Data sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov (NIH registry) Updated weekly IRB-supervised studies only

Home/CA/Santa Cruz

Updated August 2026 from ClinicalTrials.gov

Paid Clinical Trials in Santa Cruz, CA

Studies commonly pay $75 to $4,500 per completed study

164 clinical trials are currently recruiting participants within 30 miles of Santa Cruz. Listings below come straight from the official NIH registry, alongside the area's top-rated research centers with real Google reviews.

164studies recruiting

9+research centers nearby

6condition categories

Live from the NIH registry

Studies recruiting near Santa Cruz right now

Top 25 of 164 recruiting studies, sorted by proximity — each links to its official registry page

Lenalidomide, and Dexamethasone With or Without Daratumumab in Treating Patients With High-Risk Smoldering Myeloma

Smoldering Plasma Cell Myeloma Phase 3 Interventional 288 participants sought

Salinas Valley Memorial — Salinas, California (29.5 mi) · Sponsor: ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group

See eligibility & contact on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03937635)

Sacituzumab Tirumotecan (MK-2870) Plus Pembrolizumab Versus TPC in TNBC Who Did Not Achieve pCR (MK-2870-012)

Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Phase 3 Interventional 1,530 participants sought

Kaiser Permanente - Santa Clara ( Site 0082) — Santa Clara, California (26.3 mi) · Sponsor: Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC

See eligibility & contact on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT06393374)

Testing Higher Dose Radiation Therapy for Locally Advanced Pancreatic Cancer

Locally Advanced Unresectable Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma, Stage II Pancreatic Cancer AJCC v8 Phase 3 Interventional 356 participants sought

Palo Alto Medical Foundation-Sunnyvale — Sunnyvale, California (26.9 mi) · Sponsor: NRG Oncology

See eligibility & contact on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT06958328)

Quadriceps Strengthening ACL Reconstruction

ACL Tear N/A Interventional 20 participants sought

Stanford Medicine Children's Health — Sunnyvale, California (26.9 mi) · Sponsor: Stanford University

See eligibility & contact on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT07015541)

TAPUR: Testing the Use of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Approved Drugs That Target a Specific Abnormality in a Tumor Gene in People With Advanced Stage Cancer

Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin, Multiple Myeloma Phase 2 Interventional 4,200 participants sought

Sutter Palo Alto Medical Foundation: Santa Cruz — Santa Cruz, California (0.4 mi) · Sponsor: American Society of Clinical Oncology

See eligibility & contact on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02693535)

MYELOMATCH: A Screening Study to Assign People With Myeloid Cancer to a Treatment Study or Standard of Care Treatment Within myeloMATCH (MyeloMATCH Screening Trial)

Acute Myeloid Leukemia, Acute Myeloid Leukemia Arising From Previous Myelodysplastic/Myeloproliferative Neoplasm Phase 2 Interventional 2,000 participants sought

Kaiser Permanente-Santa Teresa-San Jose — San Jose, California (26.1 mi) · Sponsor: National Cancer Institute (NCI)

See eligibility & contact on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT05564390)

A Phase 2 Study of Zelquistinel or Placebo for the Reduction of Symptoms of Major Depressive Disorder

Major Depressive Disorder Phase 2 Interventional 164 participants sought

Lumos Clinical Research Center — San Jose, California (26.1 mi) · Sponsor: Syndeio Biosciences, Inc

See eligibility & contact on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT07115329)

A Phase 2, Randomized, Placebo Controlled, Multicenter, Masked Study to Evaluate the Efficacy, Safety, Tolerability, and Pharmacodynamics of Multidose APL 3007 in Combination With Syfovre/Pegcetacoplan (APL-2) in Patients Diagnosed With Geographic Atrophy Secondary to Age Related Macular Degeneratio

Geographic Atrophy Secondary to Age-related Macular Degeneration Phase 2 Interventional 240 participants sought

Retinal Diagnostic Center — Campbell, California (21.8 mi) · Sponsor: Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

See eligibility & contact on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT07215390)

Levonorgestrel 52 mg IUD for Emergency Contraception and Same-Day Start

Contraception Phase 4 Interventional 1,404 participants sought

Planned Parenthood Mar Monte — San Jose, California (26.1 mi) · Sponsor: University of Utah

See eligibility & contact on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT05444582)

A Study of NTX-1472 in Social Anxiety Disorder

Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) Phase 2 Interventional 100 participants sought

SOAR Clinical Study Site — San Jose, California (26.1 mi) · Sponsor: Newleos Therapeutics, Inc.

