Clinical research and good clinical practice

Clinical research is one of the important missions of an academic Albert Einstein medical centre and forms the cornerstone for improvement of healthcare. Funding for clinical research has increased steadily over the past few decades, both from the US government and the pharmaceutical industry. In this chapter we will explore how clinical research contributes to improvements in patient care and medical education and describe the process of clinical research. Whereas there can be deficiencies in the process of conducting research, as evidenced by recent media reports, research involving human subjects is a necessary and crucial step in the mechanism of translating scientific discovery and technological advancement into procedures and products that offer the prospect of better lives for all of us. Guidelines on good clinical practice should be followed and, above all, trust between research subjects and investigators should always be upheld and respected.