Healthy Paid Clinical Trials in Massachusetts

This randomized controlled trial is a between-groups design to compare the Motivational and Cognitive Behavioral Management for Alcohol and Pain (MCBMAP) Intervention to a Brief Advice and Information Control condition. Two-hundred and fifty participants who have HIV with moderate or greater chronic pain will be randomized for the trial. Recruitment will take place through digital media. A unique feature of this intervention trial is that most of the procedures will be conducted remotely which will minimize barriers of transportation and time for participants. Consent and baseline assessment will be completed remotely. Following baseline assessment, participants will complete two weeks of ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to assess alcohol use, chronic pain, physical function and mechanisms of behavior change for alcohol and pain management. Following the two-week phase, participants will be randomly assigned to either the intervention or control condition and meet the interventionist through videoconferencing. Participants will complete outcome assessment measures at 3- and 6-months post-baseline. Following the 3-month outcome assessment, participants will complete another two weeks of EMA. Read Less

Brief Summary: Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a significant and costly public health problem that affects one-third of the U.S. population in their lifetime. Specifically, unhealthy alcohol use is common among persons living with HIV (PLWH) and increases the risk of developing negative outcomes. Antiretroviral therapy (ART) has shown increasing life expectancy and decreased HIV-related deaths, leading to a growing older adult HIV population. Yet, HIV accelerates the aging process and increases the risk for numerous chronic health conditions that compromise physical and mental health functioning and quality of life. Thus, PLWH continue to have shorter life expectancies relative to the general population and these multimorbidities explain this increased risk. In this context, unhealthy alcohol use among PLWH can further increase the risk for negative outcomes. Physical activity (PA) interventions can be used as an effective way to address unhealthy alcohol use among PLWH. Previous PA interventions have shown low generalizability and high loss to follow-up. Therefore, an intervention that is home-based, including lifestyle physical activity (LPA) with mobile health-delivered components is designed following the physical activity (PA) paradigm. Participants in this randomized controlled trial will be assigned to one of two study arms -- either the LPA or Fitbit Only intervention - both lasting 12-weeks. Both study arms will utilize a Fitbit to track daily step counts. In addition to utilizing a Fitbit, the LPA arm will receive 7 LPA sessions with a trained interventionist to assist in adding LPA to the participant's routine. The Fitbit only arm will receive only brief check-in phone calls and only related to assisting with any Fitbit functioning issues. Follow-up assessments will take place at 3 and 6 months. Read Less

A single-center, randomized, placebo-controlled study in community dwelling, healthy, regularly exercising, highly physically fit men and women, 19 to 40 years. Eligible participants will be randomized to receive either 1000 mg NMN or placebo twice daily for 10 weeks. Read Less

This study will test whether consuming blueberry powder 20g/d for 24 weeks can improve memory and other cognitive function and alter serum biomarkers of brain injury among older adults. Read Less

(1) To compare cuff-less wrist wearable radial artery blood pressure measurements utilizing ViTrack(developed by Dynocardia) to the cuff based commercially available blood pressure device, in healthy volunteers with normal or high blood pressure. Read Less

This is a Phase I multicenter, open-label, dose-ranging, three-dose PK and PD study of injectable LB administered as an IM or SQ injection at 40 mg, and subsequently at 50mg SQ and then 60 mg SQ depending on the preliminary pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic results obtained with 40 mg dosing. Read Less

The PREDICT 3 study will build on previous research in over 2,000 individuals to further refine machine learning models that predict individual responses to foods, with the aim of advancing precision nutrition science and individualized dietary advice. The study incorporates both standardized and controlled dietary intervention, for the purpose of testing postprandial responses to specific mixed meals, in addition to a free-living period with a dietary record for measuring responses to a large variety of meals consumed in a realistic context, where the role of external factors (e.g. exercise, sleep, time of day) on postprandial responses may be determined. For the first time this PREDICT study is built on top of a commercial product which will allow access to a much larger group of participants who are already collecting large amounts of data through digital and biochemical devices that can contribute to science. Read Less

This study utilizes infusions of kisspeptin in healthy women to isolate the impact of kisspeptin on beta-cell responsivity assessed by the mixed meal tolerance test. Read Less

This is a single-arm longitudinal feasibility study for older adults that involves a 12-week home-based Tai Chi program and includes four remote and/or in-person data collection visits. The investigators will collect additional clinical data in a subset of participants who agree to undergo additional assessments in the Motion Analysis Laboratory at the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston, MA during two in-person data collection sessions. The investigators will assess feasibility and acceptability of the Tele-Tai Chi intervention; explore changes in clinically relevant outcome measures including: physical activity, self-efficacy, quality of life, balance, and gait; and evaluate longitudinal changes in Tai Chi proficiency. Read Less

This study will perform magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measurements of hemodynamics and cerebrospinal fluid flow across breathing tasks and during breath-locked neuromodulation. Read Less

In this study, we investigate the impact of insulin resistance on the acceleration of brain aging, and test whether increased neuron insulin resistance can be counteracted by utilization of alternate metabolic pathways (e.g., ketones rather than glucose). This study has three Arms, which together provide synergistic data. For all three Arms, subjects are tested in a within-subjects design that consists of 2-3 testing sessions, 1-14 days apart, and counter-balanced for order. During each session we measure the impact of fuel (glucose in one session, ketones in the other) on brain metabolism and associated functioning. For Arms 1-2, our primary experimental measure is functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which we will use to trace the self-organization of functional networks following changes in energy supply and demand. Arm 1 tests the impact of endogenous ketones produced by switching to a low carbohydrate diet, while Arm 2 tests the impact of exogenous ketones consumed as a nutritional supplement. For Arm 3, we use simultaneous magnetic resonance spectroscopy/positron-emission tomography (MR/PET) to quantify the impact of exogenous ketones on production of glutamate and GABA, key neurotransmitters. Subjects will be given the option to participate in more than one of the Arms, but doing so is not expected nor required. Prior to scans, subjects will receive a clinician-administered History and Physical (H&P), which includes vital signs, an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), and the comprehensive metabolic blood panel. These will be used to assess diabetes, kidney disease, and electrolytes. If subjects pass screening, they will be provided the option to participate in one or more Arms, which include neuroimaging. To provide a quantitative measure of time-varying metabolic activity throughout the scan, based upon quantitative models of glucose and ketone regulation, as well as to be able to implement safety stopping rules (see below), we will obtain pin-prick blood samples three times: prior to the scan, following consumption of the glucose or ketone drink, and following completion of the scan. To assess effects of increased metabolic demand, we measure brain response to cognitive load, transitioning from resting-state to spatial reasoning through a Tetris task. To assess effects of increased metabolic supply, we measure brain response to glucose or ketone bolus. Read Less

iSpecimen aims to create a clinical partner network of hospitals, laboratories, academic institutions, and other healthcare organizations ("institutions") capable of providing researchers and educators ("researchers") with annotated biospecimens for use in biomarker discovery and validation; diagnostic test and instrumentation development and validation; therapeutics development; other medical research including the impact that various specimen collection and handling methods and conditions have on research results; and in education such as researcher or physician training (collectively "research"). Read Less