Making Clinical Research Easier to Navigate

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When someone wants to participate in a clinical trial, finding the right opportunity shouldn't feel like a research project of its own. Thanks to the work of Kiley Vander Wyst, PhD, MPH, and a cross-campus team, it's becoming much easier for community members to discover clinical research opportunities at CU Anschutz.

As assistant director of clinical trials operations, Vander Wyst oversees the Clinical Research Recruitment Program, which supports research teams across CU Anschutz, UCHealth and Children's Hospital Colorado. The program helps investigators connect with potential study participants through services like the research studies website, social media campaigns, the Study Spotlight newsletter and educational workshops focused on recruitment best practices.

"The biggest challenge for many clinical trials isn't the science – it's recruitment," Vander Wyst said. "We have incredible research happening across campus, but helping the right people learn about those opportunities can be one of the most time-consuming and costly parts of the process."

Nationally, about one-third of clinical trials do not meet their recruitment goals, often requiring timeline extensions that increase costs and delay discoveries. Recognizing that challenge, CU Anschutz launched the Clinical Research Recruitment Program in late 2023 as part of the Colorado Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (CCTSI) grant to better support investigators and improve access to research opportunities.

Improving the CU Anschutz Research Studies Website

One of the team's biggest accomplishments has been redesigning the research studies website, a public resource where community members can browse active clinical studies and express interest in participating.

Through the Institute of Healthcare Quality, Safety and Efficiency’s Improvement Academy, they surveyed researchers across campus and partnered with the School of Medicine UX Design team to analyze how people navigated the site and where they encountered challenges.

"We really wanted to hear the voice of our customers," Vander Wyst said. “It was important that we didn't just collect feedback – we acted on it."

The results speak for themselves. Since launching the redesigned site, submissions through the website's "Get Started Now" forms have doubled, connecting significantly more potential participants directly with study teams.

CU Innovation & Efficiency Award Winner

The project recently earned first place in the CU Innovation & Efficiency Awards, recognizing the team's thoughtful, data-driven approach to improving the user experience. They're also preparing a manuscript to share their work with the broader academic community.

But Vander Wyst is quick to point out that the recognition belongs to an entire team.

"This absolutely was a team effort," she said. "It wouldn't have been possible without everyone's expertise and collaboration."

Collaborative Research at Scale

For Vander Wyst, the project reflects what makes CU Anschutz unique.

"I really love working at CU Anschutz because of the collaborative environment," she said. "The partnerships between the university, UCHealth, Children's Hospital Colorado and the VA allow us to do clinical research at a scale that wouldn't be possible otherwise."

Outside of work, Vander Wyst enjoys exploring Colorado's trails with her husband and their 100-pound Bernedoodle, Buck. The couple recently returned from hiking Kauai's breathtaking Kalalau Trail and are steadily working their way through Colorado's famous 14ers.

When asked to describe CU Anschutz in three words, her answer came quickly: collaborative, innovative and welcoming – qualities reflected not only in her own work, but in the team helping connect more people to the research that will change lives.