit ARC’s patients and those in the community.
FPB: Why is it important to be part of medical research?
It is through medical research that advancements in science are made and the quality of medicine is improved. Finding people to participate in clinical studies is the single biggest challenge facing the development of new treatments for diseases. Without volunteers taking part in the research of new treatments, these new treatments never become available.
ARC Clinical Research is currently located at ARC Wilson Parke. Visit ARC Clinical Research for more details.