Healthy Paid Clinical Trials in Maryland

Background: This study is designed to provide samples to help us study the genes your blood cells are making as well as the proteins, sugars, fats, vitamins and other metabolites found in your blood or urine. Blood samples may also be collected to make special cells. These are called induced pluripotent stem cells or iPSCs. Pluripotent stem cells are cells that can be converted into any type of cell. Researchers want to study in the lab iPSCs that are derived from blood samples. Objective: To collect samples to help study genes, proteins, sugars, fats, vitamins, and other metabolites found in blood or urine. Eligibility: Healthy volunteers and patients ages 18 and older Design: First-time research study participants at NIH will have an initial visit for this study that should last no more than 1 hour. All other visits should last 20 30 minutes. Participants will undergo a limited history and physical exam. Participants may have routine blood and urine tests. If participants are giving a blood sample, they must have a hemoglobin level checked in the past 12 months to make sure it is safe for them to give a blood sample for research. Participants may have a venous blood collection. They may do this at several visits. They will lie on a recliner or couch or sit in a chair. A needle will be placed into a vein in the hand or arm, using sterile techniques. Blood will be withdrawn into multiple syringes or tubes. Participants may be asked to provide urine in an appropriate container... Read Less

The overall goal of this project is to determine whether common sleep disturbance patterns, sleep continuity disturbance (SCD) and Sleep Fragmentation (SF), alter cerebral study drug receptor availability, drug-based analgesia, and drug abuse liability. The investigators specifically aim to: 1) evaluate whether experimental SCD and/or SF alter resting or pain-evoked receptor binding potential in brain regions associated with pain inhibition; 2) examine whether SCD and/or SF alters the analgesic response and abuse liability profile of a study medication; and 3) determine whether receptor binding potentials in brain regions of interest are associated with study medication analgesia and abuse liability. The investigators will also evaluate the extent to which associations differ by sleep condition or sex. Read Less

This open-label pilot psilocybin administration study investigates the influence of psilocybin on brain function and cognitive control functions in clinically and psychiatrically healthy volunteers. Participants will undergo experimental drug administration sessions after careful screening and preparation. Participants will also have brain activity measured using electroencephalogram (EEG) also during non-invasive brain stimulation using Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS). Read Less

This study will randomly assign 2,300 older adults on waiting lists at fourteen Meals on Wheels programs in Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Tennessee, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, and California into two groups who will receive: (a) daily delivery of meals, five days a week or (b) a shipment of 10 frozen meals, every two weeks. Researchers will examine participants' Medicare claims to understand if differences in healthcare utilization occur between the two groups within six months after they start receiving meals. Researchers will also ask participants questions prior to receiving meals, and again at three months, to understand how meals impact their ability to obtain food, their feelings of loneliness, and their overall quality of life. The primary study outcome will be the ratio of days spent in institutional settings (i.e., hospital, nursing home) in the six months after participants begin receiving meals. The secondary outcomes include the ratio of days spent in institutional settings in the three months after participants begin receiving meals, food insecurity, subjective isolation/loneliness, and health-related quality of life. The team will also examine differences in dietary intake between the two groups as an exploratory outcome. Read Less

Background: When people have a stroke, they often have difficulty moving their arms and hands. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) can improve how well people with and without stroke can move their arms and hands. But the effects of TMS are minor, and it doesn t work for everyone. Researchers want to study how to time brain stimulation so that the effects are more consistent. Objective: To understand how the brain responds to transcranial magnetic stimulation so that treatments for people with stroke can be improved. Eligibility: Adults ages 18 and older who had a stroke at least 6 months ago Healthy volunteers ages 50 and older Design: Participants will have up to 5 visits. At visit 1, participants will be screened with medical history and physical exam. Participants with stroke will also have TMS and surface electromyography (sEMG). For TMS, a brief electrical current will pass through a wire coil on the scalp. Participants may hear a click and feel a pull. Muscles may twitch. Participants may be asked to do simple movements during TMS. For sEMG, small electrodes will be attached to the skin and muscle activity will be recorded. At visit 2, participants will have magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). They will lie on a table that slides into a metal cylinder in a strong magnetic field. They will get earplugs for the loud noise. At visit 3, participants will have TMS, sEMG, and electroencephalography (EEG). For EEG, small electrodes on the scalp will record brainwaves. Participants will sit still, watch a movie, or do TMS. Participants may be asked to have 2 extra visits to redo procedures. Read Less

Obesity and its metabolic complications are leading causes of global morbidity and mortality. Evidence is mounting that inappropriate timing of food intake contributes to obesity. Specifically, late eating is associated with greater weight gain and metabolic syndrome. However, the mechanism by which late eating harms metabolism is not fully understood but may be related to mis-timing of food intake in relation to the body's endogenous circadian rhythm. Conversely, harmonization of eating timing with endogenous circadian rhythm may optimize metabolic health. In this study the investigators will use gold-standard methods of characterizing circadian rhythm in humans to examine the metabolic impacts food timing relative to endogenous circadian rhythm. Read Less

