Clinical Trials

The purpose of this protocol is to perform a pilot prospective randomized controlled clinical trial to evaluate the potential role of lung fissure completion strategy (experimental intervention) in addition to endobronchial valve (EBV) placement (representing "standard-of-care") in select patients with severe COPD/emphysema and with evidence for <95% fissure completion between adjacent lung lobes. In select patients, lung fissure completion strategy will be performed by either video-assisted thorascopic surgery (VATS)-guided or robotic-guided stapling along the lung fissures in an attempt to reduce collateral ventilation and determine whether or not this experimental strategy will improve outcome following subsequent EBV placement. EBV placement will follow successful VATS-guided or robotic-guided fissure stapling.

The study will enroll approximately 20 patients at BIDMC, and outcomes will focus on procedure-related complications, physiological measurements (ex., FEV1 by pulmonary function testing) and clinical symptoms (i.e., questionnaires). Patient will be followed for 3-month period, receiving usual standard of care during the 3 months of follow-up. The goal of this protocol is to determine if elimination of significant collateral lung ventilation between lung lobes is possible, and whether such strategy to eliminate collateral lung ventilation between lobes improves outcomes following subsequent EBV placement (i.e. promotes atelectasis of diseased lung segments) in the management of severe COPD/emphysema in appropriate candidates. For subjects in the medical management control group, upon completion of the 3-month F/U period, they will be eligible for EBV if they choose.

This research is being done to determine how effective dostarlimab in combination with cobolimab is in metastatic or recurrent cervical cancer.

The purpose of this protocol is to perform a pilot prospective controlled clinical trial to evaluate the potential role of lung fissure completion with pleural adhesiolysis strategy (experimental intervention) in severe emphysema/COPD patients with failed bronchoscopic lung volume reduction (BLVR) via the use of endobronchial valves (EBVs) therapy. In select patients, the lung fissure completion with adhesiolysis strategy will be performed by video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) guided stapling along the lung fissures to reduce collateral ventilation with adhesions removal and determine whether this experimental strategy will improve outcomes after failed BLVR in patients with severe emphysema/COPD.

Our objective is to find an effective prophylactic intervention by evaluating IV acetaminophen's impact in reducing the frequency of postoperative delirium, one of the most common and detrimental complications of cardiac surgery in older adults.

The goal of this clinicial trial is to test the acceptability and feasibility of linear cognitive aid intervention to support EMS teams in responding to pediatric emergencies. We are testing the hypothesis that cognitive aids with linear logic will be feasible to use and acceptable to EMS teams in urban and rural areas.

Researchers will compare technical performance, teamwork, and self-assessed cognitive load of participants to see the difference between performing resuscitations using their current standard with existing cognitive aids and using our linear cognitive aid.

Participants' teams will:

perform in situ high-fidelity simulation of two critical children's resuscitation scenarios

be randomized to 1) perform both resuscitations with their current standard with existing cognitive aids or 2) perform both resuscitations using our linear cognitive aid.

The goal of this nonrandomized pilot study is to test a mind-body interventional approach for the treatment of chronic upper extremity pain or repetitive stress injury of the upper extremity (wrist/shoulder/elbow).

To determine if a mind-body intervention improves upper extremity functional capacity (ie., Disability of Arm Shoulder Hand - DASH) among people with chronic wrist, elbow, and shoulder pain

To determine if a mind-body intervention decreases pain intensity, pain-related anxiety, and overall somatic complaints in our trial participants.

To tailor the intervention and the outcomes assessment procedures for conducting a trial in a population with upper extremity pain.

This study evaluates the effect of hypertonic saline 23.4% injection in fistulas or sinus tracts in adult patients with hidradenitis suppurativa.

Traditionally, the severity of a blockage (stenosis) in a coronary artery has been determined by visual angiographic assessment of the diameter of the artery at the level of a blockage compared to a normal healthy area of the same artery. With the advent of invasive physiological testing to assess coronary blood flow, multiple clinical trials have demonstrated a clinical benefit to a physiology-guided percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) approach. However, despite this and the potential for significant variation in the interpretation of coronary artery stenosis severity by visual angiography alone to guide PCI, invasive physiologic indices remain significantly under-utilized.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the physiologic significance of coronary lesions deemed angiographically severe by visual estimation that are planned for PCI. The investigators plan to perform blinded physiologic assessment pre and post PCI. The primary aim of the study is to determine whether a subset of lesions visually estimated as severe by angiography treated with stent placement/PCI may in fact not be physiologically significant when assessed invasively, and thus PCI could safely be deferred in these patients. A secondary aim is to evaluate physiologic assessment post PCI to detect residual ischemia that could be utilized to optimize stent placement.