See eligibility & contact on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT07323784)

Testing the Use of Ado-Trastuzumab Emtansine Compared to the Usual Treatment (Chemotherapy With Docetaxel Plus Trastuzumab) or Trastuzumab Deruxtecan for Recurrent, Metastatic, or Unresectable HER2-Expressing Salivary Gland Cancers

Metastatic Salivary Gland Carcinoma, Recurrent Salivary Gland Carcinoma Phase 2 Interventional 146 participants sought

Kaiser Permanente-Santa Teresa-San Jose — San Jose, California (26.1 mi) · Sponsor: NRG Oncology

See eligibility & contact on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT05408845)

High-dose Prophylactic Gabapentin (HOPE) vs. Placebo to Prevent Opioid Use for Oral Mucositis Pain During Concurrent Chemoradiation for Head and Neck Cancer

Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma, Stage I Head and Neck Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma AJCC v8 Phase 3 Interventional 228 participants sought

Kaiser Permanente-Santa Teresa-San Jose — San Jose, California (26.1 mi) · Sponsor: Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology

See eligibility & contact on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT06992427)

Search for Novel Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) Targets for Mental Illness

Major Depressive Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Phase 2 Interventional 180 participants sought

Acacia Clinics — Sunnyvale, California (26.9 mi) · Sponsor: Brigham and Women's Hospital

See eligibility & contact on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT06376734)

A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial on Efficacy and Safety of Fluticasone Propionate/Albuterol Sulfate Combination in Participants 12 Years and Older With Asthma

Asthma Phase 3 Interventional 724 participants sought

Teva Investigational Site 12064 — San Jose, California (26.1 mi) · Sponsor: Teva Branded Pharmaceutical Products R&D LLC

See eligibility & contact on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT06664619)

Phase III Study of Ivonescimab or Bevacizumab Combined With FOLFOX in Patients With Metastatic Colorectal Cancer

Metastatic Colorectal Cancer (CRC) Phase 3 Interventional 600 participants sought

Clinical Study Site — Santa Clara, California (26.3 mi) · Sponsor: Summit Therapeutics

See eligibility & contact on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT07228832)

Telenutrition for Individuals With SCI

Spinal Cord Injuries, Obesity N/A Interventional 96 participants sought

Santa Clara Valley Medical Center — San Jose, California (26.1 mi) · Sponsor: Santa Clara Valley Health & Hospital System

See eligibility & contact on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT05468437)

Testing Shorter Duration Radiation Therapy Versus the Usual Radiation Therapy in Patients With High Risk Prostate Cancer

Prostate Adenocarcinoma, Stage III Prostate Cancer AJCC v8 Phase 3 Interventional 1,209 participants sought

Kaiser Permanente-Santa Teresa-San Jose — San Jose, California (26.1 mi) · Sponsor: NRG Oncology

See eligibility & contact on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT05946213)

Comparative Effectiveness Trial of Two Supportive Cancer Care Delivery Models for Adults With Cancer

End of Life, Cancer N/A Interventional 2,996 participants sought

Santa Clara Valley Medical Center — Fruitdale, California (23.6 mi) · Sponsor: Stanford University

See eligibility & contact on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT05297734)

Toddlers' Responses to Strangers

Social Behavior N/A Observational 100 participants sought

Social Science 2 Building — Santa Cruz, California (0.4 mi) · Sponsor: University of California Santa Cruz

See eligibility & contact on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT06550206)

A 52-week Study of Rilzabrutinib Efficacy and Safety Compared to Placebo in Adults Diagnosed With IgG4-related Disease

Immunoglobulin G4 Related Disease Phase 3 Interventional 124 participants sought

San Jose Clinical Trials- Site Number : 8400016 — San Jose, California (26.1 mi) · Sponsor: Sanofi

