Maryland Clinical Trials Report — April 2026

For Maryland residents considering participation in clinical research, April 2026 presents a critical window of opportunity, especially for studies nearing their enrollment deadlines. Across the state, 184 clinical trials are scheduled to close within the next 90 days. This urgency is particularly relevant for healthy volunteers, with 47 of these rapidly closing studies actively seeking participants without specific health conditions. If you are interested in contributing to medical advancements, exploring these options promptly is advisable before they are no longer available.

Patients managing certain health conditions also face impending deadlines to join research. Trials focused on neurological conditions, mental health, and chronic pain are among those with limited time remaining for enrollment. Conditions with trials closing soon include:

• Stroke
• Depression
• Mild cognitive impairment
• Disability physical
• Chronic pain
• Breast cancer
• Alzheimer disease
• Atopic dermatitis
• Endometriosis

New Research Horizons: Major Studies and Healthy Volunteer Opportunities

This month, Maryland welcomed 24 new clinical trials, a slight decrease from the 25 trials that launched in March 2026. Despite this, the state continues to offer a diverse array of research opportunities, with a total of 2,573 clinical trials currently recruiting across 86 cities and 1,111 research sites. A significant highlight for April is the opening of 10 new trials that are actively seeking healthy volunteers, adding to the 544 total studies statewide currently recruiting individuals without specific health conditions.

Several notable new trials have opened, including significant Phase 3 and Phase 4 studies, as well as large-scale observational and behavioral research initiatives from prominent institutions and industry sponsors. These trials offer participants the chance to engage with cutting-edge investigations into various health challenges and societal behaviors:

• The University of Maryland, Baltimore is sponsoring NCT07532564, "Risk Factors, Costs, and Impacts of ED Boarding." This large observational study aims to enroll 30,486 participants to understand the factors, costs, and operational effects of emergency department boarding, where admitted patients await placement on an inpatient floor.
• Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is leading NCT07533877, "Testing Ultra-processed Warning Labels in United States." This randomized controlled online experiment will involve 7,000 participants to test how an ultra-processed food (UPF) warning label on the FDA's proposed Nutrition Information Box (NIB) influences consumer perceptions of UPFs.
• Another significant behavioral study from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is NCT07536126, "Testing Non-Nutrition Menu Labels on Food Selections." This study, also involving 7,000 participants, will test the effects of environmental harm menu label designs on the healthfulness of fast-food meal choices through hypothetical online ordering tasks.
• Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is also sponsoring NCT07513337, "Effects of Cannabis Species Labeling and Marketing on Perceptual, Subjective and Objective Use Outcomes (Aim 2 Study)." This online survey study with 2,000 participants explores how cannabis product labels and marketing claims affect perceptions, expectancies, and intentions among users.
• Nucleix Ltd. is conducting NCT07514143, "Bladder EpiCheck Product Development Study." This prospective, observational study aims to collect urine samples from 1,000 subjects suspected of having a bladder tumor or under NMIBC surveillance to support the development of the Bladder EpiCheck kit.
• The University of Maryland, Baltimore is also behind NCT07528430, "Signature Development and Validation Protocol for an Epigenetic Assay in Diagnosing Pancreatic Cancer." This research seeks 450 participants to test a new blood-based process for diagnosing pancreatic cancer by examining DNA changes.
• A Phase 4 drug trial, NCT07537413, "Ceftriaxone Dosage for Non-Critical Community-Acquired Pneumonia," is sponsored by the University of Maryland, Baltimore. This study aims to demonstrate the equivalent efficacy and superior safety of Ceftriaxone 1 gram daily compared to 2 grams daily for hospitalized patients with community-acquired pneumonia not in the ICU, enrolling 430 participants.
• From Caliway Biopharmaceuticals Co., Ltd., NCT07526974 is a Phase 3, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled study, "A Study to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of CBL-514 Injection for Reducing Subcutaneous Fat ( SUPREME-02 )." This trial seeks 320 participants to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of CBL-514 injection for reducing abdominal subcutaneous fat.

Maryland's Research Footprint: Conditions and Locations

The new research initiatives this month are broadly distributed across Maryland, though with a clear concentration in major metropolitan areas. Baltimore leads with 13 new trials, followed by Bethesda with 5. Other cities seeing new trials include Cumberland, Glen Burnie, Hunt Valley, Annapolis, Towson, and Brooklyn, each with 1 new study. This distribution ensures accessibility for a wide range of participants across the state.

New studies are exploring a diverse range of conditions and health-related behaviors. This month's new trials are targeting:

• Asthma (diagnosis)
• Brain cancer
• Brain stem stroke
• Cannabis use
• Cervical cancer
• Cervical precancer
• Chest pain
• Cognitive impairment
• Community acquired pneumonia (CAP)
• Consumer behavior

The types of interventions being studied are varied, with drug trials leading the way, accounting for 9 of the new trials. Behavioral interventions represent 6 new trials, device studies 3, radiation studies 2, biological studies 2, and other types of studies 2, along with 1 diagnostic test trial.

Who Can Participate? Eligibility and Sponsor Insights

Clinical trial participation in Maryland is open to a broad spectrum of individuals. Of the 24 new trials launched this month, 21 include older adults, ensuring that senior populations have ample opportunity to contribute to medical science. Additionally, 2 new trials are open to children.

Academic institutions and federal agencies continue to play a vital role in Maryland's research ecosystem. The University of Maryland, Baltimore is sponsoring 4 of the new trials, while Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Johns Hopkins University each sponsor 3. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) is sponsoring 2 new trials, with other NIH institutes like NCCIH, NHLBI, NIAID, and NINDS each sponsoring 1. Industry sponsors account for 4 of the new studies this month, complementing the significant contributions from academic and federal research.

As we move through April, the focus remains on the ongoing enrollment in these diverse studies, offering Maryland residents numerous avenues to contribute to the advancement of health and medicine.