A medical app which connects cancer patients with clinical trials has won $65,000 at an international competition.
The ClinTrial Refer app was developed in 2013 by a team headed up by St George Hospital’s Roslyn Ristuccia and Concord Repatriation General Hospital’s Judith Trotman.
The app recently won $65,000 in prize money through a competition run by the US-based Bonnie J Addario Lung Cancer Foundation. The app won second place in its category.
The app has increased the number of cancer patients enrolling in clinical trials.
“ClinTrial Refer has been such a success because it does what it says it will do,” Ms Ristuccia said.
“It has changed the behaviour of doctors because they now have knowledge in their pockets, and enrolling patients into clinical trials is being seen as the first solution, rather than the last.
“This project has been instrumental in increasing enrolment to clinical trials – a great breakthrough – and it is our patients that are benefitting. We are delighted to be a prize winner in this worldwide competition.”
The prize money will go towards developing similar apps for clinical trials in other medical disciplines.
Associate Professor Trotman said it was a great tool.
"Clinical trials are vitally important to patient care. Researchers are constantly striving to find answers to improve the quality of life of our patients, and ClinTrial means better and faster access to their work."
For more information on ClinTrial Refer go to www.clintrial.org.au.
