Clinical research company Quintiles has launched Clinical Research at http://www.clinicalresearch.com, a Web site that, well, makes it easier to find clinical research.

The front page of the Web site asks you to provide the condition for which you’re searching and a location. If you enter something ambiguous (like “cancer”) the site will suggest topics. The location can be as narrow as a zip code, or a city (Madrid, Spain is one of the examples) or as encompassing as USA.

I did a search for autism in USA. I found 81 global studies but two within 150 miles of my stated point — one in Kansas City and one in Oklahoma City. When you look at the results for your search you’ll get a screen that looks like this:

You’ll notice that there are many ways to filter your search results — by age, gender, type of study, etc. — if you happen to get more than two search
results. Each map pointer has a brief amount of information about the study, but to get more data you’ll have to click on the title of a study, when the map will center on that study and present more context and additional details in a pointer bubble. You’ll also be able to get study contact information, find similar studies, or e-mail the study to a friend. (It kind of bugs me that you have to register to get study contact information.)

What you’ll find really depends on what you’re researching — I found one study of thyroid disorders, and that was in the context of breast cancer. When you review the available clinical trial studies please be sure to check the last time they were updated. Of the two autism studies I looked at, one was last updated in 2005. (The other was updated in the last week.)

The registration thing bugs me but this site has a lot of information and the search is easy to use. Worth a look.