Multiple Sclerosis Clinical Trials in Austin, TX

Over the past 10 years, the rates of multiple sclerosis (MS) have nearly doubled in the United States. This chronic, neuroinflammatory, and neurodegenerative disease is most often diagnosed between the ages of 20-40. Cognitive impairment effects up to 70% of people with MS (PwMS) and has a detrimental impact on mental health, social connections, and employment. Further, up to 50% of PwMS also struggle with depression. Numerous cognitive rehabilitation programs are available to address cognitive impairment, but few interventions have simultaneous effects on cognition and emotional well-being. Music interventions have potential to fill this gap. Brain imaging studies on music and emotion show that music can modulate activity in the brains structures that are known to be crucially involved in emotion. Further, music engages areas of the brain that are involved with paying attention, making predictions, and updating events in our memory. The purpose of this study is to determine the feasibility of an online musical training intervention (MTI) for PwMS and explore the potential effect on cognition, psychosocial, and functional well-being compared to an active control group (music listening (ML)). The specific aims are to: 1) determine the feasibility and acceptability of delivering the MTI virtually over three months to PwMS; 2) evaluate the effect of the MTI on cognitive functioning (processing speed, working memory, cognitive flexibility, response inhibition), psychosocial (anxiety, depression, stress, quality of life, self-efficacy) and functional (insomnia) well-being compared to ML; and 3) (exploratory aim) to utilize non-invasive neuroimaging to determine if pre-intervention brain activity predicts post-intervention cognitive functioning. Read Less

The Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Leadership and Innovation Network (MS-LINK™) is comprised of networks working cooperatively to advance Multiple Sclerosis (MS) science and improve MS participant outcomes. In this study participants will be followed from the time of consent through the lifetime of the study (currently 3 years), unless the participant chooses to withdraw from the study. Collection of participant's medical history, including MS and treatment history, will be automated through extraction from the participant's electronic medical record (EMR) and other health information systems (for example, radiology). Participants will complete patient-reported outcomes (PROs) and other health-related information digitally. Participating participants will have access to their own data in an ongoing manner via a web-based Participant Portal. Read Less

This Next Generation learning health system for Multiple Sclerosis (Next-Gen MS) study is a sub-study of the MS-LINK™ Outcomes Study (NCT04735406). The study aims to examine the effects of using feed forward Patient Reported Outcomes (PROs) data in real-world Multiple Sclerosis (MS) care settings. The study will be conducted within an emerging Learning Healthcare System (LHS). Read Less

The DELIVER-MS study seeks to answer the question: Does early treatment with highly effective DMT improve the prognosis for people with MS? This is an area of significant controversy and no data currently exist to guide treatment choices for patients and clinicians. The study results will help guide overall treatment philosophy and will be applicable not only to a wide range of existing therapies but also to new therapies, meeting a significant unmet need in patient decision making and aiding the decision for medication approval by third parties. Read Less