Clinical trials are typically seen as engines of innovation, but for economically disadvantaged individuals, they can also be a gateway to care—particularly for chronic diseases that are expensive to manage. For those living with gastrointestinal (GI) conditions like ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), or NAFLD’s advanced form, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), clinical trials may offer access to diagnostics, treatments, and specialists that would otherwise be out of reach. 

From surviving her “sink or swim” introduction to clinical trials to leading major studies and multiorganizational research efforts, Jeri Burr, RN, PED-BC, MS, CCRC, FACRP, Program Director of the HEAL Pain Management Effectiveness Research Network, Data Coordinating Resource Center, at the University of Utah School of Medicine, has experienced the clinical research enterprise from more angles than she ever expected—both as a professional and as a parent and grandparent.