Los Angeles County has about 10 million people spread across 88 cities and more than 4,000 square miles, and its clinical research is spread just as widely. That is why a search for "clinical trials in Los Angeles" can feel both overwhelming and oddly thin at the same time: a plain search for "Los Angeles" on the government registry returns only about 700 recruiting studies, but put the name in quotation marks and it jumps past 1,800, and the county as a whole adds thousands more under dozens of separate place names. This guide sorts LA's research into the three worlds it actually consists of, and shows how to search each.
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World one: the academic centers
Los Angeles County has three cancer centers designated by the National Cancer Institute, and all three hold its highest comprehensive rating. UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center in Westwood and USC's Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center near downtown are the two university anchors. Cedars-Sinai, the largest nonprofit hospital in the western United States and the eleventh most NIH funded hospital in the country, runs a large cancer research program alongside them. And City of Hope, in Duarte at the eastern edge of the county, has been an NCI comprehensive center since 1998; founded in 1913, it is where research helped produce synthetic human insulin and the technology behind humanized antibody drugs like Herceptin and Rituxan. Between them, these four run most of LA's early phase cancer trials, and UCLA and Cedars-Sinai add large programs in neurology, cardiology, and gastroenterology. About 44 percent of the studies recruiting in the city of Los Angeles are cancer trials.
World two: the commercial research clinics
Southern California has one of the largest concentrations of dedicated clinical research sites in the country, private clinics whose main business is running trials for pharmaceutical sponsors. They cluster in the San Fernando Valley, the South Bay, Orange County, and the Inland Empire, and they specialize in common conditions: type 2 diabetes, obesity, fatty liver disease, high cholesterol, psoriasis, asthma, and migraine. For a patient this matters in two ways. These sites are often faster to enroll than a university, because research is all they do. And they are where most compensated studies in the region run, which is why Los Angeles searches for paid trials are so common; more on that below.
World three: the county health system
LA County's public hospitals, including Los Angeles General Medical Center, formerly LAC+USC, and Harbor-UCLA, along with Kaiser Permanente Southern California, one of the largest integrated health systems in the world, run research designed to reach the county's actual population. Studies here often focus on conditions that hit LA's Latino, Black, and Asian communities hardest, including diabetes, fatty liver disease, and heart disease, and many are built to enroll people who have never been in research before. If you receive care through the county or through Kaiser, ask whether your clinic participates in studies; many do without advertising it.
Studies recruiting in Los Angeles right now
A Phase 1b/2 study of multiple treatment combinations in metastatic breast cancer is enrolling at UCLA Health. A Phase 3 trial of prasinezumab in early Parkinson's disease is recruiting at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, and a study of a new oral drug in multiple myeloma is open at USC. These and about 3,500 other studies are listed on our Los Angeles clinical trials page, where you can filter by condition and by neighborhood.
Paid clinical trials in Los Angeles
Because of the density of commercial research sites, Los Angeles has more compensated studies than most US cities. The pattern is the same as everywhere: short Phase 1 studies in healthy volunteers, which may involve staying at a research unit for days, pay the most and cluster at a handful of dedicated units in the region; treatment trials for a medical condition usually reimburse travel and pay modestly per visit. In LA, travel reimbursement often means mileage or rideshare, and some sites offer parking validation that matters in Westwood or near Cedars. Compensation is always stated during informed consent and is never the reason a study exists. Our guide to how much clinical trials pay covers the ranges, and the Los Angeles location page lets you filter for studies that compensate.
How to search Los Angeles, practically
Distance in LA is measured in minutes, not miles, and a study "in Los Angeles" may be in Westwood, downtown, the Valley, or Duarte, 25 miles east. Three habits help. Search by neighborhood or ZIP code with a radius, not just the city name, because the registry lists Santa Monica, Pasadena, Torrance, and Duarte as separate places. Check the site address on every listing before assuming a commute, and remember that many sponsors run the same study at a university site and at a commercial site closer to you. And if you receive care at Kaiser or a county facility, ask there first. Our general guide to finding trials near you covers listings, eligibility, and what happens after you apply.
How to apply for clinical trials in Los Angeles
Browse the Los Angeles clinical trials page, filter by condition and location, 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, and your own doctors stay involved.
Common questions
Which Los Angeles hospitals run clinical trials? UCLA Health, Cedars-Sinai, Keck Medicine of USC, City of Hope, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Kaiser Permanente Southern California, Los Angeles General and Harbor-UCLA, and hundreds of private research clinics across the county. Most large studies list several.
Do I need to be a UCLA or Cedars-Sinai patient to join their trials? No. Trials enroll people who meet the study criteria regardless of where they receive care, and your own doctor stays involved.
Is City of Hope in Los Angeles? Its main campus is in Duarte, about 25 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, within LA County. It also runs clinics across the region. Registry searches for "Los Angeles" often miss it, so search Duarte or use a radius.
Are there paid clinical trials in Los Angeles for healthy volunteers? Yes, at dedicated research units in the region, usually short pharmacology studies with overnight stays. Filter the Los Angeles location page for healthy volunteer studies, and check the site address for location.
See clinical trials in Los Angeles recruiting now
Browse open studies, filter by location, and apply in about 5 minutes: Los Angeles Clinical Trials