Clinical Trial Locations: Finding Trials Near You

You've done the research. You've found a promising clinical trial testing a treatment that makes biological sense for your condition. The Phase 2 results were encouraging. The eligibility criteria match your situation perfectly. You're ready to enroll.

Then you see the locations: Houston, Boston, Seattle. You live in rural Montana.

This is one of the most frustrating realities of clinical trial search: geography matters enormously, and location information is often buried, unclear, or outdated.

Let's talk about how to navigate the geography of clinical trials, find trials you can actually access, and understand when it might be worth traveling.

Why Location is So Critical

Clinical trials aren't virtual. They require:

• Screening visits: Tests, scans, blood work to determine if you're eligible (often 1-2 visits before enrollment)
• Treatment visits: Drug infusions, injections, or monitoring while taking oral medication (frequency varies wildly)
• Follow-up visits: Check-ins to monitor effectiveness and side effects (can continue for months or years)

Some trials require weekly visits for months. Others might need an intensive initial period (daily visits for a week) followed by monthly check-ins. The visit schedule can make or break your ability to participate.

If you live far from a trial site, you're looking at:

• Hours of driving each visit (or flights if really far)
• Hotel costs if you can't make it home the same day
• Time off work
• Childcare logistics
• Physical exhaustion from travel (especially if you're already dealing with a serious illness)

Even a trial 100 miles away becomes burdensome if you need to make the trip weekly.

Understanding Trial Site Models

Not all trials are structured the same way geographically:

Single-Center Trials

What it is: Conducted at one institution only, typically academic medical centers doing early-phase research.

Pros:

• Often cutting-edge science
• Close-knit research team
• Consistency in how the trial is run

Cons:

• If you don't live nearby, you're out of luck
• Smaller enrollment means more competition for spots

Example: A Phase 1 trial of a novel immunotherapy at Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York. If you live in California, participating means relocating or commuting cross-country.

Multi-Center National Trials

What it is: Conducted at 10-100+ sites across the US, typically Phase 2-3 trials run by pharmaceutical companies or cooperative groups (like NCI's cancer trial networks).

Pros:

• Much more likely to have a site near you
• Larger enrollment capacity
• Usually well-organized with standardized protocols

Cons:

• Still might not have sites in rural areas
• Popular trials fill up quickly at convenient locations

Example: A Phase 3 trial testing a new diabetes drug at 50 endocrinology clinics nationwide. You've got decent odds of finding a site within a few hours' drive.

International Trials

What it is: Conducted in multiple countries, common for Phase 3 trials from global pharmaceutical companies.

Pros:

• Maximum geographic coverage
• Access to trials that might not have US-only versions

Cons:

• US patients can only access US sites (you can't just fly to Paris to enroll)
• Different countries may have different eligibility criteria

Network/Satellite Models

What it is: A main site coordinates, but treatment can be administered at local partnering clinics.

Pros:

• You might do screening and follow-up at the main site, but routine monitoring at a local oncologist
• Reduces travel burden

Cons:

• Not all trials offer this
• Your local doctor must be willing to partner

How to Search by Location in Crick

Crick makes geographic filtering intuitive:

1. Set Your Location

• Enter your city, ZIP code, or even just state
• Or allow location services to detect automatically

2. Set Your Radius

• 25 miles: Truly local, easy day trips
• 50 miles: Manageable drive, might take half a day
• 100 miles: Requires planning, possible overnight stays
• 200+ miles: Seriously consider if the trial is worth it

3. View on Map

• See trial sites plotted geographically
• Cluster markers show multiple trials at the same institution
• Click any marker to see trials at that location

4. Filter by Phase and Status

• No point seeing trials 90 miles away if they're not recruiting
• Focus on "Recruiting" status and phases you're interested in

5. Save and Compare

• Save promising trials
• Compare visit schedules to estimate total travel burden

Geographic Realities: Where Are Trials?

