Vanderbilt Clinical Trials

Providing Access to the Visual Environment is a pediatric low vision grant which has the ability to provide comprehensive, interdisciplinary low vision rehabilitation services to every child in Tennessee with a vision impairment. Children, ages 3-21, with best-corrected vision of 20/50 or worse in the better seeing eye are prescribed optical devices to improve their visual functioning and trained to use the devices.

Type: Observational

Start Date: Jul 2001

open study

Parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) is part of the body's autonomic nervous system(PNS) protects body against inflammation. Study shows that reduced PNS function activity is associated with persistent inflammation. Preliminary data from the studies shows, that post-COVID-19 POTS patients have reduced parasympathetic (PNS) function. Given that the PNS protects against inflammation, this clinical trial aims to prove that post-COVID-19 POTS is caused by reduced PNS activity, which in turn, contributes to persistent inflammation, orthostatic intolerance, and OI symptoms. The study will evaluate immune cell activation in post-COVID-19 POTS and patients with history of COVID-19 infection without sequelae and correlate this with the degree of decreased PNS activity.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Apr 2024

open study

This study wants to know if using handheld dynamometry (HHD) to test leg strength in persons who have had a stroke, will reduce mistakes and give therapists better information to use for therapy. This study will collect normal values of leg muscle peak force production, cumulative peak force production, and sustained peak force production in patients with chronic stroke.

Type: Observational

Start Date: Jun 2023

open study

The GAP Study is a prospective cohort study designed to comprehensively investigate genetic variations that may contribute to cancer development among individuals diagnosed with appendix/appendiceal cancer who are ages 18+ years.

Type: Observational

Start Date: Nov 2022

open study

Enroll-HD is a longitudinal, observational, multinational study that integrates two former Huntington's disease (HD) registries-REGISTRY in Europe, and COHORT in North America and Australasia-while also expanding to include sites in Latin America. More than 30,000 participants have now enrolled into the study. With annual assessments and no end date, Enroll-HD has built a large and rich database of longitudinal clinical data and biospecimens that form the basis for studies developing tools and biomarkers for progression and prognosis, identifying clinically-relevant phenotypic characteristics, and establishing clearly defined endpoints for interventional studies. Periodic cuts of the database are now available to any interested researcher to use in their research - visit www.enroll-hd.org/for-researchers/access-data/ to learn more.

Type: Observational [Patient Registry]

Start Date: Jul 2012

open study

Without an explanation for severe and sometimes life-threatening symptoms, patients and their families are left in a state of unknown. Many individuals find themselves being passed from physician to physician, undergoing countless and often repetitive tests in the hopes of finding answers and insight about what the future may hold. This long and arduous journey to find a diagnosis does not end for many patients- the Office of Rare Diseases Research (ORDR) notes that 6% of individuals seeking their assistance have an undiagnosed disorder. In 2008, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Undiagnosed Diseases Program (UDP) was established with the goal of providing care and answers for these individuals with mysterious conditions who have long eluded diagnosis. The NIH UDP is a joint venture of the NIH ORDR, the National Human Genome Research Institute Intramural Research Program (NHGRI-IRP), and the NIH Clinical Research Center (CRC) (1-3). The goals of the NIH UDP are to: (1) provide answers for patients with undiagnosed diseases; (2) generate new knowledge about disease mechanisms; (3) assess the application of new approaches to phenotyping and the use of genomic technologies; and (4) identify potential therapeutic targets, if possible. To date, the UDP has evaluated 3300 medical records and admitted 750 individuals with rare and undiagnosed conditions to the NIH Clinical Center. The NIH UDP has identified more than 70 rare disease diagnoses and several new conditions. The success of the NIH UDP prompted the NIH Common Fund to support the establishment of a network of medical research centers, the Undiagnosed Diseases Network (UDN), for fiscal years 2013-2020. The clinical sites will perform extensive phenotyping, genetic analyses, and functional studies of potential disease-causing variants. The testing performed on patients involves medically indicated studies intended to help reach a diagnosis, as well as research investigations that include a skin biopsy, blood draws, and DNA analysis. In addition, the UDN will further the goals of the UDP by permitting the sharing of personally identifiable phenotypic and genotypic information within the network. By sharing participant information and encouraging collaboration, the UDN hopes to improve the understanding of rare conditions and advance the diagnostic process and care for individuals with undiagnosed diseases....