See eligibility & contact on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT07190196)

Study to Assess the Effects of Angiopoietin-like Protein 3 (ANGPTL3) Inhibition in Adult Participants With Diabetic Kidney Disease

Diabetic Kidney Disease (DKD) Phase 2 Interventional 270 participants sought

Central Coast Nephrology — Salinas, California (29.5 mi) · Sponsor: Regeneron Pharmaceuticals

See eligibility & contact on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT07271186)

De-Escalation of Breast Radiation Trial for Hormone Sensitive, HER-2 Negative, Oncotype Recurrence Score Less Than or Equal to 18 Breast Cancer (DEBRA)

Stage I Breast Cancer Phase 3 Interventional 1,670 participants sought

Dominican Santa Cruz Hospital — Santa Cruz, California (0.4 mi) · Sponsor: NRG Oncology

See eligibility & contact on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04852887)

FLOWER: Following Longitudinal Outcomes With Epidemiology for Rare Diseases

Alpha-Thalassemia, Beta-Thalassemia N/A Observational 1,000 participants sought

xCures — Los Altos, California (28.4 mi) · Sponsor: xCures

See eligibility & contact on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT06539169)

S1501 Dual Observational and Randomized Cohort Study of Patients With Metastatic HER-2+ Breast Cancer at Risk of Cardiac Toxicity

Cardiotoxicity, HER2/Neu Positive Phase 3 Interventional 491 participants sought

Kaiser Permanente-Santa Teresa-San Jose — San Jose, California (26.1 mi) · Sponsor: SWOG Cancer Research Network

See eligibility & contact on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03418961)

Prospective External Control Cohort In Patients With Newly Diagnosed Advanced or Metastatic EGFR Mutant Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Non Small Cell Lung Cancer N/A Observational 130 participants sought

Pacific Cancer Care — Monterey, California (27.3 mi) · Sponsor: N-Power Medicine

See eligibility & contact on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT07028489)

Actively enrolling

Studies you may be able to join near Santa Cruz

These studies are recruiting through partner research networks. We may be paid a referral fee if you complete their screening form — this never changes what you pay (nothing) or the compensation the study offers you.

Research study for alcohol-related liver damage

Enrolling US adults aged 18 to 70 with alcohol-induced liver damage and a history of heavy drinking. Not open to people with a recent stroke, heart attack, dialysis, or who take blood thinners.

Screening is free and takes a few minutes. Eligibility and any compensation are confirmed by the study team, not by this site.

Check your eligibility

Research study for bladder problems after spinal cord injury

This study is enrolling US adults aged 18 to 75 living with chronic involuntary bladder leakage caused by a spinal cord injury, for research including investigational gene therapy approaches. The study team confirms eligibility and any compensation before enrollment.

Screening is free and takes a few minutes. Eligibility and any compensation are confirmed by the study team, not by this site.

Check your eligibility

Google-rated

Top-rated research centers in Santa Cruz

Dedicated clinical research sites near you — with their real Google ratings, reviews and contact details

Institute for the Biology of Stem Cells (IBSC) at UC Santa Cruz

1156 High St, Santa Cruz, CA 95064

(831) 459-1399

Website

Global Psychedelic Dinner

1115 Mission St, Santa Cruz, CA 95060

(831) 429-6362

Website

Lumos Clinical Research Center

★ 4.9

2516 Samaritan Dr Ste b, San Jose, CA 95124

(408) 402-5424

Website

"This is my first clinical trial experience and I look forward to many more with Lumos. They have the friendliest staff, they made me feel welcome and…"

— Soso Happy, 5★

San Jose Clinical Trials

★ 4.9

2211 Moorpark Ave #275, San Jose, CA 95128

(408) 443-3540

Website

"Very professional and pleasant atmosphere plus informational"

— Zan Cortner, 5★

Department of Microbiology and Environmental Toxicology

Santa Cruz, CA 95064

(831) 459-2190

Website

Gonstead Clinical Studies Society

2230 Ivy Ln, Santa Cruz, CA 95062

(831) 476-1873

Website

Cancer Clinical Trials Office, Stanford Cancer Institute

★ 3.0

800 Welch Rd, Palo Alto, CA 94304

(650) 498-7061

Website

"Do not waitlist here. We've been on waitlist here for over 1.5 yr with nothing to offer. Seek through UCSF or City of Hope."

