All Clinical Trials

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if dietary changes can help improve gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) symptoms. The main question\[s\] it aims to answer whether the Gracie Diet is an option to treat GERD symptoms in individuals wish to discontinue standard doses of PPI and / or H2 receptor antagonists. Participants will be taken off PPI and be placed on the Gracie Diet for 8 weeks. Information about the participants reflux symptoms and GERD health related quality of life will be collected to assess the effect of the diet. Read Less

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common complication of obesity which can progress to deadly complications like end-stage liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma. In the wake of the obesity epidemic, NAFLD is becoming the main etiology of liver transplantation in the US. Currently, there are no FDA approved pharmacological treatments for NAFLD. Weight loss through lifestyle modifications, pharmacotherapy and bariatric surgery can be effective strategies for the management of NAFLD. Even though substantial weight loss and improvement in NAFLD can be achieved with bariatric surgery, only a small proportion of patients with obesity undergo surgery. Very-low calorie diets (VLCD) are replacement meals manufactured to substitute natural foods and limited total intake of 800-960 kcal in divided meals. Very low-calorie diets can produce substantial weight loss of 10% over 2 to 3 months. We hypothesize that VLCD reduce liver steatosis and, fibrosis measured non-invasively with transient elastography. Our main aim is #1 to assess the effect of VLCD on liver fatty infiltration and fibrosis. We also have three exploratory aims exploring novel pathogenic factors that mediate the improvement of NAFLD by VLCD: #2 assess the effect of VLCD on micro RNAs (miRs) associated with pathophysiology of NAFLD: #3 assess the effect of VLCD on changes of salivary and fecal microbiome in the setting of NAFLD: #4 to determine the effect of VLCD on platelet function. This pilot project will produce preliminary data for the development of a larger grant application to study the efficacy of VLCD in the management of NAFLD. Furthermore, it will potentially identify factors that mediate improvement of NAFLD after VLCD. We will treat 10 subjects with obesity and NAFLD for 8 weeks with VLCD or lower calorie diet (control group) and obtain transient elastography before and after the interventions along with other measurements of interest. Our project may have significant impact by establishing VLCD as a clinically effective option for the improvement of liver steatosis and fibrosis in patients with obesity and NAFLD ineligible or without access to bariatric surgery. Read Less

The primary purpose of this study is to compare the quality of life (QOL) reported by prostate cancer patients 2 years after treatment with ultra-hypofractionated post-prostatectomy radiation therapy (also known as stereotactic body radiation therapy \[SBRT\]) versus the self-reported QOL of those treated with moderately hypo-fractionated post-prostatectomy radiation (a current standard of care option). Read Less

Dementia caused by Alzheimer's disease affects approximately 5.6 million adults over age 65, with costs expected to rise from $307 billion to $1.5 trillion over the next 30 years. Behavioral interventions have shown promise for mitigating neurodegeneration and cognitive impairments. Sleep is a modifiable health behavior that is critical for cognition and deteriorates with advancing age and Alzheimer's disease. Thus, it is a priority to examine whether improving sleep modifies Alzheimer's disease pathophysiology and cognitive function. Extant research suggests that deeper, more consolidated sleep is positively associated with memory and executive functions and networks that underlie these processes. Preliminary studies confirm that time-in-bed restriction interventions increase sleep efficiency and non-rapid eye movement slow-wave activity (SWA) and suggest that increases in SWA are associated with improved cognitive function. SWA reflects synaptic downscaling predominantly among prefrontal connections. Downscaling of prefrontal connections with the hippocampus during sleep may help to preserve the long-range connections that support memory and cognitive function. In pre-clinical Alzheimer's disease, hyperactivation of the hippocampus is thought to be excitotoxic and is shown to leave neurons vulnerable to further amyloid deposition. Synaptic downscaling through SWA may mitigate the progression of Alzheimer's disease through these pathways. The proposed study will behaviorally increase sleep depth (SWA) through four weeks of time-in-bed restriction in older adults characterized on amyloid deposition and multiple factors associated with Alzheimer's disease risk. This study will examine whether behaviorally enhanced SWA reduces hippocampal hyperactivation, leading to improved task-related prefrontal-hippocampal connectivity, plasma amyloid levels, and cognitive function. This research addresses whether a simple, feasible, and scalable behavioral sleep intervention improves functional neuroimaging indices of excitotoxicity, Alzheimer's pathophysiology, and cognitive performance. Read Less

