There is no medical progress without clinical research. Laws and directives ensure that people who participate in clinical studies are adequately protected. Too much protection makes medical progress impossible, and too little protection puts the health of study participants at risk. 

In order to find the right balance between protection and progress, an ongoing dialogue is needed between authorities, the public, and researchers from both academia and industry. And to find globally viable solutions, exchanging information and ideas with other countries is necessary.

The SCTO offers platforms for this dialogue on its own initiative and upon request. For example, SCTO representatives are regularly involved in discussions with swissethics, the Swiss Ethics Committees on research involving humans.

In addition, experts from the SCTO network actively participate in working groups to implement the Human Research Act in a practice-oriented way. Open discussions between researchers and authorities help them to tackle challenges together.

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