Clinical Research FAQs

Red Maple Trials is a specialty clinical research company that focuses in the fields of study of allergy, asthma, and immunology. Red Maple Trials works with biopharmaceutical companies to deliver environmental exposure chamber studies as well as other specialty services such as clinical project management, medical support, and protocol design. We have a long history in clinical research and we hold ourselves to the highest standards in both quality and patient safety. Our team has delivered successfully and safely on over 240 clinical trials  and we bring over 130 combined years of experience in our field.

This varies greatly depending on the study. In general, studies involve patients coming in for a few appointments, where we would do various medical examinations (e.g. allergy testing, blood work, lung function testing, physical examination, etc.). Participation in a chamber study would also involve spending some time (usually 2–3 hours) in one of our chamber facilities. Some studies would involve patients taking an investigational medication.

It is a document that outlines details of the research study. The information usually includes: the purpose of the study, the procedures involved, the test drug being used, possible benefits and side effects, what is expected from both the patient and the research centre staff, any risks involved, and alternate therapies. Our Research Ethics Board requires that this document be signed by each research study subject and staff person in order to participate in any clinical study, in order to ensure that all involved are fully informed on the details of the clinical trial.

No. You can withdraw at any time.

A placebo is a pill, capsule, injection or procedure (depending on the research study) that looks similar or identical to the drug or procedure being studied, but which has an inactive substance or ingredient. It is often used in research studies as a control—where the safety and efficacy of the study drug will be compared to the placebo.

The answer to this question will depend on the proposed study. Some of the drugs being evaluated may require that you stop a particular medication if it will interfere with the results of the study. We will respond to this question one-on-one with each study participant, since individual medications and circumstances vary.

Sometimes, but not often. Pharmaceutical companies may continue to study a drug already on the market, but most drug studies usually focus on new drugs being brought to the marketplace. They are interested in learning about the product's effectiveness, the best doses, side effects, best timing for the delivery of medication, and so on. At the end of a study, if not already approved by Health Canada, you will not have access to the investigational medication.

This will depend on the study itself. Some study visits are as short as 15 minutes, while others can last as long as several hours. We do our best to accommodate each study participant so as not to disrupt their routine any more than necessary. The number of visits also varies with each study—some are weekly while others may be monthly. Each study is designed to evaluate a drug or product for a certain period of time and that time will also vary from study to study. Your research coordinator will be able to provide you with this information.

Parking is free.  There is a parking lot in front of the facility.

Yes. The amount of patient compensation varies depending on the study, but all study volunteers are compensated for their time and incidental costs incurred because of their participation

For a list of our current studies, please see our current studies. If you would like to be notified when future trials are recruiting participants, you may join our clinical studies mailing list below.

Chamber studies are a specialized type of environmental allergy study. They are usually done to test the safety and effectiveness of various investigational medications. The problem with most environmental allergy studies is that there is no way to know exactly how much allergen (pollen, pet dander, etc) a patient is exposed to over the course of a study. This can result in large variations in patient symptoms, and can make results and data unclear. However, in chamber studies, researchers can control exactly how much allergen patients are exposed to, making the results clearer and the data more reliable. Researchers do this by measuring the symptoms of patients in a “chamber” — a large room capable of controlling temperature, humidity and allergen concentration.

The Allergen Challenge Theatre is a large room specifically engineered to control and monitor allergen concentration and temperature. It represents next generation technology and design in order to ensure patient comfort, strong environmental control, and to provide amenities that ensure a positive participant experience.

The Naturalistic Exposure Chamber is another exposure room used in our allergy studies at Red Maple Trials. Similar to the Allergen Challenge Theatre, it is a room engineered to deliver and maintain a controlled amount of allergen. The Naturalistic Exposure Chamber is unique, however, in that it is specifically designed to study indoor allergens and to replicate a typical home environment, creating a more “naturalistic” exposure representative of a real-life allergen exposure scenario.

Our team has been conducting clinical trials for over 30 years and has developed a strong reputation with both our patients and our partners. Our facility was built to GMP standards and we follow a stringent Code of Conduct, Good Clinical Practice (GCP) and Standard Operating Protocols that focus on patient safety, medical support, fire and emergency protocols, and ethical code of conduct. Each of our staff members is fully trained on a regular basis and we are active in ensuring both the safety and comfort of each study participant.