Healthy Paid Clinical Trials in Massachusetts

Background: During the first few decades of life, the brain changes dramatically in shape and function. Sleep lets researchers measure these changes. Researchers want to create a database of sleep and neurodevelopmental data in a group of infants and children to learn more. Objective: To address a knowledge and data gap in the field of sleep and neurodevelopment in infants and children. Eligibility: Children ages 6 months to 76 months who may or may not be at risk for neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders. Also, children ages 6 months to 8 years who have a referral for a sleep study. Design: Participants will have neurodevelopmental testing. They will have a medical, psychiatric, and family history. They will have a physical and neurological exam. They will be interviewed and complete surveys. They will give a cheek swab and/or blood sample. Some participants will have 1 study visit that lasts 2 days. Other participants will have up to 4 study visits. Each visit will last 2 days. Visits occur every 8 months to 1 year, for a total participation time of 2 years. Participants will have a 20-minute daytime electroencephalogram (EEG), if possible. This EEG session will be used to calibrate the machine for the overnight study. Participants will take part in an inpatient overnight sleep study. Electrodes will be placed on the participants. For young children, parents will help place the EEG leads. Other sensors may also be placed. A gauze cap will be placed on participants head to protect the leads and keep the participants from moving them. 'Lights out' will occur as close to participants bedtime as possible. Read Less

African American (AA) adults have a greater prevalence of developing cardiovascular and renal disease (CVRD) than White (W) adults. Elevated sympathetic nervous system activity is associated with increased incidence of CVRD. Physical exertion, such as exercise, acutely increases sympathetic nervous system activity directed towards the kidneys, resulting in renal vasoconstriction and reduced renal blood flow (RBF). However, the acute renal vasoconstrictor response to any sympathetic nervous system activation has not been investigated to date in AA adults. During sympathetic nervous system activation such as exercise, sympathetic outflow to the kidneys in AA adults might be exaggerated, contributing to greater renal vasoconstriction and a larger reduction in RBF. Over time, this exaggerated neurovascular response to sympathetic activation could have a negative cumulative effect on the kidneys, which could be a contributing factor to the greater incidence of CVRD in this population. Therefore, this study aims to examine the renal vasoconstrictor response to sympathetic stressors in healthy AA adults prior to development of CVRD to test the hypotheses that the renal vasoconstrictor response to acute dynamic exercise, as well as a cold pressor and mental stress tests, is exaggerated in healthy young AA compared to W adults. To test these hypotheses, the investigators will measure RBF and blood pressure at rest and during cycling exercise and a cold pressor and mental stress tests to calculate renal vascular resistance responses to these acute interventions. Using the highly innovative approach of Doppler ultrasound to measure RBF during exercise and non-exercise sympathetic stressors non-invasively and with high temporal resolution will enable us to assess the renal vasoconstrictor response to sympathetic stressors in healthy AA adults prior to development of CVRD, so the underlying integrative physiological responses to sympathetic activation in AA adults can be understood. Findings from this study in this understudied yet clinically significant area will contribute to the ultimate goal of creating and implementing treatment strategies to reduce the risk of developing CVRD in AA adults. 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

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety and tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, pH and food effect, and preliminary efficacy of BMS-986470 in healthy volunteers and participants with sickle cell disease. Read Less

This is a single center, open label (i.e. participants and study staff will not be masked to the intervention) single ascending dose study to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmaokinetics and pharmacodynamics of MIB-725 in community dwelling, healthy adults. Up to 4 successive groups (cohorts) of 8 subjects each will be enrolled in this trial. This study will determine the safety and tolerability of orally administered single ascending (increasing) doses (100, 200, 400, and 800 mg) of MIB-725 in healthy adults. The safety will be assessed by evaluating physical examination that includes an external eye examination, vital signs, adverse events, and changes in blood counts, EKG, urinalysis, coagulation measures, and blood chemistries, including but not limited to blood glucose, electrolytes, creatinine, liver function tests, uric acid, and creatine kinase. Read Less

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if mindfulness meditation can improve outcomes in older adults with and without cognitive impairment. The main questions it aims to answer are: 1. How does mindfulness impact thinking and memory? 2. How does mindfulness influence brain function and structure? 3. How does mindfulness affect daily function and quality of life? Researchers will compare all outcomes to one other groups. In one group, individuals will participate in a mindfulness class intervention; in the other group, individuals will not engage in any active interventions immediately, but will be placed on a waitlist for the mindfulness intervention. Researchers will compare all outcomes between the groups groups to determine whether the mindfulness interventions leads to greater improvement compared to no intervention (waitlist group). Participants will: * Be randomly assigned to participate in the mindfulness intervention, or no immediate intervention (waitlist) * Complete paper-and-pencil cognitive testing, surveys, computerized tasks, and neuroimaging measures (EEG and MRI) before and after the intervention Outcomes will be assess at baseline, 2 months, 4 months and 6 months. Read Less

The purpose of this study is to test a novel diagnostic immunoassay of platelet function and compare it to the current gold standard platelet function assay by testing the response to aspirin and clopidogrel in a group of healthy volunteers and severely obese individuals and comparing the accuracy of the two tests. The secondary goals will be to evaluate the pharmacodynamic parameters of the antiplatelet agents across the two testing modalities and refine the cutoffs used for the novel assay. Read Less

This pilot study in healthy volunteers aims to determine if biological sex has an impact on recovery from dexmedetomidine-induced unconsciousness, and if transcranial magnetic stimulation combined with electroencephalography (TMS-EEG) can be used to measure brain complexity during dexmedetomidine sedation without arousing study participants. Read Less

This research study aims to determine whether and how caffeine intake affects learning process through reward feedback compared to placebo. The data acquired from this study would improve our understanding on the consequence and mechanism of caffeine intake in the aspect of learning process. Participants will perform a reinforcement learning task (i.e. Probabilistic Selection Task) and a motor inhibition task (i.e. Go/NoGo task) in a brain scan. The scan will be done with the Siemens Biograph mMR positron emission tomography (PET)/ magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) 3 Tesla scanner. The PET allows us to see the changes in the "reward signals" - dopamine - in the brain using a radioactive dye called \[11C\]Raclopride. The MRI, on the other hand, enables us to take detailed pictures of the brain activities during cognitive tasks using a high-powered magnet. Reviewing these pictures will help us understand the influence of caffeine on reward signals and brain activities during the learning process. Read Less

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

The iCaRe2 is a multi-institutional resource created and maintained by the Fred \& Pamela Buffett Cancer Center to collect and manage standardized, multi-dimensional, longitudinal data and biospecimens on consented adult cancer patients, high-risk individuals, and normal controls. The distinct characteristic of the iCaRe2 is its geographical coverage, with a significant percentage of small and rural hospitals and cancer centers. The iCaRe2 advances comprehensive studies of risk factors of cancer development and progression and enables the design of novel strategies for prevention, screening, early detection and personalized treatment of cancer. Centers with expertise in cancer epidemiology, genetics, biology, early detection, and patient care can collaborate by using the iCaRe2 as a platform for cohort and population studies. Read Less

The goal of this study is to implement and evaluate a randomized pilot study of a 4-month Nutrition-enhanced community health worker (CHW) intervention for primary care patients with nutrition insecurity and poorly controlled hypertension. The nutrition intervention will be added to the pre-existing Massachusetts General Hospital CHW hypertension (Basic CHW) program that provides hypertension education, coaching about adherence to medications and primary care visits, and home BP cuffs and promotion of BP self-monitoring over the course of approximately 4 months. Read Less