Context drives trial-finder

It's a tough nut to crack: So many trials, so many prospective subjects...but how to get them together? A San Francisco-based project has joined the ranks of Quintiles (online), Healogica (iPhone), and TrialX (Twitter) in spreading word of clinical trials to the masses.

The Medpedia Project targets "appropriate contexts," organizers say in an announcement. The platform pushes trial information to appear alongside an article covering the same condition, for example, or to the personalized feed of a patient who has the condition. Online patient communities are another push target.

The project, which launched a year ago, includes the free online platform that aims to provide easy-to-understand medical information to the general public as well as connections with researchers and medical specialists. Among project participants are Harvard, Stanford and UC Berkeley.

The push platform links with the 80,000-trial ClinicalTrials.gov registry, which updates daily. The platform also includes an online medical encyclopedia, a directory of health professionals and organizations, and communities of interest. News, alerts and a QA forum are also part of the platform.

- here's the announcement

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