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Dr. Robert Toto, who has been involved in clinical and translational research for more than 25 years, will discuss a novel approach for recruiting patients to clinical trials when he appears as keynote speaker for the 23^rd annual Research Appreciation Day on Friday.

“Clinical trials are the gold standard for testing drugs and are critically important in order to move the field of medicine forward,” Dr. Toto said. “But many clinical trials are not completed or fail to test the hypothesis because the investigators are unable to recruit patients.”

A national network to recruit participants could change that by matching patients with clinical trials and determining which individuals meet the criteria for various studies. This network, now being developed, would involve multiple sites and lead to a more cost-effective and meaningful way to recruit patients, said Dr. Toto, Associate Dean for Clinical and Translational Research at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

Research Appreciation Day is an institutional tradition that allows students to present their research to faculty, students and staff, as well as to members of the community, as part of their training, said Thomas Yorio, PhD, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Research.

“For some of them it may be their first time presenting,” he said. “It also allows institutional faculty to get to know what others at the institution are working on so it provides an environment for collaboration to occur.”

Poster and oral presentations are a featured event of the day. Dr. Toto will speak at noon in the MET Building Auditorium. A panel of judges will select the top presentations in each category and prizes will be awarded during a ceremony at 1:45 p.m.

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