Healthy Paid Clinical Trials in Maryland

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

Background: Vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, have been highly effective against preventing severe disease. But the protective effects of these vaccines appear to wane over time. Researchers want to learn why. Objective: To learn more about how the immune system responds to vaccines against infections like SARS-CoV-2. Eligibility: Healthy adults ages 18 or older who are scheduled to receive either a new vaccine or a booster shot against SARS-COV-2 or another emerging infection. Design: Participants will be screened with a medical history and blood and urine tests. Participants will have up to 8 study visits in 1 year. Each visit should last less than 2 hours. At each visit, participants will give blood samples. Some blood samples will be used for genetic testing. They will also give updates on their health. After the first study visit, participants will receive either a first vaccination or a booster shot. They must get the vaccine in their community or workplace. They will not get the vaccine at NIH. This study currently focuses on SARS-CoV-2, but it will expand to other infectious diseases as they emerge and become the target of new vaccines. ... Read Less

The main purpose of this study is to evaluate drug-drug interaction (DDI) of orally administered mavorixafor with cytochrome P3A (CYP3A) inducers carbamazepine (a strong CYP3A inducer) or efavirenz (a moderate CYP3A inducer) in healthy male and female participants. Read Less

Sub-Study: Phase Triggered Paired Associative Stimulation (PAS) (actively recruiting) Background: -Previous research has shown that the brain s activity changes with changes in brain waves. We can study brain activity with a procedure called transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), a form of non-invasive brain stimulation. EEG allows for measuring ongoing brain waves. The goal of this study is to optimize TMS delivery by utilizing EEG-triggered TMS. Objectives: -To see if changes in brain waves change the brain and body s response to TMS. Eligibility: -Healthy, right-handed adults age 18-35. Design: * Participants will be screened under another protocol with medical history and physical exam. They may take a pregnancy test. They will have a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan of the brain. For MRI, participants lie on a table that slides in and out of a metal tube that takes pictures. with: * Participants will have up to 4 outpatient visits lasting 2-3 hours each (4 outpatient visits). The following procedures may occur at a visit: * Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI): Participants lie on a table that slides into a machine that takes pictures of the brain. * Electroencephalography (EEG): Small electrodes on the scalp record brain waves. * Electromyography (EMG): Small sticky electrodes on the skin measure muscle activity. * Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS): A wire coil is held to the scalp. A brief electrical current passes through the coil and affects brain activity. Main Study: Influence on Plasticity of Brain Temperature (no longer recruiting) Background: - Brain activity changes with changes in body temperature. Brain activity can be studied with a procedure called transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Researchers want to cool the brain through the scalp using a cooling cap. They want to see if cooling changes the brain and body s response to TMS. Objectives: - To look at the effects of cooling on the brain. Eligibility: - Right-handed adults age 18-50 who can abstain from caffeine and tobacco. Design: * Participants will be screened with medical history and physical exam. They will be asked about alcohol use, smoking, and substance abuse. They may take a pregnancy test. They may have a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan of the brain. For MRI, participants lie on a table that slides in and out of a metal tube that takes pictures. * Participants will have 3 outpatient visits. The following procedures will occur at each visit. * Participants will wear a cooling cap for up to 45 minutes. Cool water will flow through the cap. It will feel like an ice pack in a towel. Their core temperature will be monitored. Their temperature will also be measured under their tongue and on scalp, stomach, forearm, and calf. * Participants will have TMS before and after wearing the cap. A brief electrical current will pass through a wire coil held on their scalp. Electrodes that detect muscle movement will be placed on their hand. They will also have repetitive TMS, which uses repeated magnetic pulses. Their wrist will also receive a shock. 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

Background: Diseases involving blood, blood vessels, and immune systems are leading causes of death in the United States. Researchers studying these diseases need to compare blood samples from both healthy and sick individuals. Blood samples from healthy people are also used to establish what is normal when developing new tests for diseases and to make sure new testing equipment is working properly. Objective: This natural history study will collect blood samples from healthy people. The blood will be used for various kinds of research. Eligibility: Healthy adults aged 18 years or older. Pregnant or nursing women will be excluded. Design: Participants will have a telehealth visit or telephone call to review their medical history. They will come to the NIH Clinical Center. They will have a needle inserted into a vein in their arm or hand. About 10 tablespoons of blood will be drawn through the needle. Researchers may perform a complete blood count, a type of blood test that can help evaluate the participant s overall health. They may do a blood type test. The blood samples will also be used for genetic studies. Some blood samples may be stored for use in future research. Participants may choose to return for repeat visits for up to 10 years. Review of their medical history may also be repeated at later visits. They will receive $50 per blood collection visit. ... 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

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

The central scientific premise of the proposed study is that sleep disruption (SD) will influence individuals' subjective response to blinded medication administration. The investigators further believe these responses will vary among patients who have chronic low back pain (CLBP) vs. healthy controls, and that sex will moderate effects. The proposed study evaluates whether CLBP patients' subjective responses to study medication administration are altered by SD. The investigators focus on two outcome domains: abuse liability (i.e., drug liking and valuation) and response to pain testing. The investigators propose a mixed between-within randomized crossover human-laboratory experiment that investigates placebo-controlled effects of study medication on 1) abuse liability metrics (Drug Liking and Monetary Valuation) and 2) response to laboratory-evoked standardized pain measures, after one night of uninterrupted sleep (US) and again after one night of SD. The investigators will recruit both CLBP patients(\*) and healthy controls (N = 60). (\*) We originally aimed to accrue 60 subjects with CLBP. However, we have been granted approval by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to reduce expectations for the target N for the CLBP cohort. We are no longer expected to recruit N=60 CLBP participants; this is a COVID-19 modification, and we are not required to re-do a power analysis. Read Less