Vanderbilt Clinical Trials

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

ALAMO is a prospective, multi-center, perspective, registry of patients receiving LungCare™ (AlloSure®-Lung, AlloMap Lung, and HistoMap) for surveillance post-transplant. This study aims to evaluate the diagnostic performance characteristics of AlloSure Lung (dd-cfDNA) to detect a spectrum of rejection (ACR, AMR) and allograft infection (Bacterial, Viral, Fungal, Mycobacterial, Parasitic).

Type: Observational [Patient Registry]

Start Date: Oct 2021

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 proposed study will investigate whether an auditory brain training program can improve cochlear implant (CI) outcomes in older post-lingually deafened CI users. The study will evaluate the potential benefit of training on speech recognition performance, psychosocial and cognitive function.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: May 2022

open study

This involves development and application of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) methods for visualizing hemodynamic and metabolic relationships in healthy volunteers with advanced meditation experience.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Feb 2021

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

RATIONALE: Collecting and storing samples of tissue, saliva, and blood from patients with cancer and from healthy participants to study in the laboratory may help the study of cancer in the future. PURPOSE: This research study is collecting and storing tissue samples from patients with head and neck cancer and from healthy participants.

Type: Observational [Patient Registry]

Start Date: Feb 2003

open study

Evidence-based obesity treatment is inaccessible to most children in the United States. This lack of access is a source of health inequity, whereby children from rural and minority communities, who have the highest rates of childhood obesity, are also the least likely to receive an evidence-based intervention. Developing strategies to improve access to evidence-based obesity interventions could reduce health disparities by improving reach to these underserved communities. The premise of this study is that using a systematic framework to adapt a community-based behavioral intervention for childhood obesity that accounts for individual, family, and community factors will increase reach and effectiveness among low-income, minority, and rural populations. COACH is a multi-level obesity intervention that supports 1) the individual child through developmentally appropriate health behavior curriculum, 2) the family by directly addressing parent weight loss and engaging parents as agents of change for their children, and 3) the community by building the capacity of local community centers to offer parent-child programming. The investigators propose testing the process of adapting COACH in a cluster-randomized trial.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Oct 2024

open study

The goal of this randomized controlled trial is to compare the difference in quality of life at one year postoperatively for patients undergoing incisional hernia repair with mesh versus suture repair using modern techniques. The main question it aims to answer are: • Determine if primary suture repair is non-inferior to mesh repair for incisional hernias 2-6cm with respect to quality of life using the HerQLes summary score at one year postoperatively.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Nov 2022

open study

The purpose of this study is to obtain informed consent to use stored human biological materials (HBM) (e.g., blood and other tissues) for future studies that may include genetic testing.

Type: Observational

Start Date: Feb 2002

open study

The goal of this randomized clinical trial is to compare the effects of an online mindfulness program to an active supportive comparison condition and a no-intervention control group on reducing and preventing mood and anxiety symptoms in at-risk youth. Youth who are high on trait negative affect will be randomized to one of the three conditions. The primary outcomes of interest are reductions in momentary negative affect and internalizing problems in adolescents ages 12 to 17 years old. All participants will be evaluated prior to being randomized, after the 9-session intervention period, and at a 6-month follow-up. The first hypothesis is that the mindfulness intervention will predict decreases in stressor-reactive momentary negative affect and internalizing symptoms. The second hypothesis is that changes in momentary negative affect will partially account for the effects of the mindfulness intervention on internalizing symptoms.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Apr 2024

open study

The purpose of the Inherited CAncer REgistry (ICARE) Initiative is to provide individuals interested in participating in studies focused on inherited cancer predisposition the opportunity to enroll in a research registry. Efforts through the registry include, but are not limited to, contribution of data to observational studies, targeted gene-specific studies, and education and outreach efforts for both participants and recruiting healthcare providers. Participants are given the opportunity to learn about and participate in other efforts for which they may be eligible. All participants and recruiting healthcare providers receive educational newsletters twice per year which contain research and clinical updates in the field of cancer genetics. Providers who recruit patients can also access monthly web-based genetics case conferences which focus on different topics each month and are generally attended by a guest expert who provides background information on the topic as well as comments on the case presentations. Participation in ICARE involves completion of an informed consent form, baseline questionnaire, follow-up questionnaires every two years, and medical record/tumor releases, as applicable. There is no cost to participate and all correspondence can be facilitated through phone, email, or mail. Enrollment can be completed either through a traditional paper-based consenting method (i.e. postal mail) or through the online enrollment option available on the ICARE website (InheritedCancer.net). If you are a patient interested in learning more or a provider interested in recruiting to ICARE, please visit our website where you may complete an online contact form requesting a study team member contact you.

Type: Observational [Patient Registry]

Start Date: Feb 2017

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 SCD compared to those without SCD.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Apr 2022

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

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

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