Type: Observational

Start Date: Sep 2015

open study

Alpha-synucleinopathies refer to age-related neurodegenerative and dementing disorders, characterized by the accumulation of alpha-synuclein in neurons and/or glia. The anatomical location of alpha-synuclein inclusions (Lewy Bodies) and the pattern of progressive neuronal death (e.g. caudal to rostral brainstem) give rise to distinct neurological phenotypes, including Parkinson's disease (PD), Multiple System Atrophy (MSA), Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB). Common to these disorders are the involvement of the central and peripheral autonomic nervous system, where Pure Autonomic Failure (PAF) is thought (a) to be restricted to the peripheral autonomic system, and (b) a clinical risk factor for the development of a central synucleinopathy, and (c) an ideal model to assess biomarkers that predict phenoconversion to PD, MSA, or DLB. Such biomarkers would aid in clinical trial inclusion criteria to ensure assessments of disease- modifying strategies to, delay, or halt, the neurodegenerative process. One of these biomarkers may be related to the neurotransmitter dopamine (DA) and related changes in the substantia nigra (SN) and brainstem. [18F]F-DOPA is a radiolabeled substrate for aromatic amino acid decarboxylase (AAADC), an enzyme involved in the production of dopamine. Use of this radiolabeled substrate in positron emission tomography (PET) may provide insight to changes in monoamine production and how they relate to specific phenoconversions in PAF patients. Overall, this study aims to identify changes in dopamine production in key regions including the SN, locus coeruleus, and brainstem to distinguish between patients with PD, MSA, and DLB, which may provide vital information to predict conversion from peripheral to central nervous system disease.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Feb 2020

open study

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and PK of RM-718 in healthy subjects with obesity and in patients with hypothalamic obesity (HO).

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Mar 2024

open study

The VIVID study is structured in a master protocol format comprised of multiple parts that evaluate intravenous (IV) and subcutaneous (SC) VGA039 in healthy volunteers and subjects with von Willebrand Disease (VWD) and other bleeding disorders.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Mar 2023

open study

Firearm injuries are the leading cause of death for American youth. Strikingly, firearm suicide among adolescents is growing faster than other groups. Lethal means counseling is standard of care, however, infrequently occurs despite pediatricians recognizing the importance. Lack of time, topic discomfort, and inadequate resources for families are commonly reported barriers to counseling. By addressing these factors, we can improve counseling with the ultimate goal of increasing safe storage and reducing firearm injuries in youth. Children admitted in acute mental health crises while awaiting psychiatric hospital placement are a population at greater risk of suicide. We plan to implement a pilot intervention to offer secure storage counseling and storage device distribution to families of behavioral health patients who indicate firearm ownership on initial screening. The goal of this project is to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of firearm secure storage counseling and device provision in the inpatient setting.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Jul 2025

open study

The primary objective of the Vanderbilt Alzheimer's Disease Research Center (VADRC) is to provide local and national researchers with access to a well-characterized and diverse clinical cohort, including participant referrals, biosamples, clinical data, and neuroimaging data. The VADRC Clinical Core will create an infrastructure to support research efforts of both local and national investigator studies to develop early detection, prevention, and treatment strategies for Alzheimer's disease. The Clinical Core intends to enroll up to 1000 participants, including individuals who are cognitively unimpaired, have mild cognitive impairment, or have Alzheimer's disease. This cohort of about 1000 participants will be called the Tennessee Alzheimer's Project. Participants will be seen annually for comprehensive clinical characterization and then referred to other studies to enhance Alzheimer's disease research activities.

Type: Observational

Start Date: Oct 2021

open study

ARTFL LEFFTDS Longitudinal Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration (ALLFTD) represents the formalized integration of ARTFL (U54 NS092089; funded through 2019) and LEFFTDS (U01 AG045390; funded through 2019) as a single North American research consortium to study FTLD for 2019 and beyond.

