Interested in joining a study?
The Center, Dr. Linda Griffith, and Dr. Keith Isaacson often receive inquiries from women who would like to donate tissue to CGR studies.
We are incredibly grateful for the participation of patients in research studies on gynecology disorders and encourage questions about our research. We routinely collect blood and other tissue specimens from patients undergoing surgery for non-cancerous gynecology conditions, subject to patient consent. All patient information is kept confidential, and all samples are de-identified before deposition in the tissue bank.
How to join a research study
All patients in the surgery practice of Isaacson, Loring, and Morris at Newton-Wellesley Hospital (NWH) are invited to participate in research studies if they meet the inclusion criteria for the study. We occasionally work with collaborating surgeons at other hospitals in some studies (e.g., Massachusetts General Hospital), although not at the present time. Current ongoing studies in endometriosis and adenomyosis are all based at NWH.
If you are eager to be in a study and amenable to being treated at NWH, please contact the practice at 617-243-5205 to make an appointment (for clinical appointments and referral to a study coordinator).
How research studies are approved and conducted
We occasionally get requests from patients who are not being treated at a partner hospital to donate tissue to our research program. We are grateful for the willingness of patients to help the research – without the collaboration with patients, we could not make progress. However, due to the nature of medical research, we can only involve patients who are covered under strict protocols at a particular hospital.
Research on human patients is highly regulated to ensure patient safety and confidentiality, and to ensure studies involving human patients are guided by sound scientific principles. Each study is examined rigorously for these characteristics by an Institutional Review Board, in a formal process that can take months or more than a year to complete for complex studies. Once a particular study is approved, studies are carried out by professional research staff and clinicians who are trained in the study protocols, and who have approval to access certain clinical information in a blinded manner. Given these constraints, it is not possible to collect tissue specimens (or any other clinical information) from patients outside the practice covered by the approved protocol.
