What I Do - Amanda Anazco
I am a recruitment specialist in the Clinical Center Office of Patient Recruitment. My team and I help the NIH principal investigators and their study teams find volunteers for clinical research studies. We design outreach campaigns and work to engage and enroll potential volunteers. Each study is unique, so creativity is a must when developing effective recruitment strategies.
I love my job, especially connecting with the public, building trust and sharing health stories. Everyone has a story and their unique family health history. My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer in her early 40s and passed at age 50. When the cancer spread throughout her body at stage 4, she was referred to a study here at the NIH. That’s kind of how my own story began, learning at a young age that there’s a place like the NIH that does research to help people.
There are nearly 1,600 studies currently underway at NIH. Quite a few studies are looking for volunteers. One study, for example, seeks healthy volunteers for malaria-mosquito research. Another seeks adults with thyroid cancer. I myself enrolled as a healthy volunteer in a breastmilk synbiotic study. Breast milk contains numerous beneficial live bacteria and yeast known as pre- and probiotics. Researchers want to know if taking a supplement with human breastmilk as an adult can improve gut health. I’m a mom. I used to breastfeed. That was what drew my attention.
People join our studies for different reasons, whether monetary or to change the trajectory of their health. However, it always impacts society and others who might have the same condition. Many people don’t know that NIH recruits volunteers and that anyone can make a difference.
To join a study at NIH, contact the NIH Clinical Center Office of Patient Recruitment at ccopr@nih.gov or 1-800-366-5165.
-Interview and photo by Sean Markey.