Type: Observational

Start Date: Mar 2020

open study

This study will use an anticholinergic pharmacological probe to examine attention network function in SCD using EEG. The overall hypothesis is that in older adults with SCD, normal cognitive performance is maintained by compensatory attention network activity, supported by enhanced cholinergic function. The investigators anticipate that SCD will be associated with greater compensatory attention network activity and that disrupting this compensatory process through anticholinergic challenge will result in a greater negative effect on attentional performance (Attention Network Test, ANT) and attention network functioning (EEG) in older adults with greater subjective cognitive concern.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Mar 2025

open study

HDClarity will seek at least 2500 research participants at different stages of Huntington's disease (HD). The primary objective is to collect a high quality CSF sample for evaluation of biomarkers and pathways that will enable the development of novel treatments for HD. The secondary objective is to generate a high quality plasma sample collection matching the CSF collections, which will also be used to evaluate biomarkers and pathways of relevance to HD research and development.

Type: Observational

Start Date: Jan 2017

open study

ME&MG is a standalone software (digital solution) running on patients smartphones, connected to a web portal for physicians. It is intended to be used as an unsupervised digital self-assessment tool for the monitoring of disabilities in patients living with MG. ME&MG contains digital active tests for the assessment of ptosis, breathing, dysarthria, upper- and lower-limb (arms and legs) weakness, treatment follow-up, and validated e-questionnaires related to daily activities, pain, fatigue, sleep, and depression disorders. The objectives of this study are to validate the accuracy, reliability and reproducibility of the unsupervised at-home self-assessment of symptoms on the patient's smartphone with ME&MG versus the standard in-clinic testing, as well as to evaluate the safety of the solution, its usability and satisfaction.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Jan 2024

open study

This phase 1 clinical trial will evaluate the safety, reactogenicity, and immunogenicity of Boost-2867, given intramuscular (IM) with or without adjuvant or intranasal (IN) without adjuvant, as a booster dose to previously vaccinated healthy adults. Each of the six study sites will be assigned to enroll either only participants who will receive IM administration (3 sites) or only participants who will receive IN administration (3 sites); no site will administer both IM and IN study product administrations. Within the IM and IN Arms the cohorts will be sequentially enrolled. The study is designed as a non-randomized, open-label, dose-escalation clinical trial evaluating one dose level of Boost-2867 without adjuvant administered IM, three dose levels of Boost-2867 with adjuvant administered IM, and three dose levels of Boost-2867 without adjuvant administered IN. A sample size of 140 participants (20 participants per dose cohort) is anticipated. To evaluate for early safety signals for this first-in-human trial, study product administration of participants enrolled for IM administration and those enrolled for IN administration will proceed in a staged fashion. For Cohorts 1 (IM administration without adjuvant) and 5 (IN administration), which may be enrolled and dosed concurrently, 3 sentinel participants under 50 years of age will be enrolled in each Cohort over at least 2 days. For each of those Cohorts independently, a safety review of halting rules and clinical safety data through at least Day 8 will be conducted by the Protocol Safety Review Team (PSRT) prior to enrollment of the remainder of the cohort. Enrollment, dosing, and safety oversight for IM Cohorts 2, 3, and 4 will proceed in the same fashion as Cohort 1, except that sentinel enrollment need not be spaced over at least 2 days. Similarly, for IN Cohorts 6 and 7, enrollment and safety oversight will proceed in the same fashion as Cohort 5, except that sentinel enrollment need not be spaced over at least 2 days. The primary objectives are: 1) To evaluate the safety and reactogenicity of a single IM injection of three different antigen dose levels (5, 15, and 50 microgram) of Boost-2867 with Alhydrogel (R) (alum) and CpG 7909 adjuvants, and a single injection of 50 microgram Boost-2867 without adjuvant, in previously vaccinated healthy adults. 2) To evaluate the safety and reactogenicity of a single IN administration of three different antigen dose levels (20, 50, and 125 microgram) of Boost-2867 without adjuvant in previously vaccinated healthy adults.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Nov 2025

open study

The purpose of this study is to understand how cells of the immune system use the common sugar glucose to fuel energy production and as a building block within the cell. Investigators will intravenously infuse a non-radioactive glucose tracer into participants over a few hours and collect immune cells from the blood to track uptake and usage of this glucose within these immune cells.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Oct 2025

open study

It is hypothesize that patients with clinically diagnosed neurodegenerative diseases will have significantly different receptor occupancy of 5HT2A receptors compared to a healthy age/sex-matched control group. This will be tested by measuring 5HT2A receptor density using the PET radioligand (R)-[18F]MH.MZ in both populations.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Jan 2023

open study

This is a Phase 1, open-label, first-in-human, dose-escalation and expansion study of CHS-114, a monoclonal antibody that targets CCR8, as a monotherapy in patients with solid tumors.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Dec 2022

open study

The study investigators are interested in learning more about how drugs, that are given to children by their health care provider, act in the bodies of children and young adults in hopes to find the most safe and effective dose for children. The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the PK of understudied drugs currently being administered to children per SOC as prescribed by their treating provider.

