ResearchMatch Guide for Clinical Investigators

ResearchMatch is a national, disease-neutral volunteer recruitment registry funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and hosted at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC). Developed through the Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) Consortium and managed by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), the platform functions as an electronic recruitment clearinghouse. It connects clinical investigators with individuals across the United States who have registered interest in participating in health research. By separating pre-protocol cohort exploration from active volunteer messaging, the system enables research teams to evaluate enrollment feasibility before protocol finalization and recruit participants under strict Institutional Review Board (IRB) oversight.

What It Is

ResearchMatch functions as an electronic registry and participant matching engine designed to resolve recruitment bottlenecks in clinical research. Operating on a privacy-preserving clearinghouse model, the registry maintains self-reported profiles detailing demographics, geographic location, health conditions, and current medications. Researchers cannot browse identifying personal data. Instead, investigators query de-identified volunteer counts and deploy standardized recruitment messages through the platform’s secure clearinghouse.

Unlike commercial trial listing services or single-disease registries, ResearchMatch is non-commercial, disease-neutral, and embedded within academic institutional compliance frameworks. It operates at no cost to investigators, participating research centers, or registered volunteers. The platform establishes two distinct tiers of researcher engagement: Feasibility Access and Recruitment Access. This distinction allows research teams to assess recruitment viability early in protocol development without triggering human-subjects research oversight prematurely.

Who Runs It and What It Covers

ResearchMatch was launched in 2009 by a collaborative working group within the NIH CTSA consortium, led by Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Operations are supported through NCATS extramural awards UL1TR002243 and U24TR004432. Technical infrastructure is maintained at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, with distributed administrative oversight across participating institutions nationwide.

The platform’s scope and verified operational metrics include:

Institutional Network: More than 284 participating research institutions and 70 partner community organizations maintain active membership across the United States.
Volunteer Cohort: The registry encompasses over 119,415 self-registered volunteers across all 50 U.S. states and Puerto Rico, including healthy controls, adult patients, and pediatric populations registered by parents or guardians.
Institutional Onboarding via MIRA: Participating academic institutions join the network by executing a Master Institutional Registry Agreement (MIRA) with Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Institutional Liaisons: Each participating institution assigns a local Institutional Liaison to verify investigator credentials, review IRB documentation, and monitor compliance.
Integrated Trial Discovery: The platform also powers “Trials Today,” a public tool displaying actively recruiting studies from ClinicalTrials.gov.

How to Search or Use It

Using ResearchMatch involves a structured workflow governed by institutional affiliation, role delegation, and regulatory approval:

Account Registration and Feasibility Access: Investigators register on the ResearchMatch portal using an institutional email, select their home institution, and complete the Researcher Acknowledgement Form. Feasibility Access is granted automatically upon registration without requiring IRB approval.
Cohort Exploration and Feasibility Analysis: Within the dashboard, the study team queries aggregate, de-identified profiles. Investigators filter by geographic radius (mile radius from a ZIP code), age, gender, race, ethnicity, diagnoses, and medications to determine whether the cohort satisfies recruitment targets.
IRB Protocol Submission and Contact Message Approval: To initiate active recruitment, the study team submits their protocol or an amendment to their IRB of record. The application must identify ResearchMatch as a recruitment tool and include the exact text of the initial Contact Message. Investigators should consult IRB approval and expiration of recruitment materials regarding advertising compliance. Multi-center trials can leverage a SMART IRB reliance agreement to streamline multi-site review.
Study Registration and Proxy Delegation: In the dashboard, the investigator clicks “Add New Study.” A Principal Investigator or an authorized proxy researcher—such as a certified clinical research coordinator—enters study details. If a proxy registers the study, the PI receives an automated prompt for electronic sign-off.
Liaison Review and Recruitment Access Activation: The study team uploads the official IRB approval letter (or documentation of an IRB exemption, such as studies qualifying for limited IRB review) and the approved Contact Message script. The local Institutional Liaison verifies the documents and unlocks Recruitment Access. The recruitment expiration date mirrors the study’s IRB continuing review or approval expiration date.
Executing Search Queries and Dispatching Messages: With Recruitment Access enabled, the researcher executes the study query under “Search for Volunteers.” The investigator reviews the de-identified cohort and dispatches the approved Contact Message. Single message dispatches are capped at 1,500 volunteers at a time to ensure prompt follow-up. Investigators can save search filters to run subsequent contact rounds.
Tracking Responses and Participant Enrollment: Volunteers receive notifications through the clearinghouse outlining the study’s purpose, commitments, and compensation. Volunteers select “Yes” or “No.” When a volunteer clicks “Yes,” they authorize ResearchMatch to release their contact details (name, email, phone) to the researcher’s secure “enrollment continuum” dashboard for direct screening.