The Percutaneous Cholangiopancreatoscopy (PCPS) registry is an observational, multicentric, prospective, and retrospective registry of patients undergoing the percutaneous cholangiopancreatoscopy procedure at sites across the United States. In the retrospective component of the study, clinical and procedural data regarding patients who have undergone clinical indicated percutaneous cholangiopancreatoscopy procedure in the past will be collected from all the registry sites and stored in a secure database. The prospective component of the registry will run for three years at each site where patients undergoing the clinically indicated percutaneous cholangiopancreatoscopy procedure will be enrolled in the study, and the patients' data will be collected whenever the patients present to interventional radiology (IR) for a procedure or clinic visit. Read Less

This study is a Phase 1b/2, dose-escalation, randomized, multicenter study to assess the efficacy, safety, tolerability, and PK of ivaltinostat in combination with capecitabine and capecitabine monotherapy in patients with metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma whose disease has not progressed on a first line fluoropyrimidine-based chemotherapy (e.g., FOLFIRINOX). In Phase 1b, 3 dose levels of ivaltinostat will be studied in combination with a fixed dose of capecitabine to determine the RP2D of ivaltinostat. In Phase 2, patients will be randomized in a 1:1 ratio to the combination of ivaltinostat and capecitabine or to capecitabine monotherapy. A fixed dose for capecitabine 1000 mg/m2 orally twice daily will be taken on Days 1 to 14, and the RP2D of ivaltinostat will be administered intravenously once a week for 2 weeks, followed by 1 week of rest. One cycle consists of 21 days. Tumor response during study treatment will be assessed every 6 weeks up to Cycle 10, then every 9 weeks afterwards using RECIST v1.1 criteria. Read Less

The purpose of this project is to conduct a randomized control trial with 470 Veterans to examine the impact of a revised version of Motivational Interviewing to Address Suicidal Ideation (MI-SI-R) on risk for suicide attempts and suicidal ideation when compared to high quality usual care. Read Less

The specific purpose of this clinical trial is to compare performance on rhythm perception and production tasks between children who stutter and children who do not stutter. The overall project also aims to investigate how performance on rhythm tasks may be related to brain activity (non-clinical trial). Read Less

The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the use of Super-resolution ultrasound (SRU) to assess the intrarenal microvasculature in patients with Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD) and healthy volunteers. Read Less

Latinos Understanding the Need for Adherence in Diabetes using Care Coordination, Integrated Medical and Behavioral Care and E-Health (LUNA-E) is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) that will test the effectiveness a patient-centered, team-based, primary care intervention with E-Health enhancements in improving glycemic control (primary outcome, hemoglobin A1C level) and psychological distress (secondary outcome; depression, anxiety symptoms). Read Less

Recently published data suggest that stimulation of the infrahyoid strap muscles increases pharyngeal patency in patients with obstructive sleep apnea, but the innervation of these muscles by the ansa cervicalis is variable. The investigators propose a study examining the anatomic variation of the ansa cervicalis and the effect of neurostimulation on muscle recruitment. Read Less

Although cochlear implants can restore hearing to individuals who have lost cochlear hair cell function, there is no widely available, adequately effective treatment for individuals suffering chronic imbalance, postural instability and unsteady vision due to bilateral vestibular hypofunction. Prior research focused on ototoxic cases has demonstrated that electrical stimulation of the vestibular nerve via a chronically implanted multichannel vestibular implant can partially restore vestibular reflexes that normally maintain steady posture and vision; improve performance on objective measures of postural stability and gait; and improve patient-reported disability and health-related quality of life. This single-arm open-label study extends that research to evaluate outcomes for up to 8 individuals with non-ototoxic bilateral vestibular hypofunction, yielding a total of fifteen adults (age 22-90 years at time of enrollment) divided as equally as possible between ototoxic and non-ototoxic cases. Read Less