clinical research – Scott J. Pearson’s Book Review

Institutional Review Board Member Handbook

By Scott J. Pearson | September 28, 2025September 28, 2025 by Scott J. Pearson

Institutional Review Boards, or IRBs, review human-subjects research to ensure that they ethically affirm the rights of the participants in their research. I have some projects about to undergo IRB review, and though I’ve had successful reviews in the past, I wanted to better understand the issues involved in IRB approval. This book offered a concise, evidence-based summary of those very issues. The book is written primarily for those who are about to serve on…

Medical Writing: A Guide for Clinicians, Educators & Researchers

By Scott J. Pearson | April 14, 2024April 14, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

Much of academic literature and advancement revolve around biomedical publications. Researchers focus on peer-reviewed publications, but other forms of writing abound: grant proposals, books for healthcare workers, books for the reading public, and journals for healthcare workers. The issues posed by medical writing are relatively common across the entire enterprise. Here, Robert Taylor attempts to distill insights from his writing career into one succinct book. The resulting education can inspire readers, anticipate potential issues, and…

Healthcare Research-Education

Fundamentals of Clinical Trials, Fifth Edition

By Scott J. Pearson | November 24, 2023November 24, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

In the past century, clinical research has grown dramatically as the number of questions about healthcare has increased. The current paradigm of evidence-based medicine describes the practice of prescribing medicines based on their tested strength instead of an individual’s limited experience. Of course, to make such judgments, a rich bed of research evidence needs to exist, and this book succinctly describes how such questions are investigated for eventual dissemination. This book’s language is succinct and…

Healthcare Research-Education

The CTSA Program at NIH: Opportunities for Advancing Clinical & Translational Research

By Scott J. Pearson | September 20, 2022September 24, 2024 by Scott J. Pearson

The CTSA Program at NIH seeks to advance clinical and translational research – that is, quicken the flow of helpful information across the American healthcare system. This program began in 2006 and has been a big hit. By the time this report was compiled in 2013, a new landscape of translational research began to emerge. This report, from a committee of national figures in the research community, seeks to identify what a “CTSA 2.0” might…

Healthcare Research-Education

Designing Clinical Research

By Scott J. Pearson | February 8, 2021February 8, 2021 by Scott J. Pearson

Research methods are important to almost all graduate students in the sciences. Design in particular can make or break the funding of a project – not to mention the implementation of the project itself! The stakes are rarely higher than in clinical, biomedical research where large dollars, impactful results, and ethical aspects of live patients are constantly at play. This book, written by a collaboration of highly successful biomedical researchers, teaches how to design research…