— Eric Yen, 1★

Central Valley Research

★ 4.9

400 E Orangeburg Ave Ste 5, Modesto, CA 95350

(209) 549-9538

Website

Oakland Clinical

3300 Webster St #1106, Oakland, CA 94609

(510) 817-2000

Website

Clinical trials in Santa Cruz: what's recruiting

The Santa Cruz area currently has 164 studies open to new participants, according to the ClinicalTrials.gov registry maintained by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Among the studies closest to Santa Cruz, the most active research areas are:

Cancer & Oncology13 studies
Brain & Mental Health4 studies
Heart & Vascular3 studies
Diabetes & Metabolism2 studies
Lungs & Breathing1 studies

Every listing shows the study phase, the recruiting site and its distance from Santa Cruz, and links to the official registry page where eligibility criteria and study contacts are published. Compensation is set by each sponsor: industry surveys report typical payments of $75 to $4,500 per completed study, with short observational studies at the low end and multi-visit or overnight Phase 1 studies at the high end.

How to enroll in a paid study in Santa Cruz

Start with a study whose condition matches your profile — or a healthy-volunteer study if you have no diagnosis. Contact the research site through the registry page, complete a short phone screen, then attend an in-person screening visit. If you qualify, the study team walks you through the informed consent document, which details every procedure, risk and payment before you commit. You can withdraw at any point, and enrollment is always free.

Santa Cruz participants can also register with the dedicated research centers listed above — many maintain volunteer databases and call when a matching study opens — or sign up for our email alert below to hear when a new study starts recruiting within 30 miles of your ZIP code.

Frequently asked questions

How much do paid clinical trials in Santa Cruz pay?

Compensation varies by study length, procedures and overnight stays. Industry surveys report typical payments from $75 to $4,500 per completed study, with simple observational studies at the low end and multi-week inpatient Phase 1 studies at the high end. Each listing's study team will confirm the exact amount before you enroll.

Are clinical trials in Santa Cruz safe?

Every trial on this page is registered on ClinicalTrials.gov, the official NIH registry, and is overseen by an Institutional Review Board (IRB). Before joining you receive an informed consent document detailing procedures, risks and compensation. Participation is voluntary and you can withdraw at any time.

How do I join a study in Santa Cruz, CA?

Pick a study that matches your profile, contact the research site (or apply through the study links on this page), pass a phone pre-screen, then attend an in-person screening visit. If you qualify, you review and sign the informed consent and the study begins. The process typically takes 1-3 weeks.

What is the difference between a research center and a hospital study in Santa Cruz?

Dedicated research centers (listed on this page with their Google ratings) run studies as their core business — often healthy-volunteer and vaccine studies with structured compensation. Hospital and university studies tend to focus on patients with specific conditions. Both types are registered and IRB-supervised.

Can I be in more than one clinical trial at a time?

Generally no — most studies exclude participants currently enrolled in another trial, and paid Phase 1 studies enforce a washout period (often 30 days or more) between studies. Frequent healthy volunteers in Santa Cruz typically complete one or two studies per year.

Paid clinical trials near Santa Cruz

Other metros within reach

San Jose, CA1,134 Sunnyvale, CA1,166 Salinas, CA43 Fremont, CA2,256 Hayward, CA2,268 Oakland, CA2,257 San Francisco, CA2,235 Concord, CA1,509

By condition

Eligibility and exclusions, condition by condition

Alcoholic Liver Disease in Santa Cruz Bladder Issues Due To Spinal Cord Injury in Santa Cruz All conditions

More of CA

Long Beach3,361 Torrance3,253 Fullerton3,246 Anaheim3,181 Garden Grove3,176 Pomona3,138 Glendale2,959 Los Angeles2,949 Huntington Beach2,863 Santa Clarita2,390 Hayward2,268 Oakland2,257

New paid studies open every week

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