Anesthesia is crucial during upper GI endoscopy in order to improve the procedural conditions for the interventionist, increase the quality of examination and alleviate patient discomfort. However, sedation during endoscopy carries a serious risk of blood oxygen desaturation.

This study aims to investigate the hypothesis if the application of high-flow nasal oxygen (HFNO) during high-risk gastroscopy reduces the risk of blood oxygen levels to drop below a defined threshold. Enrolled patients will be randomly assigned to either the control group, receiving standard care during endoscopy, or the intervention group, receiving HFNO therapy during the procedure. Throughout the intervention, vital parameters will be recorded. Care providers will be asked to answer a questionnaire that specifically evaluates the effect of HFNO on patient safety and the procedure.

Investigators aim to conduct a type 1 hybrid effectiveness-implementation surgeon-level cluster randomized clinical trial (RCT) of a multi-level intervention, a shared decision making training for surgeons plus patient decision aid vs. usual care (UC), at 6 large health systems in 4 regions to learn the intervention's effectiveness. Decision aids will be mailed and sent via patient portal and/or via email (when portal/email addresses are available) to patients before their first surgical encounter. The central hypothesis is that the novel intervention will be a key resource to support shared decision making leading to higher quality treatment decisions and as result improved care and outcomes.

The purpose of the study is to determine the optimal surgical approach (ventral vs dorsal) for patients with multi-level cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM). There are no established guidelines for the management of patients with CSM, which represents the most common cause of spinal cord injury and dysfunction in the US and in the world.

This study aims to test the hypothesis that ventral surgery is associated with superior Short Form-36 physical component Score (SF-36 PCS) outcome at one year follow-up compared to dorsal approaches and that both ventral and dorsal surgery improve symptoms of spinal cord dysfunction measured using the modified Japanese Orthopedic Association Score (mJOA). A secondary hypothesis is that health resource utilization for ventral surgery, dorsal fusion, and laminoplasty surgery are different. A third hypothesis is that cervical sagittal balance post-operatively is a significant predictor of SF-36 PCS outcome.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) has been traditionally considered incurable and untreatable. But starting in the 1990s with the introduction of Riluzole, therapies are being discovered and ultimately approved for slowing disease progression. Many pharmaceutical companies continue to seek new therapeutic approaches. One critical aspect of all clinical trials is the need track to progression sensitively to identify the impact of therapy. Tools to track ALS progression must be convenient, objective, require minimal training, be easily standardized, cost-efficient, and have the potential to be applied effectively at home. There has been a push to identify accurate, objective biomarkers of ALS progression. In this study, the investigators propose to use Electrical impedance myography (EIM) to evaluate the progression of the disease. Work has shown that the EIM 50 kilohertz (kHz) phase value from one or more muscles, followed sequentially, can serve as an effective overall biomarker for assessing the rate of ALS progression for a single person.

The goal of this exploratory study is to test a mind-body interventional approach for the treatment of chronic migraines. The main goal is to obtain feasibility information on the protocol which has been used in other similar conditions. We will also evaluate multiple measurement tools in order to optimize a follow-up pilot study evaluating the impact of the protocol on migraines.

Pain is among the most frequently reported symptoms in Long COVID, along with sleep disturbances, fatigue, and cognitive impairments. Sleep plays a critical role in maintaining a pain-free state. The goal of this study is to characterize the type and severity of pain in Long COVID, to characterize sleep and sleep disturbances in Long COVID, and to understand the role of sleep in the development and persistence of pain symptoms in Long COVID.

Goal of this project is to investigate whether increases in inflammation that result from common patterns of restricting sleep on week nights and catching up on sleep over the weekend are caused by disruption in the newly discovered inflammatory resolution pathways. These pathways are crucial in the active termination of the inflammatory response, and their disruption may contribute to ongoing unresolved inflammation, which has been observed not only during periods of sleep restriction, but also after recovery sleep has been obtained. If the hypothesis is true, it is possible that increasing the body's natural production of endogenous, inflammatory resolution mediators may provide a non-behavioral strategy to limit the inflammatory consequences in those undergoing periods of sleep restriction with intermittent recovery sleep.

