Santa Barbara, CA Paid Clinical Trials

How does one know what to look at in a scene? Imagine a "Where's Waldo" game - it's challenging to find Waldo because there are many 'salient' locations in the picture, each vying for one's attention. One can only attend to a small location on the picture at a given moment, so to find Waldo, one needs to direct their attention to different locations. One prominent theory about how one accomplishes this claims that important locations are identified based on distinct feature types (for example, motion or color), with locations most unique compared to the background most likely to be attended. An important component of this theory is that individual feature dimensions (again, color or motion) are computed within their own 'feature maps', which are thought to be implemented in specific brain regions. However, whether and how specific brain regions contribute to these feature maps remains unknown. The goal of this study is to determine how brain regions that respond strongly to different feature types (color and motion) and which encode spatial locations of visual stimuli extract 'feature dimension maps' based on stimulus properties, including feature contrast. The investigators hypothesize that feature-selective brain regions act as neural feature dimension maps, and thus encode representations of salient location(s) based on their preferred feature dimension. The investigators will scan healthy human participants using functional MRI (fMRI) in a repeated-measures design while they view visual stimuli made salient based on different combinations of feature dimensions. The investigators will employ state-of-the-art multivariate analysis techniques that allow them to reconstruct an 'image' of the stimulus representation encoded by each brain region to dissect how neural tissue identifies salient locations. Each participant will perform a challenging task at the center of the screen to ensure they keep their eyes still and ignore the stimuli presented in the periphery, which are used to gauge how the visual system automatically extracts important locations without confounding factors like eye movements. Across trials and experiments the investigators will manipulate 1) the 'strength' of the salient locations based on how different the salient stimulus is compared to the background, 2) the number of salient locations, and 3) the feature value(s) used to make each location salient. Altogether, these manipulations will help the investigators fully understand these critical salience computations in the healthy human visual system. Read Less

Socioeconomically disadvantaged (SED) pregnant Latina women are disproportionately burdened by type 2 diabetes (T2D). Although lifestyle interventions can help to improve diabetes control, there are barriers to SED, Spanish-speaking pregnant people participating. The purpose of this proposal is to develop and test a culturally tailored, dietary-lifestyle behavioral intervention that supports eating plant-based foods such as fruits, vegetables, nuts and grains instead of processed foods and meat, and is implemented through community health workers (CHWs) to prevent excessive weight gain during pregnancy and improve control of blood sugar levels in pregnant Latina women with T2D. This study takes advantage of our existing strong relationships with the local Latino community, CHWs, and Santa Barbara County Public Health, which includes eight multidisciplinary healthcare clinics with sliding fee programs, and Rooted Santa Barbara, a community plant-based lifestyle organization. Cultural sensitivity focuses on delivering health information based on norms, values, beliefs, environmental factors, and historical context that is unique to a racial/ethnic population. Therefore, for our program to be culturally sensitive, it will include delivery of the program by CHWs primarily in the Spanish language with English as needed and incorporation of culturally relevant eating and physical activity recommendations. The specific aims of the project are: 1) in year one, develop the dietary-lifestyle behavioral intervention that encourages a plant-forward diet for pregnant Latina women with T2D to prevent excessive weight gain during pregnancy and improve blood sugar control in collaboration with CHWs and participants by conducting focus groups to incorporate feedback on the program; 2) initiate in year one, and in year two, conduct a randomized controlled trial with 30 pregnant Latina women with T2D to evaluate the how well the nutrition-behavior lifestyle program works; and 3) evaluate the acceptance and delivery of the dietary-lifestyle behavioral intervention in CHWs and participants. If successful, this study will establish the how well a culturally sensitive program delivered by CHWs incorporating plant-forward diets for pregnant Latina women with T2D prevents excessive weight gain during pregnancy, and control of blood sugar levels. Read Less

This open-label extension study will evaluate the long-term effects of GB002 (seralutinib) in subjects who previously participated in a GB002 PAH study. Read Less

This research trial studies biomarkers in tumor tissue samples from patients with newly diagnosed neuroblastoma or ganglioneuroblastoma. Studying samples of tumor tissue from patients with cancer in the laboratory may help doctors identify and learn more about biomarkers related to cancer. Read Less

The objective is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of low dose and high dose CBT-001 eye drop dosed twice daily for 24 months compared to vehicle in reducing conjunctival hyperemia and preventing pterygium progression in eyes with pterygia. Read Less

