Dr. Olveen Carrasquillo is the chief of General Internal Medicine at the University of Miami Health System. For more information about current clinical trials, go to https://umiamihealthresearch.org/ or visit the UHealth news blog.
MARILYN’S STORY
“I’m good, 99.87, that’s pretty good.”
Marilyn Diaz is taking her temperature as part of a clinical trial she enrolled in for a COVID-19 vaccine.
“I did it because I wanted to see a cure. I wanted to see an end to COVID,” says Marilyn.
Dr. Olveen Carrasquillo, Chief of General Internal Medicine at UHealth, says we need more people like Marilyn to volunteer not only for COVID-19 studies, but other clinical trials aimed at curing other diseases.
“I think that COVID has made it clear the importance of having people participate in research studies. The fact that we have vaccines in less than a year was not possible without the hundreds of thousands of people that volunteered for the clinical trials,” Dr. Carrasquillo says.
That’s why UHealth is launching a new, user-friendly website called UMiamiHealthResearch.org.
“It explains in very simple, plain language what the studies about. How many people are looking to enroll. And it will have some of the specific criteria what they’re looking for,” says Dr. Carrasquillo.
There are ongoing clinical trials for diabetes, heart disease, cancer, mental health, pediatrics, and much more. Some may even be done from home.
“It’s really important that we take people from all races, all ethnicities, all income levels, all educational levels and come from different parts,” adds Dr. Carrasquillo.
Marilyn doesn’t know yet if she got the actual vaccine or a placebo. Either way, she’s happy to help move science forward.
“If the researchers, and the scientists are working so hard to help find cures, I think it is our duty to come forward and to help others,” says Marilyn.
FOCUSING ON YOU
Focusing on You: Innovations in Modern Medicine is a series of healthcare-related stories airing regularly on WPLG Local 10. For more stories like this one, visit YouTube channels for UHealth, the University of Miami Health System.
Above content provided by UHealth, the University of Miami Health System