Who qualifies, what the exclusions really are, and how to find studies recruiting in your area.
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.
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.
Alcohol-related liver disease (ALD) covers a spectrum, from fatty liver through alcoholic hepatitis to cirrhosis. It is one of the most actively researched areas in hepatology right now, partly because treatment options beyond stopping drinking remain limited. That research activity is why studies are recruiting across most of the United States.
This page explains what enrolling studies typically look for, which exclusions rule people out most often, and how to check what is recruiting near you. Everything here describes the recruitment process — it is not medical advice, and no study can be joined without a physician confirming your eligibility.
The most active recruitment right now targets US adults aged 18 to 70 with alcohol-induced liver damage and a history of heavy drinking. Beyond that headline, sites typically want to see a documented diagnosis rather than self-reported symptoms — which in practice means bloodwork, imaging, or a specialist letter.
What matters most, and what surprises people, is that the exclusion list does more filtering than the inclusion list. Studies in this area commonly rule out anyone with:
If one of those applies to you, the screening form will end there. That is not a rejection of you personally — protocols exclude conditions that would confound the results or raise safety risk.
Screening happens in stages, and only the first is online. A short form checks the headline criteria — age, diagnosis, the main exclusions. If it looks like a fit, a coordinator calls you to go through medical history in more depth. Only then does an in-person screening visit get scheduled, with labs and usually imaging.
Screening failure at the in-person stage is normal in liver studies, because liver function markers have to fall inside a defined window. Being told you do not qualify is common and says nothing about how sick you are — some people are excluded for being too far along, others for not being far enough.
Screening is free at every stage. You are never asked to pay, and any site requesting payment or banking details before enrollment is not running a legitimate study. Every genuine trial is registered on ClinicalTrials.gov, the NIH registry, with an NCT identifier you can look up yourself.
Studies in this area compensate participants for time and travel, not for taking risk. Across US research generally, payments run from $75 to $4,500 per completed study, with the figure driven by the number of visits, the procedures involved, and whether any overnight stay is required. The exact amount for any given study is set in its protocol, reviewed by an ethics board, and disclosed to you in writing before you enroll — never before.
We do not publish per-study amounts, because they vary by site and change between protocol versions. If a site or an ad quotes you a specific figure before screening, ask to see it in the informed consent document. Our guide to how much clinical trials pay explains the mechanics in detail.
This trips people up constantly, and getting it wrong wastes everyone's time. Two different diseases can produce a similar-looking liver:
They are researched separately and the studies are mutually exclusive: MASH protocols specifically exclude people with a history of alcohol-related liver disease, and vice versa. If your liver damage is metabolic rather than alcohol-related, the page you want is clinical trials for MASH cirrhosis. Applying to the wrong one means a rejection at the first screening question.
Join the free email alert — we watch the NIH registry weekly so you don't have to.
Get trial alertsLiver research is concentrated around academic medical centres and dedicated hepatology units, which means the larger metros carry most of the recruiting studies. The list further down shows where studies in this area are currently open, ordered by metro size.
If your city is not listed, it is still worth checking your nearest large metro — most protocols accept participants within a reasonable travel radius, and many reimburse mileage or rideshare fares for visits. Our per-city pages list every recruiting study within 30 miles, straight from the NIH registry.
It depends on the protocol. Some studies require a period of abstinence before enrollment, others enrol people who are still drinking because that is the population under study. The screening call will ask directly, and answering honestly matters — bloodwork at the in-person visit will show the true picture, and a mismatch ends participation.
For most enrolling studies, yes. Sites want documented evidence of liver damage — bloodwork, imaging, or a specialist letter — rather than self-reported symptoms. If you suspect liver problems but have never been evaluated, the first step is a doctor, not a study.
Anticoagulant use is a common exclusion in this area, largely because several protocols involve procedures where bleeding risk matters. It generally rules you out of the currently enrolling studies. Other liver research may have different criteria, so it is worth rechecking periodically.
Yes. You never pay to screen for or take part in a legitimate clinical trial, and study-related visits and procedures are covered. Any site asking you for money, gift cards, or banking access before enrollment is not running a real study.
Enrolling across the United States — the largest metros are listed first
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