research

Definition of clinical research
National Cancer Institute

clinical research

(KLIH-nih-kul REE-serch)
Research in which people, or data or samples of tissue from people, are studied to understand health and disease. Clinical research helps find new and better ways to detect, diagnose, treat, and prevent disease. Types of clinical research include clinical trials, which test new treatments for a disease, and natural history studies, which collect health information to understand how a disease develops and progresses over time.

Source: NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms