650 Healthy Japanese Volunteers (male/female)

The Japanese Volunteer Panel

Our Japanese panel currently consists of 650 active volunteers, 50% male and 50% female, aged between 20 and 45 years. We only include subjects whose parents are both of real Japanese origin. Moreover, the volunteer must have been born in Japan and must have left his/her home country less than 10 years ago.

The majority of our Japanese volunteers are students with a limited residence permit for the European Community as well as young Japanese people coming to Europe with a working-holiday visa. The Japanese subjects between 30 and 45 years are generally musicians, artists or teachers.

FOCUS is located in the Neuss/Düsseldorf area where around 6,000 Japanese families make up the largest established Japanese community in Europe. By means of a dedicated Japanese recruitment team we have developed very efficient recruitment strategies.

 4,500 Healthy White Volunteers (male/female)

The White Volunteer Panel

One of the main strengths of the FOCUS Phase I unit is a stable panel of more than 4,500 active healthy volunteers (including elderly subjects) and approx. 1,400 patients (e.g. with diabetes, migraine, skin diseases, hypertension, asthma, etc.), recruited within one of Europe’s most densely populated areas.

We define our White volunteers as white people with origin in Europe (including the western part of Russia), North Africa or Middle East. To become a member of our panel volunteers require an unlimited residence permit for Germany and a defined home address in Germany.

Our White volunteers (males and females) are students, part-time employees, unemployed or employed people with flexible working hours.

Creating a “Japanese like home” atmosphere

• Recreation rooms with Japanese satellite TV
• Japanese library
• Access to internet terminals
• Catering of both traditional and modern Japanese food
  (from our in-house canteen with its own kitchen)
• All general information signs in our clinic are written both in German and Japanese language
• All study related documents prepared for our volunteers are translated and explained to our Japanese subjects by our Japanese staff (recruitment co-ordinators and physician).

We avoid changes in lifestyle and eating habits!