The purpose of this protocol is to investigate, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the effect of treatment with lorcaserin on centers of the brain that control appetite and food intake, as well as lorcaserin's downstream metabolic effects.

The purpose of this protocol is to investigate the effect of treatment with the study drug Liraglutide, a GLP-1 receptor agonist, on centers of the brain that control appetite and food intake.

This study is being done to determine the feasibility and safety of using a novel dose adjusted apixaban for the management of participants with cancer-associated venous thromboembolism (blood clot) or and thrombocytopenia (low number of platelets in the blood). Investigators are also looking to see if participants on this treatment have fewer bleeding episodes.

The name of the study drug involved in this study is:

-Apixiban (a type of anticoagulant)

Acute hypoxemia is common and deadly in resource variable settings. While studies in high income countries (HICs) have indicated a possible benefit to high flow oxygen as compared with standard flow oxygen, rigorous studies in low or lower middle income countries (LMICs) have not been performed. Studies in sepsis have demonstrated that interventions that improve outcomes in one context may actually be neutral or harmful in a different context.

The goal of this study is to test whether high flow oxygen results in better outcomes for hypoxemic adult patients, as compared with standard flow oxygen, in five LMIC hospitals. The main questions it aims to answer are:

For hypoxemic adults in these LMIC study settings, does high flow oxygen or standard flow oxygen result in lower mortality?

What are the facilitators and barriers to using high flow oxygen in these settings?

Does high flow or standard flow oxygen use more oxygen?

Participants will be randomized to receive either high flow oxygen through a large nasal cannula, or to receive standard flow oxygen, through nasal cannulas, face masks, or non-rebreather masks. Researchers will compare the outcomes for the two groups, to see if one group of patients has better outcomes than the other.

The study will also examine how much oxygen is used by the two patient groups, as well as other factors relevant to the feasibility of implementation of high flow oxygen in these sites.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) involving the colon is a known risk for colon cancer. There are two standards-of-care colonoscopy techniques used for screening all patients who suffer from IBD for more than eight years. One method is to obtain random biopsies throughout the colon and the other is by using dye spraying chromo-colonoscopy.

This trial aims to study the difference between the two colonoscopy techniques during the era of high definition camera in detecting neoplastic lesions during screening patients with long-standing IBD.

In the PATHFINDER 2 trial, the study investigators will test the intraoperative EEG-guided multimodal general anesthesia (MMGA) management strategy in combination with a postoperative protocolized analgesic approach to:

reduce the incidence of perioperative neurocognitive dysfunction in cardiac surgical patients

ensure hemodynamic stability and decrease use of vasopressors in the operating rooms

reduce pain and opioid consumption postoperatively

The purpose of this pilot study is to assess the feasibility of delivering a multicomponent prehabilitation and measuring patient-centered outcomes in older adults undergoing major surgery.

The purpose of this protocol is to perform a prospective, randomized, double-blinded, pacebo-controlled clinical trial to determine the influence of a non-invasive positive pressure ventilation device on exercise capacity and symptoms in adult patients with ECAC. Primary outcome will include the total distance traversed by the study subject during a standard 6-minute walk test, and secondary outcomes will include peak flow measurement and symptom reporting before and after the exercise testing. The study will focus on the use of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device. CPAP is FDA-approved for the treatment of various medical conditions, including obstructive sleep apnea and heart failure, but is not FDA-approved for the treatment of ECAC. The study will enroll 32 ambulatory study subjects with confirmed ECAC at the BIDMC, and each study subject will be monitored for up to 3 months.

This research study is for patients with metastatic breast cancer.

Metastatic means that the cancer has spread beyond the breast. In addition, through genetic testing of the blood or tumor, an altered gene has been found that suggests the tumor may not be able to repair its genetic material (DNA) when it becomes damaged.

This aspect of the cancer may cause it to be more sensitive - that is, more effectively killed by certain types of drugs such as the study agent being evaluated in this trial, Olaparib.

Olaparib is a type of drug known as a PARP inhibitor. Some types of breast cancer and ovarian cancer share some basic features that make them sensitive to similar treatments. Information from those other research studies suggests that this drug may help to treat metastatic breast cancer.

This study will evaluate whether olaparib is effective in breast cancer patients whose tumor has a mutation in one of the other genes that function with BRCA1 and BRCA2 to repair damaged DNA .This mutation may have been inherited from a parent, or may have developed only in the tumor.

