Every year the National Institutes of Health, the largest funder of medical research in the world, publishes where its money goes. For two decades the answer at the city level was the same: Boston, first, by a wide margin. New York edged ahead in 2019, but Boston still took in almost 2.5 billion dollars in 2024, second in the country. That funding does not stay in laboratories. It becomes clinical trials, about 2,700 of them recruiting right now, behind only New York and Houston, and it gives people who live in eastern Massachusetts access to studies most Americans never see.
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Why so much research happens here
Boston's medical institutions led the nation in NIH funding for about 20 consecutive years and still take in almost 2.5 billion dollars a year, second only to New York. Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital are the two most heavily funded hospitals in the country, and Brigham runs the second largest hospital based research program in the world. Boston Children's Hospital is the most funded children's hospital. Add Beth Israel Deaconess, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston Medical Center, Tufts, and Boston University, and the Longwood Medical Area alone, a few blocks in the Fenway, would rank among the top NIH recipients in the country if it were its own city.
The reason this matters to a patient is the type of research it produces. Federal money funds investigator led studies, the kind a doctor designs to answer a question rather than a company designs to get a drug approved. Boston therefore hosts an unusual share of early phase and first in human trials, studies of rare diseases, and research that compares existing treatments head to head, alongside the large industry trials every big city has. Two Nobel Prizes in medicine have gone to Mass General Brigham scientists in the last decade alone, for work on how cells sense oxygen and on gene regulation, and both fields now have trials attached.
Where the studies are
Boston's research is concentrated in a way that helps you plan. The Longwood Medical Area holds Brigham and Women's, Dana-Farber, Boston Children's, and Beth Israel Deaconess, all reachable from the same Green Line stops. Mass General sits across the river near Charles/MGH. Boston Medical Center anchors the South End and runs many studies focused on the city's diverse and lower income populations. McLean Hospital in Belmont is one of the country's leading psychiatric research hospitals, which is why Boston lists more mental health and substance use studies than most cities. And Cambridge, across the Charles, is the densest biotech cluster in the world, so some early studies run at company sites there.
Cancer makes up about 40 percent of Boston's recruiting studies, a lower share than Houston, which reflects how broad the rest is: neurology and Alzheimer's, gene therapy for rare diseases, cardiology, psychiatry, and pediatrics are all unusually strong. For cancer, Dana-Farber is the region's National Cancer Institute designated comprehensive center and one of the country's leading sites for early phase oncology trials.
Studies recruiting in Boston right now
A randomized study of a gene therapy for Huntington's disease is enrolling at Beth Israel Deaconess, an example of the rare disease research the city's funding makes possible. A Phase 3 trial of prasinezumab, an antibody against alpha synuclein, in early Parkinson's disease is recruiting at Mass General. And a Phase 3 breast cancer trial of inavolisib in PIK3CA mutated HER2 positive disease is open at Dana-Farber. These and roughly 3,000 other studies are on our Boston clinical trials page, filterable by condition and neighborhood.
Paid research studies in Boston
Boston's density of universities and research units means healthy volunteer studies, the kind that pay the most, are more common here than in most cities: pharmacology studies at hospital research units, psychology and neuroscience studies at the universities, and sleep and nutrition research at Brigham and Beth Israel. Treatment trials for medical conditions usually reimburse travel and parking, which in Longwood is not trivial, and pay modestly per visit. Compensation is always stated during informed consent. Our guide to how much clinical trials pay explains the ranges, and the Boston location page lets you filter for studies that compensate.
Practical notes for Boston
Traffic and parking shape study participation here more than in most cities, and study teams know it: many validate parking, reimburse the T, or schedule visits outside rush hour. A study "in Boston" may be in Cambridge, Belmont, or Brookline, so check the site address. Because so many trials run at teaching hospitals, you may be seen by a research fellow as well as the lead investigator, which is normal. And because Boston studies are often the first site in the country to open, spots in sought after early phase trials can fill within weeks; applying to more than one study is the norm. The general guide to finding trials near you covers how to read listings and eligibility.
How to apply for clinical trials in Boston
Browse the Boston clinical trials page, filter by condition, and click Get started on any study that fits. The application takes about 5 minutes, the research team contacts you if you appear to match, and nothing is decided until informed consent. Participation is voluntary at every step.
Common questions
Which Boston hospitals run the most clinical trials? Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston Medical Center, and McLean Hospital, plus company research sites in Cambridge. Most large studies list several of them.
Do I need to be a patient at Mass General or Dana-Farber to join their trials? No. Trials enroll people who meet the study criteria regardless of where they receive care. Your own doctor stays involved, and records can be shared with the study team.
Are there paid research studies in Boston for healthy people? Yes, more than in most cities: pharmacology, sleep, nutrition, and neuroscience studies at the hospitals and universities regularly enroll healthy volunteers. Filter the Boston location page for healthy volunteer studies.
Can people outside Massachusetts join Boston trials? Yes, and for rare disease and early phase studies many do. Some sponsors cover travel and lodging. Ask the study team before ruling a study out for distance.
See clinical trials in Boston recruiting now
Browse open studies, filter by location, and apply in about 5 minutes: Boston Clinical Trials