To support optimal behavior in daily life, goals and responses following emotional events should ideally incorporate not only the valence and intensity of prior emotional episodes but also their temporal features, such as the relative duration of positive vs. negative attributes. However, how specific brain regions contribute to the integration of temporal and emotional information and promote goal-directed response remains unknown. The goal of this study is to examine how specific brain regions track both emotional and temporal information of dynamic emotional events to inform other related brain regions to guide goal-oriented and context-appropriate actions. The investigators will scan healthy human participants using functional MRI (fMRI) while they view emotional image sequences and track the associated emotional and temporal (duration) information, and act accordingly. The investigators will employ multivariate patterns analysis and pattern similarity analysis to identify brain regions that represent (can decode) emotion, time, and their combined signals, as well as brain regions that represent the associated action goal. In addition, to infer the causal contributions of these brain regions in forming task-relevant representations (emotion, time, and action goal), the same participants will be recruited to receive transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in these regions. Read Less

Patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) often have concomitant coronary artery disease (CAD) which may adversely affect prognosis. There is uncertainty about the benefits and the optimal timing of revascularization for such patients. There is currently clinical equipoise regarding the management of concomitant CAD in patients undergoing TAVR. Some centers perform routine revascularization with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) (either before or after TAVR), while others follow an alternative strategy of medical management. The potential benefits and optimal timing of PCI in these patients are unknown. As TAVR expands to lower risk patients, and potentially becomes the preferred therapy for the majority of patients with severe aortic stenosis, the optimal management of concomitant coronary artery disease will be of increasing importance. The COMPLETE TAVR study will determine whether, on a background of guideline-directed medical therapy, a strategy of complete revascularization involving staged PCI using drug eluting stents to treat all suitable coronary artery lesions is superior to a strategy of medical therapy alone in reducing the composite outcome of Cardiovascular Death, new Myocardial Infarction, Ischemia-driven Revascularization or Hospitalization for Unstable Angina or Heart Failure. The study will be a randomized, multicenter, open-label trial with blinded adjudication of outcomes. Patients will be screened and consented for elective transfemoral TAVR and randomized within 96 hours of successful balloon expandable TAVR. Complete Revascularization: Staged PCI using third generation drug eluting stents to treat all suitable coronary artery lesions in vessels that are at least 2.5 mm in diameter and that are amenable to treatment with PCI and have a ≥70% visual angiographic diameter stenosis. Staged PCI can occur any time from 1 to 45 days post successful transfemoral TAVR. Vs. Medical Therapy Alone: No further revascularization of coronary artery lesions. All patients, regardless of randomized treatment allocation, will receive guideline-directed medical therapy consisting of risk factor modification and use of evidence-based therapies. The COMPLETE TAVR study will help address the current lack of evidence in this area. It will likely impact both the global delivery of health care and the management and clinical outcomes of all patients undergoing TAVR with concomitant CAD. Read Less

This is a phase 1, multicenter, open-label study evaluating the safety and efficacy of ruxolitinib, steroids and lenalidomide among MM patients who currently show progressive disease. Read Less

To examine the behavioral, psychosocial, and biologic impact of resilience-promoting interventions associated with primary care. Read Less

In the United States, the growing Hispanic/Latino population is at high risk for type 2 diabetes and associated complications, yet underserved in healthcare and underrepresented in research. The purpose of this Sansum Diabetes Research Institute (SDRI) study is to create an HbA1c testing and support closed-loop system for U.S. Hispanic/Latino families. This loop will integrate Abbott's point-of-care (POC) technology with SDRI's Community Scientist Model to contact, test, intervene, and monitor Latinos with or at risk of type 2 diabetes for HbA1c levels. This study is built on prior work using specially trained Hispanic/Latino Community Scientists/Especialistas to support engagement with and encourage adherence to American Diabetes Association guidelines for HbA1c testing among Hispanic/Latino adults with type 2 diabetes. The study is an unblinded, nonrandomized, two arm self-controlled single center study. It is anticipated to run over 24 months and enroll 750 participants, in whom HbA1c will be measured over 6 months. This study will provide unique data on the burden of type 2 diabetes for Hispanic/Latino adults in Santa Barbara County, CA. In addition, the closed-loop approach will provide proof-of-concept evidence for scaling this approach to the larger Hispanic/Latino community to reduce the risk of poor outcomes due to type 2 diabetes and now COVID-19. Read Less

Performance of the Dexcom Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) System in Pregnant Women With Diabetes Mellitus Read Less

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of acalabrutinib in combination with venetoclax and acalabrutinib in combination with venetoclax with and without obinutuzumab compared to chemoimmunotherapy in subjects with previously untreated CLL. Read Less