The Gift of Participation: A Guide to Making Informed Decisions About Volunteering for a Clinical Trial

To the millions of people who give the gift of participation in clinical trials each year; and to the rest of us who admire them for doing so.

The Gift of Participation takes a fresh look at why participation in clinical research really matters. This book addresses what clinical participation means and how it helps to advance medical science. The new edition of the The Gift features important updates on core information and many new areas including: - The role that social and digital media are playing in clinical research - The collection of bio-marker data and genetic material in clinical research - The Sunshine Act - Evolving rules on clinical trial results disclosure

The Gift of Participation is a comprehensive guide for volunteers to navigate the clinical research process and a great way for study staff, CROs, and sponsors to thank their study volunteers. More than 250,000 copies of the nationally recognized first edition have been circulated worldwide.

Kenneth Getz is the founder and chairman of CISCRP and the director of sponsored research programs,associate professor at the Center for the Study of Drug Development at Tufts University's School of Medicine. A well-known speaker at conferences, symposia, universities and corporations, Ken has published hundreds of articles in peer review and trade journals and chapters . Ken is also the author of two nationally recognized books for patients and their families: Informed Consent: A Guide to the Risks and Benefits of Volunteering for Clinical Trials and the first edition of The Gift of Participation .

Ken received the 2006 "Innovator in Clinical Research" award from the Association of Clinical Research Professionals and was named one of the 100 most inspiring individuals in the life sciences in 2007. Ken has served on a variety of boards and committees including the Institute of Medicine's Clinical Research Roundtable, the Consortium to Examine Clinical Research Ethics at Johns Hopkins University, and Harvard Medical School and the Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative. He is on the editorial boards of Pharmaceutical Medicine and Therapeutic Innovation and Regulatory Science and writes a bi-monthly column for Applied Clinical Trials that was nominated for a Neal award in 2010.

Ken holds an MBA from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and an undergraduate degree from Brandeis University. He lives with his wife Debra and their three children in Southern Massachusetts and Northern Maine.