All Clinical Trials

Major progress has been made in the area of cardiovascular disease, but we believe that further progress will involve mechanistically addressing underlying respiratory causes including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The most common cause of death in COPD is cardiovascular, although mechanisms are unknown. OSA has been associated with major neurocognitive and cardiovascular sequelae, the latter likely a function of autonomic nervous system abnormalities, oxidative stress, inflammation, and other pathways. Recent data suggest that individuals with OVS die preferentially of cardiovascular disease compared to OSA or COPD alone, although mechanisms are again unclear. The combination of OSA and COPD may lead to profound hypoxemia. Individuals with COPD can develop pulmonary hypertension via disturbances in gas exchange and parenchymal injury leading to loss of pulmonary vasculature. OSA has been associated with mild to moderate pulmonary hypertension, but the situation may be worse if combined with parenchymal lung disease. The biological response to sustained hypoxemia has been carefully studied as has the topic of intermittent hypoxemia; however, to our knowledge, very little research has occurred regarding the combination of sustained plus intermittent hypoxia as seen in OVS. For example, we do not really know whether individuals with OVS develop coronary disease, right or left heart failure, dysrhythmias or some combination of abnormalities predisposing them to cardiovascular death. Thus, design of interventional studies is challenging as causal pathways are poorly understood despite our considerable preliminary data addressing these issues. The purpose of this study is to examine vascular mechanisms in individuals with COPD/OSA overlap syndrome (OVS) compared with matched individuals with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) alone or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) alone and to perform a phase II pilot mechanistic clinical trial in OVS to examine the effect size of nocturnal bi-level positive airway pressure (PAP) vs. nocturnal oxygen therapy in cardiovascular outcomes. Read Less

The PREFACE Study is a prospective, longitudinal cohort study of reproductive health and clinical outcomes among individuals diagnosed with colorectal cancer between age 18 to 49 years. Read Less

The primary objective of this study is to determine the magnitude and breadth of the serum antibody response to the nonavalent HPV vaccine (Gardasil-9) in adults with well-controlled HIV infection. The secondary objectives of the study are to observe short term clinical outcomes of prevalent HPV genotype-specific anogenital infections in adults living with HIV who complete the three-dose Gardasil-9 vaccine series, and to determine the protection afforded by Gardasil vaccine over time in previously vaccinated adults living with HIV. The clinical hypothesis is that adults with virologically controlled HIV mount a serum antibody response to the nonavalent HPV vaccine that is comparable to HIV negative counterparts. We also postulate that HPV vaccination will provide short-term clinical benefit against HPV infections and disease associated with vaccine genotypes and continuing protection against vaccine genotypes of HPV over time. Read Less

To examine the extent to which Cannabidiol (CBD) enhances fear conditioning extinction in college undergraduates who show elevated social anxiety. Undergraduates who display elevated social anxiety on standard assessments will be recruited at the University of Connecticut. All participants will be put in a standard fear conditioning paradigm where they are conditioned to fear a face that occasionally is followed by a shock to their wrist. The other face never is paired with a shock. After everybody learns this, half of the participants will receive 600 mg CBD Isolate Gel Capsules one time, and the other half will receive a placebo dose. Participants will then be presented with the faces with no shocks, and the rate and duration of extinction as measured by electrodermal response as well as subjective fear ratings via a visual analogue scale will be examined. It is hypothesized that participants that receive CBD will display enhanced extinction compared to the placebo group, as evidenced by reduced electrodermal response and reduced visual analogue fear ratings. Read Less

The goal of this study is to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of adjuvant chemoradiation therapy in high-risk breast cancer patients who had received neoadjuvant chemotherapy before their lumpectomy and/or mastectomy and were found to have residual disease. As well as examine the effects of this treatment combination on the immune system. Read Less

This is a single group prospective study to determine the feasibility for generating brain maps that localize cerebral functions and inter-regional information flow in partial epilepsy in adult patients. Read Less

An important aspect of successful genomic medicine implementation is developing effective approaches for screening at-risk family members after probands are identified, also known as cascade screening. Most cascade screening studies conducted to date have been conducted outside the US, and very few studies have used a rigorous approach involving a comparator group or randomized controlled design. A major question in the field is how to most effectively implement cascade screening, given commonly cited communication barriers, while respecting privacy among probands and family members. This study will conduct a randomized controlled trial to assess direct contact of relatives by study team members vs indirect, or proband-initiated, contact. We will assess efficacy of the cascade screening intervention, patient-centered outcomes regarding mental, physical, and psychosocial outcomes in probands and family members, and implementation evaluation outcomes. Individuals who are known to carry the KCNQ1 Met224Thr or APOB Arg3527Gln variant will be eligible to participate. After providing consent and being deemed eligible, individuals will be randomized in a 1:1 manner into the direct or indirect contact of family members arm of the study. The randomization will be stratified by variant to ensure equal representation of each variant in the study arms. Individuals in the indirect arm will be instructed to contact their first-degree family members about the opportunity to be screened. They will be provided with a disease-specific pamphlet and a family letter explaining the cascade screening. In the direct arm, probands will be advised that the study staff will be contacting their family members. They will be instructed to also contact their family members prior to the study team contacting them. Approximately two weeks after this meeting with the proband, the study staff will mail letters to eligible first-degree family members of the probands. If we do not hear back from individual family members, we will follow-up with another letter, telephone call, or home visit. The information contained in the letters will be the same information for both the direct and indirect arms of the study. All interested family members will receive pre-test counseling and free, in-home, saliva-based genetic testing, and post-test counseling. Read Less

The objective of this study is to investigate if MRI can be used to evaluated effect of knee artery embolization for knee osteoarthritis. Participants be evaluated in clinic, obtain a knee MRI, undergo embolization of the symptomatic knee, and follow up in clinic at 1, 6, and 12 months after embolization. A second MRI is obtained 6 months after embolization. Participants will keep a record of their pain level and treatment and answer questionnaires at each visit. In addition, this study aims to determine the effects of knee artery embolization on the amount of opioid (pain reliever drugs) needed to manage osteoarthritis-associated pain and change in quality of life. Read Less

This is a multi- centered two-stage Pilot Study assessing the tolerability and toxicity of an alternating regimen of FOLFOX and FOLFIRI for the treatment of newly diagnosed and untreated metastatic pancreatic cancer in patients over the age of 65 years. Read Less

This proposal will investigate the effect of paricalcitol, hydroxychloroquine, and losartan (PHL) combination of 3 stroma-modifying drugs on pancreatic adenocarcinoma and its stroma. Read Less

To learn if the combination of atezolizumab and tiragolumab can help to control bladder cancer when it is given before surgery to remove the bladder and tumor. Read Less

This project focuses on anti-seizure medication (ASM) clearance and physiological factors determining blood concentrations in pregnant adult women with epilepsy and amounts of exposure to their unborn children and nursing infants. Read Less