Monday May 19, 2025
Media contact: Kayley Spielbusch | Digital communications specialist | 918-561-5759 | kspielb@okstate.edu
The Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences clinical research clinical research team opens the way to progress in medical care.
Clinical research, which is celebrated nationally on May 20, examines the safety and efficiency of medical interventions in humans.
“We have nothing to take care of for patients who have not started in clinical research. Without clinical research, we would not have the standard for quality care and the results of the patients we do today, “said Application Barlow, Ph.D., director of clinical research at the OSU-CHS.
Barlow has more than 25 years of experience in clinical research and has contributed to more than 600 clinical trials. At the OSU-CHS, she and her team collaborate with doctors and clinical services to advance patient care. Their work includes medical and clinical trials of drugs and devices, in particular phase II and post-commercial analysis.
Clinical trials are carried out in four phases. Once the treatment has been tested on a small group to examine safety and side effects, phase II tests treatment on a larger population so that researchers can collect more safety data.
Angie Millington, Coordinator of clinical research at the OSU-CHS, explained the importance of the clinical trials.
“The results of a study mean nothing. You must be able to buy these results in different groups of people. Even if they have the same diagnosis, they are in another part of the country or the world, so there are many criteria to meet,” said Millington.
The OSU-CHS clinical research team has participated in trials in many areas, including cardiology, endocrinology, infectious diseases and neurology, to name just a few.
The offer of clinical trials benefits both patients and students of the OSU-CHS. Without clinical research at university, many Oklahomans would not have access to advanced research and interventional care, if not available only on the East or West coast.
“There is nothing that we have today to take care of patients who have not started in clinical research. Without clinical research, we would not have the standard for quality care and the results of the patients we do today.”
– Application Barlow, Ph.D., Director of clinical research at the OSU-CHS
“Patients can stay at home with expensive beings and always participate in a clinical trial and receive multimodalities of care. The benefit also extends to our medical students. They can learn and practice alongside our main clinical trial investigators, learn first -hand how to conduct and engage in clinical trials regulated by the federal government with human research subjects, “said Barlow.
Barlow and Millington stressed the importance of integrity into clinical research.
“Our patients are a loved one, another human. The quality of the work we do and the ethical safety of our commitment with patients really change the course of the future for everyone, ”said Barlow.
Millington said it is important that institutions like OSU-CHS are involved in research because people are looking at the forefront of medicine. She also sees the impact that clinical trials may have on her patients.
“I find it really rewarding to see that it makes a big difference in their lives. People appreciate that you have an interest and additional time in their well-being, and for some of them, these treatments can change their life, “she said.
Barlow said that she was grateful to her team and that she was delighted to continue seeing clinical research grow at the OSU-CHS.
“My passion in life is clinical research. I am more exalted to be at Osu-Chs with people who share this passion, and I am really excited to see our team and our suppliers continue to grow, ”she said. “Being able to engage with clinical research at home on Oklahoma soil is the most rewarding part of what I do.”