More than 41,000 people took part in health research studies across Oxfordshire in the 12 months up to April, new figures show.
Among the trials were more than 500 studies at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (OUH), which recruited 25,094 participants.
Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust drew 2,252 people into 49 studies, while 13,876 people were recruited at 32 county GP practices.
Now, people across the county are being encouraged to sign up to the Be Part of Research service to learn about health research studies.
More than 6,000 people across the county have also already registered to be contacted about studies they could take part in across specialities such as diabetes and cancer.
One person who has already taken part in a study is Kathryn Hedigan, from Burford in West Oxfordshire.
She participated in the EXPLAIN study, an investigation into scans of people with long Covid.
Ms Hedigan, 66, contracted Covid-19 in March 2020 and continued to experience long-lasting symptoms.
She said: "By September, I realised I wasn’t getting any energy back.
"I couldn’t breathe properly. When I tried to walk the dog, I could only manage a third of my usual walk, and even then only with regular stops.
"You’d find a little bit of energy one day and do something and then you’d be wiped out for three days, feeling really grotty.
“I kept having really strong pins and needles from the shoulder blade to the tips of the fingers of my left hand."
She also experiences ‘brain fog’, difficulty concentrating, managing lots of information at once or remembering things. This worsened after she contracted Covid-19 again in 2023.
The retired IT consultant praised the "brilliant" trial team, adding: "Every person I dealt with on the trial was delightful."
She has also taken part in another long Covid-related study that analyses patterns of molecules in the blood and urine to develop a test for long Covid and better understand its underlying mechanisms.
Professor Adrian Banning, director of research and development at OUH, said: "It is pleasing to see the large number of people taking part in clinical trials at our trust, and indeed across Oxfordshire.
"These figures reveal the sheer breadth of medical research activity taking place in our region."
Associate professor Vanessa Raymont, director of research and development at Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust, added: “As a trust we are focused on enhancing opportunities for the engagement of patients, staff, public and stakeholders in research, innovation and service.
"It is encouraging to see such positive research recruitment figures for last year."
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