About TrialFinder

Our Mission

TrialFinder exists to translate clinical trials into plain English. Every day, thousands of clinical trials recruit participants across the United States, yet most people never find one that could help them. The reason is simple: eligibility criteria are written by researchers for researchers, packed with medical jargon, abbreviations, and inclusion logic that is nearly impossible for a patient or caregiver to parse.

We believe everyone deserves to understand whether a clinical trial might be relevant to them, without needing a medical degree to read the requirements.

Why This Matters

Clinical trials are the engine of medical progress, but they consistently struggle with enrollment. Studies show that around 80% of trials fail to meet recruitment timelines, and many shut down entirely because they cannot find enough participants. A major barrier is comprehension. When a potential participant reads a page of dense inclusion and exclusion criteria, they often give up before they even determine whether they qualify.

TrialFinder removes that barrier. We take the original eligibility text and rewrite it in straightforward language, keeping the medical accuracy intact while making the meaning clear.

How It Works

We pull trial data directly from ClinicalTrials.gov, the public registry maintained by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Each trial's eligibility criteria is then rewritten using AI, reviewed for accuracy, and presented in a "Who Can Join" / "Who Cannot Join" format at an 8th-grade reading level.

Our data is updated regularly to reflect new and modified trial records.

Editorial Standards

Every simplified eligibility summary on TrialFinder follows strict editorial guidelines:

• Medical jargon is replaced with plain English. Where a medical term is unavoidable, it is defined in parentheses.
• Lab value ranges are translated into descriptions patients can understand — "normal kidney function" rather than "eGFR ≥ 60 mL/min".
• Original source criteria are always linked so patients and doctors can verify the full details on ClinicalTrials.gov.
• We never alter the medical meaning of eligibility criteria — only the language used to express it.
• Content is reviewed against the original trial record before publication.

What We Are Not

TrialFinder is an informational resource, not a medical service. Nothing on this site constitutes medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment recommendations. Always consult your doctor or healthcare provider before making decisions about participating in a clinical trial. The simplified descriptions on this site are designed to help you start a conversation with your care team, not to replace professional medical guidance.

Data Sources

All trial data is sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov, a database of privately and publicly funded clinical studies conducted around the world. ClinicalTrials.gov is maintained by the U.S. National Library of Medicine at the National Institutes of Health. Trial registration is required by law (FDAAA 801) for most interventional studies, making ClinicalTrials.gov the most comprehensive public source of clinical trial information available.