The purpose of the study is to: * Establish and evaluate a system for collection of filgrastim-mobilized peripheral blood stem cells from National Marrow Donor Program donors (NMDP) donors * Assess the safety among NMDP donors of filgrastim administration and PBSC leukapheresis * Assess the safety and efficacy of filgrastim-mobilized PBSC in unrelated donor hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients * Determine the acceptability of stem cell donation by filgrastim stimulated apheresis in normal donors Read Less

This study will evaluate an investigational drug called NNC4004-0002. "Investigational" means NNC4004-0002 has not been approved for sale/ for clinical use or for the use described in this study/ by any regulatory authority. Its use in this study is experimental. This will be the first time that NNC4004-0002 will be given to human. This study will be testing the ability of the study medicine to lower serum uric acid. The main aim of this study will be to see if the new study medicine is safe and tolerated by the body after a single dose of study medicine in adults with asymptomatic hyperuricemia. Participants will either get NNC4004-0002 (the study medicine), or saline. Which treatment the participant get will be decided by chance. The participant will get the medicine as an injection under their skin. Depending on the dose they will receive, participant may need more than one injection. The study will last for about 19 months in total. The participant will take part in the study for about 7 months. Participant will have approximately 14 visits to the clinic and one of them will be a 4 night in-house stay. Read Less

Title: Collection of Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells (PBMCs) from Healthy People for the Expansion of T Cells for Adoptive Cell Therapy Background: New therapies are being developed that use a person s own immune system to fight tumors. Some of the tumors being studied include cancers caused by viruses. Researchers want to use the healthy cells of volunteers to perform research studies. To do this, they are collecting lymphocytes through leukapheresis. Objectives: To collect healthy cells from volunteers for research studies for new cancer therapies. Eligibility: Healthy people ages 18 and older Design: Participants will be screened with a standard donor questionnaire. It asks about their health and past medical problems. It also asks about risky behaviors that could increase their exposure to viruses or bacteria that could be transmitted through a transfusion. Participants will give a blood sample to make sure they are able to donate. They will have a physical exam. A finger stick test will check their hemoglobin, or red blood cell, level. They might give a urine sample. Participants will undergo apheresis. For this, a needle is placed in a vein in each of their arms. Their blood is taken from one arm. A machine separates the white cells from the red cells and plasma by a spinning process. The white cells are removed and directed into a plastic bag. The red cells and plasma are returned through the needle in the other arm. The entire procedure takes 4 6 hours. Participants may donate every 21 days in this protocol if they choose to. ... Read Less

This study involves the collection of blood samples and measurement with the T-TAS PL assay to compare the performance of the T-TAS wS instrument to the T-TAS 01 instrument Read Less

Background: - Painful stimuli cause changes in a network of brain regions called the "Pain Matrix." But most of these regions respond to many other stimuli, not just pain. Researchers want to understand how different factors influence pain. They want to test what happens when people expect different levels of pain and receive treatments that can modify pain. They want to see if these factors influence decisions about pain and how the body responds to it. They also want to compare pain with responses like taste and vision. Objectives: - To better understand how pain and emotions are processed and influenced by psychological factors. Eligibility: - Healthy volunteers ages 18-50. Design: * This study requires 1 to 2 clinic visits that last 1 to 3 hours. * Participants will be screened with medical history and physical exam. * Some participants will have one or more magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of their brain. For MRI, participants will lie on a table that slides in and out of a cylinder. The scanner makes loud knocking noises. They will get earplugs. * Participants heart activity will be recorded with electrocardiogram. Their pulse, sweating, and breathing will be monitored. * Some participants will take a taste test. Others may perform simple tasks. Others may receive pain in their arm, leg, or hand. The pain will come from heat or electric shocks. Others may judge pain using a topical pain-relieving cream. Some of these tests may be given during MRI. * Participants will fill out questionnaires. * The study will last 3 years. Read Less

In this study, we aim to develop and validate a noninvasive approach for quantifying and imaging energy metabolism, without contrast agents, on widely available clinical MRI scanners. Briefly, this technique allows specific and selective imaging of the energy metabolite phosphocreatine (PCr), in vivo and non-invasively. PCr is one of the predominant high-energy phosphates present in brain and muscle and one that is altered by common diseases. Although energy metabolism and PCr play a vital role in cellular homeostasis, there currently are no routine diagnostic tests to noninvasively quantify or map the distribution of PCr with clinically acceptable spatial resolution or/and scan time. Here, we demonstrate that the exchangeable guanidinium protons of millimolar concentration PCr can be exploited to detect it via the water signal in MRI with greatly enhanced sensitivity (molar signal) using chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) MRI, and its concentration can be quantified using an artificial neural network (ANN). This new technique, dubbed ANNCEST, allowed us to obtain a high-resolution PCr map on human skeletal muscle within 1.5 min, on a 3T clinical MRI scanner equipped with just the standard MRI setup. To put this in a larger perspective, energy metabolism is critical for cell viability and is altered by many common acquired and inherited diseases. ANNCEST is arguably the first to use widely available MRI scanners to noninvasively image tissue energy metabolism of PCr, and thus would have appeal to a broad readership of scientists and clinicians interested in neurology, muscular dystrophies and myopathies as well as cardiology, to name a few. Read Less