Looking to make fast cash in the name of science? By volunteering in medical experiments you can help advance medical knowledge, or better yet pick up some well-earned cash.

Depending on the study, Lifetree clinical research offers participants compensation ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars for an in-patient stay of less than a week.

"$2100 to be a human guinea pig for a week? This place is a Mecca for all poor college students!" said Carolyn Gassman, a senior from Orem and Lifetree repeat client.

Headquartered in Salt Lake City, Lifetree works with biopharmaceutical partners to ensure drugs are safe when they hit the market. Lifetree's employment force grew by 250 percent last year, landing them a spot in Utah Business magazine's September issue as one of Utah's 50 Fastest Growing Companies.

According to Brad Bath, Executive Director of Clinical Trial Management at Lifetree, money tends to be an initial attraction all across the drug-testing industry.

"We pride ourselves on our safety and quality control rather than any amount of money and staff appropriately to ensure this as our number one focus," Bath said.

David Kaiser, Health Services Advisor at the Counseling and Career Center, explained that these types of studies have to take the necessary steps to get Institution Review Board (IRB) approval to minimize human subject danger. "Yes, there are always going to be risks, but that's how we advance medical research," Kaiser said. "Even FDA approved drugs include some risk."

Still skeptical? Information about the safety of human subject trials can be found visiting the Office of Human Subjects Research of the National Institute of Health at ohsr.od.nih.gov.

For more information on how to be considered for an upcoming Lifetree study, visit www.lifetreeresearch.com or call 801-269-8200.

Copyright Brigham Young University 8 Sep 2008