Volunteering as a research participant.
This page is for people who would like to volunteer for our research. You might be a patient who already has surgery booked, or a healthy volunteer. If you would rather read about this from the treatment side — the conditions we treat, the operations, and how to get a referral — see the Clinical Trials page.
Who can participate
Nearly all of our research happens during an operation you are already having for medical reasons. For example, we may make extra recordings while a deep brain stimulation (DBS) device is being placed. We never do surgery just for research. Three studies are open right now. Each one is described in full — who can join, what it involves, and what we hope to learn — on the Clinical Trials page:
- Recordings during awake brain surgery — for adults aged 18 to 75 who are already booked for brain surgery while awake (for example, to place a DBS device, to map seizures with SEEG, or to remove a tumour)
- Spinal cord recordings during an SCS implant or trial — for adults aged 18 to 75 already booked to have a spinal cord stimulator (SCS) placed, or to try one out first — a short trial through the skin, no incision needed.
- Cuneiform-nucleus DBS multicenter trial — for adults aged 35 to 80 with Parkinson's disease whose walking still freezes even on their usual medicine
What participation looks like
The research part takes place during surgery you are already having. It usually lasts 15 to 30 minutes. We set up at the same time as the surgical team prepares, so your operation is not made any longer.
There are usually no extra visits afterwards. Taking part will not treat your condition or make you better. What we learn helps future patients. The time it takes for each study is listed with that study on the Clinical Trials page.
How consent works
Taking part is always your choice. You sign a separate form for research, apart from the one for your surgery. An ethics board at Penn — the Institutional Review Board, or IRB — reviews every study first.
If you say no, or change your mind later, your care stays exactly the same. No one on your treatment team will mind, and nothing about your operation changes. Before you sign anything, the team will tell you what we record, what we do with it, and how we keep it safe.
Email iahn.cajigas@pennmedicine.upenn.edu and say which study interests you. If you are not sure, just write "general inquiry". We will send you the study's IRB number, a short list of who can join, and what happens next.
We add details for each study to this page as the consent forms are finished.