Become a Participant

When you participate in a clinical research study at Planned Parenthood, you’re helping clinicians, scientists, and researchers develop new treatments, medications, and best practices to provide the best health care for all people. 

As a volunteer participant of any study, your safety and comfort are our top priorities. All of our research projects are overseen by an independent committee to ensure you’re informed of the risks and benefits of participating and that your rights are protected. We want you to be fully informed about all aspects of a study before and during your involvement, and you can always end your participation at any time. 

Typically, a patient comes in for an appointment and is told about research opportunities by research or health center staff or a recruitment flyer about the study.

Additionally, if you are registered for EPIC MyChart, you can pre-select an option to express interest in research. Go to “Menu” and then find “Research Studies” under the “Resources” tab. There, you can determine what studies you would be interested in and if you would like the research team to send you information.

If you are interested in participating in research at PPAZ, contact the PPAZ Research Department at [email protected] to inquire about active studies. You can also find information on current, future, and past studies right here on our web page.

If you meet eligibility requirements, you will then begin the informed consent process. During this process, our qualified research professionals talk you through every aspect of the study to make sure you have all the relevant information before consenting to participate. Once consented, you will begin to move through study protocols. (Note: it is always your right to withdraw your consent at any time during the study, without any penalty or change in care).

Yes. All information collected for the study is strictly confidential and will be carefully guarded to the fullest extent possible. Specifics on how information will be used are explained during the informed consent process.

We engage in many types of research at Planned Parenthood, including observational research where we collect data without any type of intervention or treatment. Sometimes we only talk to patients one time to get a snapshot of that moment in time, which is a cross-sectional study. Other times, we follow up with patients over time, which can show us changes over time. This is a longitudinal study.

We do prospective research or studies that collect data as we go forward in time, and retrospective research, which looks at data from the past – for example, a retrospective chart review.

We also conduct experimental studies, which involve interventions and treatments.

Experiments involve highly controlled and systematic procedures to minimize error and bias, which also increases our confidence that the manipulation "caused" the outcome.