Virginia Paid Clinical Trials

Episodic future thinking (EFT) is based on the new science of prospection, which was first identified in a Science publication in 2007 and refers to pre-experiencing the future by simulation. Considerable evidence suggests that prospection is important for understanding human cognition, affect, motivation, and action. Individuals with damaged frontal areas, as well as individuals with alcohol use disorder (AUD), show deficits in planning prospectively. One systematic method to engender prospection is via EFT. EFT, as applied in our prior studies and in this proposal consists of having participants develop positive plausible future events that correspond to several future time frames (e.g., 2 weeks, 1 month, 3 months etc). For each of these timeframes participants are asked to concretize the events (e.g., What are you doing? Who will be there? What will you see, hear, smell, and feel?). We and others have used EFT to decrease delay discounting (DD) in individuals with AUD and smokers, as well as normal weight, overweight, and obese populations when compared to the control condition, control episodic thinking (CET). Consistent with reinforcer pathology, EFT also reduces alcohol valuation in the purchase task among individuals with AUD. However, no study to date has examined whether EFT reduces alcohol self-administration in the laboratory. Moreover, the neural correlates of EFT in AUD are also unknown. In these studies, we propose to test an intervention, EFT, which we hypothesize will decrease reinforcer pathology measures in a bar-like setting in the laboratory; that is, EFT will decrease delay discounting, as well as alcohol self-administration, demand, and craving compared to a control episodic thinking (CET) condition. Moreover, we hypothesize EFT will enhance activation in brain regions associated with prospection (e.g., hippocampus and amygdala) and the executive decision system (e.g., DLPFC). We will also examine the effect of EFT on real-world drinking. Read Less

The goal of this prospective observational study is to compare pain control strategies in children with femur fractures. Researchers will compare ultrasound-guided fascia iliaca compartment nerve block to IV pain control alone. The main questions it aims to answer are: Are ultrasound-guided fascia iliaca compartment nerve blocks as effective as IV pain control in controlling pain? Do patients who receive an ultrasound-guided fascia iliaca compartment nerve block require less opioid pain medication than those that don't? Participants will be asked to provide pain scores during their Emergency Department stay. Participants parents will be asked to complete a brief survey at the time their child is leaving the Emergency Department. Read Less

This research study is being conducted to understand the outcomes of participation in the Up ENDing Parkinson's rock climbing program (24 sessions, or twice per week for about 12 weeks) on walking & mobility, hand strength & dexterity, and psychological well-being in individuals with Parkinson's Disease (PD). The rock climbing sessions are administered and supervised by Up ENDing Parkinson's, and are tailored to the skill level of the participant. Participants will answer questionnaires and complete physical performance tests twice, first prior to beginning the sessions and then again after the 24 sessions have been completed. Read Less

In this prospective observational sub-study, participants with pediatric-onset hypophosphatasia (HPP) (perinatal/infantile- or juvenile-onset) of any age will be followed for a minimum of 5 years at sites in the United States and potentially 1 or 2 other countries. Read Less

The objective of this study is the acquisition of whole blood samples and serum samples from participants with untreated Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) and subjects undergoing Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) surveillance. These samples will be used for research purposes to develop and validate the Helio multi-analyte blood test. Read Less

This is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to determine the optimal dose and safety of oral alanyl-glutamine between 4, 24, and 44 g doses administered for 10 days with standard therapy among first time incident cases of uncomplicated C. difficile infection (CDI) in hospitalized, or outpatient, persons aged 18 or older. Our hypothesis is that alanyl-glutamine supplementation will decrease recurrence and mortality from CDI and these outcomes will be associated with improvement of inflammatory markers and restoration of intestinal microbiota function. Read Less

This observational, cross-sectional study is designed to validate a novel diagnostic test for the detection of phenotypic changes in the retina that correlate with likely PET amyloid status (negative or positive), to aid in the evaluation of adult patients with cognitive impairment who are being evaluated for Alzheimer's disease and other causes of cognitive decline. The CAS test is an adjunct to other diagnostic evaluations, and is indicated for use with the Optina Diagnostics' MHRC (K200254). Read Less

This clinical trial will investigate the effects of three surgical procedures and the associated post-operative rehabilitation to optimize time to return to military duty, work and sports, and patient-reported physical function for military personnel and civilians with traumatic anterior shoulder instability and 10-20% glenoid bone loss. Read Less

The purpose of this research repository is to collect, store, and share with other researchers any tissues that subjects with all types of neuromuscular disease are willing to donate. These samples will be stored at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and will be used for future research with this population. Read Less

A rater-blinded randomized controlled trial (RCT) will be conducted to compare the efficacy of MOVE-IT use in a remotely supervised home exercise program (HEP) to usual care for recovery of upper extremity (UE) function in children with hemiplegia. Read Less

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Substance Use Disorder (SUD) are highly comorbid, and comorbidity increases risk for poor functional outcomes. Risks for poor quality of life and suicide increase further for those with co-occurring PTSD and SUD diagnoses as compared to either condition alone, with suicide attempt rates three times higher for Veterans with alcohol use disorder and PTSD (Norman, Haller, Hamblen, Southwick & Pietrzak, 2018). For patients with PTSD-SUD, there is evidence of greater PTSD symptom severity and poorer SUD treatment outcomes (e.g., Back et al., 2000), as well as higher rates of homelessness and disability (Bowe & Rosenheck, 2015). PTSD-SUD treatments have shown promising reductions in PTSD and SUD symptoms (Flanagan, Korte, Killeen & Back,2016). Yet, there are still major challenges in widely implementing concurrent or single-target gold-standard treatments for this population, especially with rural veterans where care access may be limited (e.g., Flanagan et al., 2016). Written Exposure Therapy (WET) is a front-line, brief and effective treatment for PTSD that addresses some of the challenges posed by other gold-standard treatments. This project is designed to examine the feasibility and acceptability of Written Exposure Therapy (WET) delivered to Veterans with comorbid PTSD-SUD while they are completing a 28 day-residential SUD program (DOM SUD). The preliminary effects of the treatment during the program, and at one month and 3-month follow-up periods will also be examined, with particular attention to rates of substance use, homelessness, treatment attendance, treatment completion, quality of life, suicidality, and PTSD and depression symptoms. Veterans enrolled in the residential substance use disorder clinic will be recruited for screening into the study. Those that meet criteria for PTSD will be randomized into one of two treatment arms: Treatment as Usual (TAU: DOM SUD) and Written Exposure Therapy in a residential SUD program (resWET). Those in the TAU control group will participate in the DOM SUD treatment program, while those in the resWET group will also have five individual treatment sessions of WET. Participants will complete weekly measures of symptoms, in addition to rating cravings for substance use. Treatment completion rates will also be compiled for both DOM SUD and resWET. Participants will complete pre-treatment, post-treatment, 1 month, and 3 month follow-up measures to look for important trends regarding symptom responses to treatment (e.g., PTSD, depression), as well as suicide attempts, homelessness, treatment attendance, treatment completion, substance use, and quality of life. This preliminary data will be used to inform future studies. Additionally, providers will provide feedback to provide essential information about implementation barriers that need to be addressed for the broader uptake of the treatment approach and to enhance accessibility of the treatment. All Veterans will also provide feedback about their treatment. Findings will be used to improve the treatment and assessment approach and to prepare for a larger study to evaluate resWET. Read Less

The purpose of the current study is to evaluate whether a home-based, telehealth-supported intervention combining Blood Flow Restricted Exercise (BES) and Transspinal Stimulation (TS) will improve motor and functional abilities greater than BES+sham TS in persons with chronic, incomplete tetraplegia. Read Less