Information For Study Volunteers

Volunteer Profile: Yen Lemire

“I got a lot of useful information and it’s pretty painless.”

A medical research assistant, Yen Lemire is involved in influenza research in the Health Center’s Department of Immunology. She knows the importance of good health and she takes good care of her own.

But she’s also a subject in a study being conducted at the General Clinical Research Center. Lemire is one of millions of Americans who suffer from canker sores, painful, recurring sores in the mouth.

“I don’t just get them occasionally,” she says. “I get them every few weeks. Sometimes it’s more often than that. And I’ve had them ever since I was a child.”

So when Lemire found out that UConn researchers were testing a new multiple vitamin regimen as a possible way of controlling cankers, she signed up for the one-year study.

As a participant in the study, Lemire takes a pill every day. Like everyone in the study, she’s not sure if what she is taking is the vitamin or a placebo. Aside from that, she has to keep track of her diet, come in to the Center if she develops any canker sores, and call in weekly to report on her status, especially if she’s experiencing any pain.

“Over the years I’ve tried all kinds of things to deal with this problem,” she says, “so taking a pill once a day is no hardship, especially if it helps. I also got a lot of useful information when I signed up for the study. I’d have to say it’s pretty painless.”