Trial distribution is far from uniform:

Highest concentration:

• Major academic medical centers (NCI-designated cancer centers, research hospitals)
• Large metropolitan areas (New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Houston, Chicago, San Francisco)
• Cities with big pharma presence (Research Triangle in NC, San Diego, Seattle)

Medium concentration:

• Mid-size cities with university medical schools
• Regional cancer centers
• Large private practice networks

Low concentration:

• Rural areas
• Small cities without research hospitals
• States with less research infrastructure

The reality: If you live in Manhattan, Boston, or the Bay Area, you have extraordinary access to trials. If you live in rural Wyoming, your options are severely limited.

This is an equity issue. Access to cutting-edge treatments shouldn't depend on ZIP code, but currently it largely does.

When Traveling Makes Sense

Sometimes a trial is worth significant travel. Consider traveling if:

The trial offers unique hope:

• First-in-human test of a promising drug
• Only trial targeting your specific mutation
• Phase 3 trial of a drug likely to become standard-of-care (you get it years early)

You've exhausted local options:

• Standard treatments have failed
• No local trials match your situation
• Time is a factor

The visit schedule is manageable:

• Intense short period (e.g., 2 weeks of daily visits, then done)
• Or infrequent visits (monthly rather than weekly)
• Oral medication taken at home with only periodic check-ins

You have support:

• Family or friends in the trial city you could stay with
• Financial resources for travel and lodging
• Flexibility with work

The trial covers some costs:

• Some trials provide travel reimbursement
• Some partner with hospitality houses (free or low-cost lodging for patients)
• Some cover companion travel (so you're not alone)

Real Stories: When Travel Was Worth It

Maria, Stage IV Melanoma, San Diego → Houston: Maria flew to MD Anderson in Houston for a Phase 2 trial of a novel immunotherapy combination. The trial required weekly visits for 12 weeks, then monthly. MD Anderson partnered with a nearby apartment complex offering discounted rates for trial participants. Maria's sister came with her for the intensive phase.

Result: Complete response. Maria has been cancer-free for 5 years. She says the 3 months in Houston were the best decision she ever made.

James, Cystic Fibrosis, Montana → Seattle: James drove 8 hours to Seattle Children's Hospital for a trial of a new CFTR modulator. Initial visits were frequent, but after proving he could handle the medication, most monitoring was done via telemedicine with local lab work.

Result: Significant lung function improvement. The drug was eventually FDA approved and became his standard treatment.

Not every story ends this way. Some people travel far for trials that don't work, or trials that terminate early, or trials they screen out of after making the trip. This is the gamble.

Reducing Travel Burden: Emerging Solutions

The clinical trial world is slowly adapting to geographic barriers:

Decentralized/Virtual Trials

Some trials use:

• Telemedicine for check-in visits
• Mobile nurses who come to your home for blood draws
• Wearable devices for continuous monitoring
• Local lab work analyzed centrally

These are more common for non-cancer trials (cardiovascular, metabolic, neurological conditions where you're taking an oral drug).

In Crick: Look for trials tagged with "Remote Participation" or "Decentralized." The number is growing.

Hub-and-Spoke Models

Major centers establish partnerships with community oncologists. You might:

• Do screening at the hub (academic center)
• Receive infusions at your local oncologist's office (spoke)
• Do major scans at the hub
• Do routine monitoring at the spoke

This dramatically reduces travel.

Trial Transport Assistance

Some trials partner with services like:

• Cancer AbLe: Provides transportation for trial participants
• Hospitality houses: Ronald McDonald House, Hope Lodge (for children and cancer patients)
• Airline partnerships: Some trials arrange discounted flights

Always ask the trial coordinator about travel assistance. It's not always advertised, but many trials have budgets for this.

How to Evaluate if a Distant Trial is Worth It

Create a simple cost-benefit calculation:

Costs:

• Gas/flights (calculate per visit × number of visits)
• Lodging (if needed)
• Meals
• Lost work days (your income impact)
• Caregiver time (if someone needs to come with you)
• Physical toll (how exhausting will this be?)

Benefits:

• Potential treatment effectiveness (based on phase and prior results)
• Access timing (how much earlier than standard approval?)
• Quality of care (even control arm often gets excellent care)
• Contribution to science (value to you personally)

If the trial requires 20 visits over 6 months, each visit is a 6-hour drive, and you need to take off work and find childcare, you're looking at:

• 240 hours driving
• 20 days off work
• Significant childcare costs
• Physical exhaustion

For a Phase 1 trial with uncertain benefit? Maybe not worth it.

For a Phase 3 trial of a drug that showed 40% response rate in Phase 2, for a condition where you've failed standard treatment? Absolutely worth considering.

Advocating for Local Access

If you find a trial that's perfect but not offered near you, consider:

Contact the trial sponsor (listed on ClinicalTrials.gov):

• Politely inquire if they're planning to open sites in your region
• Mention you're an eligible patient who would enroll if a local site existed
• Sometimes sponsors open new sites based on patient demand

Contact your local research hospital or oncologist:

• Share the trial details
• Ask if they'd consider becoming a site
• The process takes time (6-12 months), but if enough patients express interest, hospitals sometimes join

Join patient advocacy groups:

• Organizations for your condition often advocate for broader trial access
• They can pressure sponsors to include more geographic diversity

The COVID-19 Effect: More Flexibility

The pandemic forced trials to become more flexible. Many adaptations have persisted:

• More telemedicine visits allowed
• More home nursing visits
• More flexible timing on non-critical procedures
• Better support for local lab work

If a trial was initiated post-2020, it's more likely to have built-in geographic flexibility.

Making the Decision

You've found a trial. It's 150 miles away. Here's a framework:

Step 1: Understand the exact visit schedule

• Get the protocol schedule from the trial coordinator
• Ask about visit windows (can you shift by a few days if needed?)
• Ask what's absolutely required in-person vs. potentially done remotely

Step 2: Calculate total burden

• Map it: how long does the drive/flight actually take?
• Multiply by number of visits
• Add time for the actual visit
• Be realistic about your energy levels

Step 3: Identify support resources

• Travel assistance from the trial
• Family/friends near the site
• Hospitality houses
• Local accommodations

Step 4: Talk to trial participants

• Ask the coordinator if you can speak with current participants
• They'll tell you the real travel burden

Step 5: Consider backup plans

• What if the trial doesn't work or you have to drop out?
• Do you have a plan B treatment?

Step 6: Decide

• If you're truly excited about the trial and the burden is manageable: go for it
• If you're on the fence: look for alternatives closer to home
• If it's overwhelming: keep searching

Hope for the Future

Geographic disparity in trial access is a solvable problem. Solutions include:

Better decentralization: More trials designed from the start to minimize site visits

Mobile clinics: Research-capable vehicles that travel to rural areas

Technology: Wearables, remote monitoring, AI analysis of home-submitted data

Policy changes: FDA increasingly supportive of decentralized models

Sponsor commitment: Pressure on pharmaceutical companies to prioritize geographic diversity

The goal: A patient in rural Kansas should have similar access to trials as a patient in Boston. We're not there yet, but progress is happening.

Finding Your Trial, Finding Your Way

Location shouldn't be destiny. Yes, geography matters, but with the right tools and determination, you can find trials you can access.

Use Crick's location filters aggressively. Set realistic radius boundaries. Look at actual trial sites, not just which states are listed. Contact trial coordinators to understand visit schedules before getting your hopes up.

And remember: sometimes the best trial isn't the fancy Phase 1 in New York—it's the solid Phase 3 trial 45 minutes from your house that you can actually complete without upending your life.

Proximity is a feature. Convenience enables compliance. And completing a trial you can access is better than starting one you can't sustain.

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Search trials by location at crick.ai/trials