This study will also evaluate whether olaparib is effective in breast cancer patients whose tumor has a mutation in BRCA1 or BRCA2 that was acquired by the tumor, but not inherited.

This trial is designed to study a combination of interventions (chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and radiation) as a potential new treatment for bile duct cancer that cannot be removed with surgery.

The specific names of the interventions that will be used are:

Y-90 (a type of radiation microsphere bead)

Durvalumab (a type of immunotherapy)

Gemcitabine (a type of chemotherapy)

Cisplatin (a type of chemotherapy)

The purpose of the project is to perform an RCT comparing patient satisfaction and outcome with or without the use of an expert panel. The purpose is also to create a registry to compare the effectiveness of decompression alone versus decompression with fusion for patients with degenerative grade I spondylolisthesis and symptomatic lumbar spinal stenosis. Primary analysis will focus on the patients' improvement from baseline patient-reported outcome questionnaires.

In addition, the SLIP II registry aims to (i) develop an algorithm which could identify cases in which surgical experts are likely to recommend one treatment (i.e. >80% of experts recommend one form of treatment) and (ii) develop a radiology-based machine learning algorithm that would prospectively classify patients as either 'stable' or 'unstable.'

In addition to patient reported outcomes, step counts will be collected in order to determine the correlation of step count with patient-reported outcomes (ODI and EQ-5D) and the need for re-operation.

This registry portion of the study aims to prospectively collect comparative data for these patients treated with either decompression alone or decompression with fusion.

The OPTIMIZE Trial compares whether iDose dashboard-driven infliximab dosing (iDose-driven dosing) is more effective and safer than standard infliximab dosing for inducing and maintaining disease remission in inflammatory bowel disease.

This study evaluates the influence of home air purification on the lung health of adults with eosinophilic COPD. Half of the participants will receive real air purifiers (HEPA filters) and half will receive sham air purifiers.

The study investigates the efficacy and safety of dupilumab in the treatment of keloids

This prospective, open-label, randomized-controlled trial is designed to evaluate the use of the Traxi panniculus retractor-- a commercially available Class I FDA-exempt device will improve surgical outcomes, cardiopulmonary function, and provider/patient satisfaction in morbidly obese women undergoing cesarean delivery.

This is a laboratory study where the investigators hope to look at chromosomal events implicated in bladder cancer.

This study aims to investigate the effect of a 15-minute meditation practice on sleep architecture and high-frequency Heart Rate Variability (HF-HRV), as well as cognitive performance after both a well-rested and sleep-deprived night.

This study is a waitlisted randomized controlled trial. We aim to assess the level of compliance for those learning the intervention and to evaluate the impact of the practice on neuropsychological and somatic outcomes using validated scales. Enrollment into the study will be ongoing until we are able to get a sufficient sample size as described in the "Statistical Consideration" section. Upon enrollment and randomization, surveys will be administered to both the intervention and control groups at four time-points: baseline, T2, T3, and T4, each of which are 6 weeks apart. Compliance data will be collected weekly for 12 weeks for both groups.

This study aims to assess the impact of brief digitally delivered breathing practice and guided meditation on post-Covid physical and mental symptoms in Long Covid Patients.

This research study to determine the effectiveness of the AveCure Flexible Microwave Ablation Probe to destroy cancerous lung nodules up to 3 c m in size.

This research study involves microwave ablation (MWA)

A Prospective Comparative Study Of Monoclonal Antibodies For The Treatment Of Alzheimer's Disease

The purpose of this study is to determine if analysis of DNA and protein material found in urine will be useful in the detection of urothelial cancer of the bladder and kidney. This analysis may be helpful to determine if how a particular cancer will act regarding remission and recurrence

A multicenter, randomized, parallel-group, placebo-controlled, double-blind, Phase 1/2a clinical study to investigate the safety, tolerability, immunogenicity and exploratory efficacy of a vaccine regimen consisting of an Ad26.Mos4.HIV prime and a boost with Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA)-BN-HIV in combination with broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAb) PGT121, PGDM1400, and VRC07-523LS in human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)-infected study participants on suppressive anti-retroviral therapy (ART).