Type: Observational

Start Date: Mar 2020

open study

Firearm injuries are the leading cause of death for American youth. While most of these deaths are homicides, approximately one third are suicides and 5% are unintentional shootings where a child gains access to an unsecured firearm and unintentionally pulls the trigger injuring or killing themselves or someone else. Secure firearm storage in the home has been shown to significantly reduce the risk of both unintentional shootings and intentional self-harm behavior. Additionally, approximately 75% of the guns that show up on school grounds come from the homes of youth or their family members or friends. Despite evidence that secure storage counseling delivered in the pediatric outpatient setting significantly improves secure storage behavior AND recommendations from the American Academy of Pediatrics to provide secure storage counseling during well child checks, rates of counseling continue to be low. The Be SMART program is aligned with the American Academy of Pediatrics policy statement and recommendations and provides a scalable solution to efficient counseling in the clinical setting. However, except for one single site inpatient study, the efficacy of the Be SMART program has not been formally evaluated in the inpatient pediatric setting. By rigorously evaluating the efficacy of specific secure storage interventions like Be SMART the investigators can eventually improve counseling frequency with the goal of increasing gun safety behaviors and reducing firearm injuries and deaths in youth. The investigators hypothesize the Be SMART educational intervention, when delivered in the pediatric inpatient setting, will lead to significant improvement in the primary gun safety behavior endpoint and the secondary endpoint among both gun owners and non-gun owners when compared to control group.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Sep 2025

open study

Our hypothesis is that optimal treatment of the dysfunctional metabolic pathways which underlie PAH will improve pulmonary vascular function and consequences of the disease.

Type: Observational

Start Date: Sep 2012

open study

This study aims to understand the heart and blood sugar health benefits of using an adjunctive therapy to lower high insulin levels in people with type 1 diabetes. The investigators will also look at people with a specific type of diabetes called Glucokinase-Maturity Onset Diabetes of the Young (GCK-MODY) and those without diabetes to help interpret the results. The investigators will use a medication that helps the body get rid of sugar, called and SGLT2 inhibitor, with the goal to reduce the body's insulin requirements. The investigators believe this could lead to better heart and blood sugar health, including a better response to insulin and more available nitric oxide, a gas that helps blood vessels function well. The investigators will compare heart and blood sugar health risk factors in participants with type 1 diabetes, participants with Glucokinase-Maturity Onset Diabetes of the Young (GCK-MODY), and non-diabetic healthy volunteers under two conditions: high insulin levels typical of type 1 diabetes and normal insulin levels typical of the other two groups.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Jul 2025

open study

This study will be a prospective randomized study to evaluate the effect of tranexamic acid (TXA) use on intraoperative and postoperative outcomes among patients undergoing rhinoplasty by two Facial Plastic surgeons at Vanderbilt. Outcomes will include intra- and post-operative bleeding and postoperative bruising and swelling.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Apr 2023

open study

The goal of this study is to compare the abuse potential of low-dose equianalgesic buccal buprenorphine to a commonly used full mu opioid receptor (MOR) agonist in a highly controlled experimental setting. This is a translational study in which healthy participants are phenotyped for psychosocial and Opioid-Use-Disorder-risk-related metrics. In a within-subjects crossover design, 60 participants will receive a standard postoperative oral oxycodone dose (10 mg), placebo, and 3 different doses of buccal buprenorphine across 5 separate sessions. Quantitative Sensory Testing (QST) will be used to evaluate alterations in pain responsiveness relative to placebo across buprenorphine doses and oxycodone, and will compare abuse potential (indexed by the standard FDA drug liking metric) following equianalgesic doses of the two drugs.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Oct 2023

open study