As of June 2026, 77 paid clinical trials are recruiting in Santa Barbara, California. Compensation typically covers time, travel, and study visits, with stipends ranging from modest amounts for short outpatient studies to several thousand dollars for long or inpatient protocols.
Santa Barbara offers studies at sites including Ridley-Tree Cancer Center for conditions such as Fallopian Tube Cancer, Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension, Basic Science: Visual Attention in Healthy Participants, Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration (nAMD). Both patients with specific conditions and healthy volunteers can qualify. Most trials offer free study-related medical care alongside compensation.
Recruiting trial data synced daily from ClinicalTrials.gov. Last sync: .
Santa Barbara has approximately 77 recruiting research studies across a wide range of therapeutic areas. California hosts a dense network of world-class research institutions, including UC San Diego Health, Stanford Medicine, UCLA Health, UCSF, City of Hope, and Scripps Research. The state's thriving biotech corridor and diverse patient population make it a national hub for both early-phase and late-phase clinical research.
Researchers run research studies in Santa Barbara, CA at 25 active sites. The clinics below currently host the largest number of recruiting studies — each name is followed by the conditions they focus on most.
| Site | Specializes in | Active trials |
|---|---|---|
| Ridley-Tree Cancer Center | Stage III Pancreatic Cancer AJCC v8, Stage IV Pancreatic Cancer AJCC v8, Advanced Esophageal Adenocarcinoma | 12 |
| Sansum Clinic | Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung, Prostate Cancer, Acinar Cell Carcinoma | 11 |
| Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital | Acute Myeloid Leukemia, Adrenal Gland Pheochromocytoma, Aortic Stenosis | 11 |
| University of California, Santa Barbara | Basic Science: Visual Attention in Healthy Participants, Basic Science: Neural Representations of Location, Attention | 5 |
| California Retina Consultants | AMD, Gene Therapy, Geographic Atrophy Secondary to Age-related Macular Degeneration | 4 |
| Sansum Diabetes Research Institute | Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, Diabetes, Gestational, Gestational Diabetes | 4 |
| California Retina Consultants CRC | Diabetic Retinopathy, DR, Neovascular Age-related Macular Degeneration, Wet Macular Degeneration | 2 |
| Adverum Clinical | Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration (nAMD), Wet AMD | 1 |
| California Retina Consultants (CRC) | Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration (nAMD) | 1 |
| California Retina Consultants- Santa Barbara | Diabetic Retinopathy, NPDR - Non Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy | 1 |
| Cancer Center of Santa Barbara | Malignant Neoplasm | 1 |
| Central Valley Surg Ctr | Lumbar Spinal Stenosis | 1 |
| Clinical Trial Site | Breast Cancer, ER Positive Breast Cancer, HER2 Negative Breast Carcinoma | 1 |
| Coastal Surgery Center | Lumbar Spinal Stenosis | 1 |
| Cognixion | ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) | 1 |
| Cognixion HQ | ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), SCI - Spinal Cord Injury, Stroke | 1 |
| Cottage Health Research Institute | Aneurysm, Brain, Stroke, Thromboses, Intracranial | 1 |
| Cottage Health System - Santa Barbara Pulmonary Associates | Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension, Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension, Pulmonary Hypertension | 1 |
| Exelixis Clinical | Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma (ccRCC), Colorectal Cancer (CRC), Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (HNSCC) | 1 |
| Jeffrey S. Sager, MD Medical Corporation | Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension | 1 |
| Ridley Tree Cancer Center | Epithelial Ovarian Cancer, Fallopian Tube Cancer, Neoadjuvant | 1 |
| SCRI - Sansum Clinic | Endometrioid Ovarian Cancer, Epithelial Ovarian Cancer, Fallopian Tube Cancer | 1 |
| Samsun Clinic - Ridley-Tree Cancer Center | Urinary Bladder Neoplasms, Urothelial Cancer | 1 |
| Sansum Clinic (Ridley Tree) | Lung Neoplasm Malignant | 1 |
| Sansum Clinic Research | Follicular Lymphoma (FL) | 1 |
Recruiting trials in Santa Barbara grouped by therapeutic area, drawn from ClinicalTrials.gov. Each bucket shows the most recent example studies.
Clinical trials in California are governed by U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations, Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP) standards, and federal HIPAA privacy rules. Every study is reviewed by an Institutional Review Board (IRB) to protect participant safety and ensure informed consent. In addition, California-specific protections such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and the Confidentiality of Medical Information Act (CMIA) impose stringent data-privacy requirements on research involving California residents.
Hipa.ai aggregates every recruiting study in Santa Barbara from ClinicalTrials.gov and refreshes the list daily. Use the filters above to narrow by condition, facility, age, phase, or healthy-volunteer eligibility, then click any study title to view full details — eligibility criteria, intervention, location, and sponsor contact information. To enroll, reach out to the central study contact listed on the study detail page; the research coordinator will walk you through the screening process.
There are approximately 77 recruiting clinical trials in Santa Barbara, California listed on ClinicalTrials.gov. The number changes weekly as new studies open and others close enrollment.
Most recruiting trials in Santa Barbara compensate participants for their time, travel, and study visits. Compensation varies by sponsor, study phase, and visit requirements — the exact amount is disclosed by the study team during the informed consent process.
Eligibility depends on the specific study. Each trial defines its own inclusion criteria (age, diagnosis, medical history, prior treatments) and exclusion criteria. Both patients with specific conditions and healthy volunteers can qualify, depending on the study design.
The most common conditions under active study in Santa Barbara include Fallopian Tube Cancer (4), Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (4), Basic Science: Visual Attention in Healthy Participants (3), Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration (nAMD) (3), among many others. Browse the list above to explore every recruiting trial.
Yes. Healthy-volunteer studies — often early-phase pharmacology or vaccine trials — recruit in Santa Barbara on an ongoing basis. Use the "Healthy volunteers only" filter above to view trials that accept participants without the study's target condition.
Click any study title above to see the full study record, including eligibility criteria, visit schedule, and the study team's contact information. Reach out to the central contact or recruiting site directly — they will guide you through screening and informed consent.
Recruiting research sites in Santa Barbara include Ridley-Tree Cancer Center, Sansum Clinic, Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, among others. Each site lists its open studies and contact information on the study record above — call or email the site coordinator to ask about screening for a specific protocol.
The largest active categories in Santa Barbara are Cancer & tumors (38), Cardiovascular (10), Eye & vision (6). Use the filters above to narrow by therapeutic area, phase, age, or healthy-volunteer eligibility.