Many advancements in medicine have resulted from well-run clinical studies that evaluate the performance of a drug, procedure, or test.
At Johns Hopkins Medicine, clinical research teams conduct hundreds of research studies every year. Results of those studies are submitted to and published in biomedical research journals.
A central database of published research, called PubMed, is run by the National Library of Medicine, which is part of the National Institutes of Health. Your doctor or librarian can help you search through this resource and explain the results of studies in simple terms.
The Impact of Clinical Trials and Research in Modern Medicine
Clinical research at Johns Hopkins has resulted in the following major medical milestones:
-
1995 (Research): Advancements in Treatment
Johns Hopkins experts led the clinical trials that helped find sickle cell anemia’s first effective treatment, called hydroxyurea.
-
2015 (Research): Drug Interventions
Cancer specialists at Johns Hopkins led one of the first large studies to show that a drug aimed at the immune system may help people with lung cancer survive longer.
-
2016 (Milestone): Surgical Innovations
Johns Hopkins transplant experts led a clinical trial that showed the benefits of receiving a kidney transplant from a living donor who is not compatible.
-
2018 (Research): Preventative Testing
Researchers at Johns Hopkins developed a blood test to screen for eight types of cancer.
-
2021 (Document): Community Support
Johns Hopkins researchers conducted one of the largest studies known to find that students who received eyeglasses through a school-based program scored higher on reading and math tests.