The primary purpose of this phase 2a study is to compare the efficacy of abrocitinib to placebo in improving severe fatigue in non-hospitalized adults with symptomatic Post-COVID Condition (PCC) (also called Long COVID). We are also interested in learning if abrocitinib is effective in improving overall health status in people suffering from severe fatigue from PCC. Eligible participants with a confirmed history of COVID19 infection who also have PCC according to the World Health Organization definition, will be randomized to receive abrocitinib at a dose of 50 mg, 100 mg, or placebo by mouth daily for 12 weeks (84 days).

The goal of this study is to test a new way to improve sleep quality in persons living with mild cognitive impairment. The treatment combines a safe and gentle way to stimulate the brain, called transcranial magnetic stimulation, with a psychological treatment, called cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia.

This research is being done to determine if the combination of the Dendritic Cell (DC)/ Multiple Myeloma (MM) fusion vaccine with elranatamab is safe and effective in treating Relapsed or Refractory Multiple Myeloma (MM).

The names of the study drugs and vaccine involved in this study are:

DC/MM fusion vaccine (a personalized cancer vaccine in which harvested participant tumor cells are fused with harvested participant dendritic blood cells)

Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor (GM-CSF) (a type of growth factor)

Elranatamab (a type of T-cell engager antibody)

This study will include any participant who registered, and plans to attend the Inner Engineering In-Person Completion Course. In 2019, this course was offered in: Los Angeles in March, Philadelphia in April and Toronto & Dallas in November. This study has been involved in every IECO Course since 2019 and is still active today. Beginning in August 2021, investigators will recruit for the August Inner Engineering In-Person Completion Course. Investigators anticipate that this study can include up to 5,000 study participants. Participants would attend this course and complete the pre-modules regardless of whether or not they participate in this study.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether treatment with tiagabine (Gabitril) during the early course of schizophrenia can fundamentally correct the brain deficits associated with the disease.

This study is funded by the National Institutes of Health.

This research study is studying a targeted therapy known as GO-203-2C as a possible treatment for with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) both alone and in combination with decitabine. GO-203-2c targets cancer cells, while leaving healthy cells unaffected.This is a Phase I/II clinical trial. A Phase I clinical trial tests the safety of an investigational intervention and also tries to define the appropriate dose of the investigational intervention to use for further studies.

The purpose of this research study is to determine the safety of CT-011 alone, as well as the combination of the Dendritic cell fusion vaccine and CT-011, after autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT). We are also trying to find out what effect the combination has on the disease, including if it is more successful in preventing or delaying the disease from coming back, compared to treatment with autologous transplantation alone. ASCT is a standard therapy for multiple myeloma that is often successful in significantly decreasing the amount of cancer in the body. CT-011 is an investigational monoclonal antibody. Monoclonal antibodies are a type of drug given by infusion into a vein and are known to target specific cells (in this case, cells in the immune system). The dendritic cell fusion vaccine is an investigational agent that tries to help the immune system to recognize and fight against cancer cells. Unlike a standard vaccine that is used to prevent infections, cancer vaccines are being studied to see if they can fight cancers that are already in the body.

This study will explore whether a 21-minute meditation practice called Shambhavi Mahamudra Kriya leads to changes in brain health and explore how it affects cognitive and physiological function.

This research study is studying a cancer vaccine called Dendritic Cell/AML Fusion vaccine (DC/AML vaccine) as a possible treatment for Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML).

The interventions involved in this study are:

Dendritic Cell/AML Fusion vaccine (DC/AML vaccine)

Decitabine, a chemotherapy drug

The primary objective of this study is to examine the safety and effectiveness of physician-modified endovascular grafts (PMEGs) for endovascular repair of complex aortic pathology in high-risk patients. The study is divided into three study arms based on the subject's aortic pathology: (1) Complex abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA); (2) Thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm; and (3) Aortic dissection.

This is a prospective observational study, the purpose of which is to:

Characterize response of the AV conduction system to TAVR with various prostheses by recording continuous His bundle electrograms during valve placement.

Correlate preprocedure ECG features with changes in AV nodal and infranodal conduction during placement of the valve prosthesis.

Correlate changes in AV nodal and infranodal conduction during the procedure with risk of developing AV conduction block after TAVR.

Assess the contribution of stressing the conduction system by atrial pacing prior to and following TAVR to prediction of postprocedural heart block.

Assess the correlation between new onset bundle branch block, site and degree of conduction block or delay and subsequent development of high-grade or complete AV block.

The purpose of this research is to determine whether BOTOX injections will reduce seizure frequency and severity. We chose to test its effects on epilepsy because epilepsy and migraine have common features so, are often treated with common drugs.