Strengths and Limits

ResearchMatch offers substantial operational advantages alongside specific methodological boundaries:

Strengths:

Zero Financial Cost: Free access for investigators and institutions avoids the substantial ad-spend required by commercial recruitment agencies.
Pre-IRB Feasibility Assessment: Aggregate search capabilities allow study teams to test recruitment viability before submitting protocols or grant proposals.
Privacy-First Clearinghouse: Blinded initial messaging protects participants from unsolicited external emails and prevents unauthorized release of identifiable health data.
Proxy Delegation: Research coordinators can manage recruitment mechanics while maintaining required PI oversight and liaison verification.

Limits:

Geographic Boundary: Volunteer enrollment is limited to residents of the United States and Puerto Rico, excluding international cohorts tracked in systems like the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform.
Self-Reported Health Data: Volunteer profiles rely on self-reported diagnoses and medications, requiring verification against medical records during formal intake.
Strict Message Formatting: The initial Contact Message must remain under 2,000 characters and cannot include investigator names, direct telephone numbers, email addresses, or external hyperlinks.
Batch Size Limits: The 1,500-volunteer per-message ceiling prevents broadcast-style outreach, requiring staged contact waves for large-scale studies.

Alternatives

Clinical study teams often pair ResearchMatch with complementary recruitment channels depending on protocol complexity and disease prevalence:

Platform / Method	Primary Mechanism	Audience Scope	Regulatory Prerequisites	Cost to Investigator
ResearchMatch	Pre-registered volunteer registry with blinded clearinghouse messaging and opt-in contact release.	119,000+ national volunteers across all health conditions and healthy controls.	Institutional MIRA agreement; IRB-approved protocol and Contact Message for Recruitment Access.	Free (funded by NIH/NCATS grants).
ClinicalTrials.gov	Public web registry mandated under 42 CFR Part 11 for applicable clinical trials.	Global public and referring clinicians seeking actively enrolling trials.	Mandatory trial registration via Protocol Registration and Results System (PRS).	Free public service maintained by NLM/NIH.
EHR Phenotyping & Patient Portals	Direct query of electronic health records with automated patient portal invitations.	Active patients receiving care within the specific participating health system.	Local IRB approval, HIPAA authorization or waiver, and institutional data warehouse review.	Varies; often requires institutional recharge fees for data extraction.
Disease-Specific Foundations	Specialized patient advocacy registries (e.g., Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Michael J. Fox Foundation).	Highly characterized cohorts diagnosed with specific conditions.	Foundation scientific review committee approval and collaborative data-use agreements.	May require foundation partnership agreements or administrative fees.

FAQ

Who is eligible to register and recruit using ResearchMatch?

Investigators, research faculty, and study staff affiliated with institutions that have executed a Master Institutional Registry Agreement (MIRA) with Vanderbilt University Medical Center are eligible. Research coordinators can be designated as proxy researchers with PI sign-off and institutional liaison confirmation.

Do I need IRB approval before registering on ResearchMatch?

No. Investigators can register and obtain Feasibility Access without IRB approval to query aggregate, de-identified volunteer counts. Active IRB approval and an approved Contact Message are required only when requesting Recruitment Access to message volunteers.

What specific rules govern the ResearchMatch Contact Message?

The Contact Message must receive IRB approval, describe study objectives and commitments, and stay under 2,000 characters. It cannot include investigator names, direct phone numbers, email addresses, or website hyperlinks. If recruiting non-English speakers, an IRB-approved translation is required.

How does ResearchMatch protect volunteer privacy during recruitment?

The registry uses a secure clearinghouse. Investigators only view aggregate, de-identified match counts. Contact messages are dispatched by the platform, and personal contact details are released to the investigator only after a volunteer clicks “Yes” to express interest.

How must investigators cite ResearchMatch in publications?

ResearchMatch requires investigators to acknowledge both the platform and its CTSA grant support using standard citation language referencing NIH awards UL1TR002243 and U24TR004432, along with institutional review board approval.

Sources

ResearchMatch Official Website & Researcher Portal. Vanderbilt University Medical Center. URL: https://www.researchmatch.org/ and https://www.researchmatch.org/researchers/ (Accessed 2026-11-07).
ResearchMatch Researchers Frequently Asked Questions. Vanderbilt University Medical Center. URL: https://www.researchmatch.org/researchers/faq (Accessed 2026-11-07).
National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS). Clinical Research Toolbox: ResearchMatch. National Institutes of Health. URL: https://ncats.nih.gov/expertise/clinical/researchmatch (Accessed 2026-11-07).
Harris PA, Scott KW, Lebo L, Hassan N, Lightner C, Pulley J. ResearchMatch: A National Registry to Recruit Volunteers for Clinical Research. Academic Medicine, 87(1):66-73, 2012. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0b013e31823ab7d2 (Accessed 2026-11-07).