Healthy Paid Clinical Trials in Maryland

The purpose of this research study is to test a new process for diagnosing lung cancer by examining changes to your DNA that can be detected from a blood test. The information we learn by doing this study could potentially help people in the future. Participants in this study will have blood samples collected, have their medical records reviewed by study personnel and fill out questionnaires at different time points during the study. Blood sample collection will occur during normal routine clinic visits. Participation in this study will last approximately 5 years. Read Less

Working with independently owned restaurants, a common source of calorie-rich, nutrient-poor foods in predominantly minority, low-income urban neighborhoods, has the potential to improve dietary quality, and contribute to cancer prevention. This study uses systems science approaches to improve access to healthier foods in independently owned restaurants by: 1) testing the effects of a novel intervention called FRESH (Focus on Restaurant Engagement to Strengthen Health) on dietary quality, health indicators and other outcomes in African American and Latin communities, and 2) developing a system dynamics model to allow stakeholders to virtually test FRESH strategies in their own communities. The resulting restaurant intervention simulation model offers potential cost savings from avoided trial-and-error testing, and will support community-based cancer prevention. Read Less

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 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

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

Background: Proteins are essential to the health and structure of the cells that make up body tissues. Most proteins become damaged over time and are replaced with new ones. This process is called "protein turnover." Stress, disease, and aging can affect this process. Researchers want to better understand how aging affects protein turnover. Objective: To measure rates of protein turnover in healthy adults. Eligibility: Healthy people aged 20 years and older with a body mass index between 20 and 30. Design: Participants will have 6 study visits over 4 to 6 weeks. They will fast 12 hours before each visit. Participants will be screened. They will have a physical exam, with blood and urine tests and tests of their heart function. They will lie down while blood pressure cuffs are used on their arms and legs. Participants will be given bottles of heavy water to drink at home on a schedule for 21 days. Each bottle holds about 3.5 tablespoons. Heavy water is odorless, colorless, and tasteless, like normal drinking water. It is safe to drink and has been used in research for many years. Participants will have tests during study visits, including: Imaging scans of a leg. Exercise on a treadmill. Biopsies of muscle, skin, and fat: Small samples of tissue will be cut from the calf and abdomen. Resting metabolic rate: Participants will lie still and breathe into a mask for 20 minutes. Knee/grip strength: Participants will do strength tests with their legs. They will squeeze a device with their hands. D3-Creatine: Participants will take 1 pill of D3-Creatine, which occurs naturally in muscle. Read Less

Cancer produces a significant burden on society with a majority diagnosed at late stages when the chance of cure is low. Early diagnosis improves patient outcomes. Data consisting of lifestyle factors, medications, physical activity, years before conventional cancer diagnosis is also worthwhile for to determine early detection. This is only achievable with longitudinal tracking of a large number of healthy individuals and identifying those who do develop cancer over time. Read Less