Patient Support
Source1Medicine is building a Travel Assistance Program to help patients reach the trials they qualify for — because cost and geography shouldn't stand between someone and their best treatment option. The program isn't accepting applications yet, but you can join the list to be notified when it opens.
We're designing a program to help cover the real costs of getting to a trial — travel, lodging, and more.
Flights or ground transportation. Hotel stays near the trial site. Local transportation between lodging and appointments. Support for caregivers traveling with you. Exact details, eligibility, and how to apply will be announced when the program launches.
No. A clinical trial is a carefully planned research study, not an experiment with no rules. Before a U.S. trial can enroll anyone, an independent ethics board (an IRB) reviews the plan to check that the risks are reasonable and that your rights are protected. NIH and the National Cancer Institute describe those safeguards in plain language.
You also get a full explanation first — what will happen, what could go wrong, what might help, and what other options you have. That process is called informed consent. You can take the paperwork home and talk it over with family or your own doctor before you decide. FDA
You will be told in advance if a placebo (an inactive look-alike) is part of the study. That has to be in the consent form, and you can ask questions before you join. NCI
Many treatment trials do not use a placebo at all. They compare the new approach with the current standard treatment. Placebos are more often used when there is no accepted treatment to compare against, or when everyone still gets standard care and only one extra piece is being tested.
You can leave a clinical trial at any time, for any reason, and you do not have to explain yourself. Leaving should not cost you the regular medical care you are already entitled to. NIH FDA
Tell the study team you want to stop. Sometimes they will ask you to come in once more so they can take you off a study drug safely. That is about your health, not about trapping you in the trial.
Not automatically. Many people keep seeing their regular doctor while they are in a study. The research team handles the study visits; your own clinician can still manage the rest of your care.
Bring any trial you are considering to your doctor before you contact a site. Ask whether it fits your diagnosis, your other medicines, and your life. Source1Medicine can help you find listings. We cannot tell you which treatment to choose.
That is a fair fear. No one knows in advance how well a new product will work, or every risk it may carry. FDA You may benefit. You may not. You may have side effects that were not expected.
The consent form has to describe known risks, what care is available if you are injured, and whom to call with questions. FDA Independent boards can change or stop a trial if people are being harmed. NCI
Searching Source1Medicine is free.
The study itself is different. The investigational drug or extra research tests are often paid by the trial sponsor. Everyday medical care you would need anyway — visits, hospital stays, standard labs — is often billed to insurance, and you may still owe copays or deductibles. Travel, lodging, meals, parking, and child or elder care are usually not included unless the study says so. NCI NIH
Before you enroll, ask the study coordinator, in writing if you can: What does the sponsor pay? What will insurance be billed? What might we pay out of pocket? Is any travel or lodging help available from the site?
Not yet. Some trial sites cover travel or lodging on their own — ask the coordinator when you reach out. That help comes from the study, not from us.
Source1Medicine is building a travel assistance program for patients who cannot afford the trip. It is not open. We do not have funds to award travel stipends right now, and joining our list is not an application. If you want to hear when the program launches, use the waitlist on Patient Support. You can still search for trials and contact study teams in the meantime.
Looking at trials, or emailing a coordinator, does not cancel your insurance. Many plans cover routine patient-care costs during a qualifying trial, but rules differ and some plans want pre-authorization first. NCI
Call the number on the back of your card and ask, before you enroll: Do you cover routine care in a clinical trial? Do you need pre-authorization? What would we still owe? Medicare, Medicaid, TRICARE, and VA programs have their own rules; the study's financial counselor can often help you ask the right questions. NCI
No. A search is only a search. ClinicalTrials.gov is the same way: you cannot enroll from a listing. You review options, talk with your doctor, then call or email the study contact if you want to learn more.
The research team — not this website — decides whether you meet that study's rules. They will ask more questions and may need tests or records before anyone is enrolled.
Every trial has its own rules, called eligibility criteria: age, diagnosis, prior treatment, lab values, and more. Those rules exist to protect people and to make the results trustworthy. NCI
Our finder uses public listings from ClinicalTrials.gov and tries to show studies that match what you typed — diagnosis, location, and a few basic details. A listing that “looks like a fit” is a starting point, not a yes. Only the study team can confirm.
If a coordinator does not write back, try once more. Listings are sometimes out of date after a study stops taking new people. ClinicalTrials.gov
It usually means there is no matching listing in the public database for the words and filters you used — not that care has run out. Try a plainer name for the condition, a wider travel distance, or “recruiting and not yet recruiting” studies. Ask your doctor whether another term, a nearby academic center, or a later search would help.
You can email information@source1medicine.org if you are stuck on how to search. We can help you use the tool. We cannot invent a trial that does not exist, and we cannot enroll you in one.
Yes. Caregivers search here every day. You can look up studies, print or save a listing, and sit with your person while they talk to their doctor.
The patient is still the one who decides, unless you are their legal decision-maker. For a child, a parent or guardian gives permission, and many teams also ask the child if they agree, in words they can understand. NCI
Please do not put extra medical details, Social Security numbers, or copies of records into our waitlist form. That form is only for a name and a way to reach you.
Source1Medicine is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN 87-2117189). We are not a hospital, insurer, or drug company, and we do not enroll people in trials.
We built a free finder so patients and caregivers can search public trial listings in everyday language. We are also raising money for a future travel-assistance program. That program is not open yet.
The TLAC App on this site is a separate teaching tool for clinicians in training. It is not how patients find or join studies.
Use the finder to search. You do not need an account to look. Do not type Social Security numbers, insurance IDs, or full medical records into any form on this site.
Our Patient Support waitlist asks only how to reach you, and asks you not to include diagnosis details. We will not share your story unless you give permission and we have spoken with you first.
This website is not your medical record and is not a way to send information to a study team. When you are ready, you contact the trial directly.
You can write us at information@source1medicine.org if you need help wording that first email to a coordinator.
Distance is one of the main reasons people say no — and it is a real reason, not a personal failure. Ask the coordinator whether any visits can be done closer to home, whether the study covers travel, and whether a caregiver can come with you.
Source1Medicine cannot pay those costs today. When our travel program opens, we will email the waitlist. Until then, the honest next step is still the study team and your own doctor, not a promise from us.
Behind every statistic is a patient. With your permission, we may feature your story on our website or in materials that help others understand what is at stake. Every submission is reviewed by our team before anything is shared publicly, and we will always contact you first.
Tell us how to reach you and we'll notify you the moment the Travel Assistance Program opens. Please don't include medical or diagnosis details — this form is for notification only.
Join the waitlist to be notified when travel support opens — or help fund the program's launch today.