Boston University - Clinical & Translational Science Institute

The primary purpose of this study is to assess the efficacy and safety of the etonogestrel (ENG) contraceptive implant during participants' fourth and fifth years of use when used as the only method of contraception. The ENG implant is currently approved for a 3-year duration, and this study aims to confirm available evidence suggesting that the ENG implant remains highly effective when used up to 5 years.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Nov 2020

open study

The treatment of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) in an accessible manner represents an unmet need for those with cardiovascular disease (CVD), given that patients with CVD experience numerous barriers for in-person treatment engagement. The research plan for the proposed pilot project will entail: (1) open study of the acceptability of the digital intervention (N=5), followed by (2) recruitment and randomization of 90 individuals with a history of acute CVD events and clinical levels of GAD symptoms to dCBT or a waitlist (Control) condition, using a 1.5:1 allocation (dCBT:Control).

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Feb 2022

open study

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of repurposed medications (study drug(s) in reducing symptoms of non-hospitalized participants with mild to moderate COVID-19. Participants will receive either study drug or placebo. They will self-report any new or worsening symptoms or medical events they may experience while taking study drug or placebo. This study is intended to be all remote with no in person visits, unless the study team feels it is in the best interest of a participant to see them in person.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Jun 2021

open study

Since its launch in 2004, the overarching aim of the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) has been realized in informing the design of therapeutic trials in AD. ADNI3 continues the previously funded ADNI-1, ADNI-GO, and ADNI-2 studies that have been combined public/private collaborations between academia and industry to determine the relationships between the clinical, cognitive, imaging, genetic and biochemical biomarker characteristics of the entire spectrum of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The overall goal of the study is to continue to discover, optimize, standardize, and validate clinical trial measures and biomarkers used in AD research.

Type: Observational

Start Date: Oct 2016

open study

Purpose: About 6.4% of the U.S. population suffers from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Trauma-focused psychotherapies are generally effective in PTSD, but responses vary greatly across individuals and PTSD subpopulations. Neurobiological factors impacted by life experiences, stress, and genetics can affect treatment responses. These factors can alter brain capacities needed to reprocess traumatic memories prevent them from triggering intensely distressing, disruptive, out-of-place responses. For example, during psychotherapy for PTSD, trauma memory activation engages two competing brain processes that affect recovery: "extinction" versus "reconsolidation" of trauma-related emotional, physiological, and behavioral responses. This study tests whether a single intravenous (IV) dose of allopregnanolone (Allo) compared to placebo (which is non-active): 1. promotes consolidation of extinction learning (sub-study 1) or 2. blocks reconsolidation physiological responses triggered by aversive memories (sub-study 2). The study also tests whether Allo compared to placebo affects retention of non-aversive memories.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Mar 2022

open study

The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of treating opioid use disorder (OUD) in pregnant women with extended-release buprenorphine (BUP-XR), compared to sublingual buprenorphine (BUP-SL), on mother and infant outcomes. The primary hypothesis is that the BUP-XR group will not have greater illicit opioid use than the BUP-SL group during pregnancy (non-inferiority).

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Jul 2020

open study

The primary purpose of this study is to determine whether treatment with lecanemab is superior to placebo on change from baseline of the Preclinical Alzheimer Cognitive Composite 5 (PACC5) at 216 weeks of treatment (A45 Trial) and to determine whether treatment with lecanemab is superior to placebo in reducing brain amyloid accumulation as measured by amyloid positron emission tomography (PET) at 216 weeks of treatment (A3 Trial).

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Jul 2020

open study

Visual hallucinations (VH) are among the most distressing of the non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD). The investigators plan to examine the relation of perceptual variables-basic vision, unusual perceptual experiences-to relevant functional variables such as cognition, mood, and alertness/sleepiness in an online sample of persons with Parkinson's disease (PwPD). It is hypothesized that unusual perceptual experiences will relate significantly to the selected variables. This is an observational study only, and not an interventional study.

Type: Observational

Start Date: Aug 2022

open study

The purpose of this clinical trial is to learn about the safety, pharmacokinetics (pharmacokinetics helps us understand how the drug is changed and eliminated from your body after you take it), and efficacy (how well a study treatment works in the study) of the study medicine (called nirmatrelvir/ritonavir) for potential treatment of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The study medicine will be given to patients under 18 years of age with COVID-19 that are not hospitalized but are at risk for severe disease.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Mar 2022

open study

The purpose of this study is to characterize cardiac safety of Daratumumab, Cyclophosphamide, Bortezomib, and Dexamethasone (D-VCd) treatment regimens (Arm A: immediate daratumumab + VCd treatment and Arm B: daratumumab + deferred VCd) in newly diagnosed systemic amyloid light chain (AL) amyloidosis with cardiac involvement and to identify potential mitigation strategies for cardiac toxicity (cohort 1); to characterize the pharmacokinetics of subcutaneous (SC) daratumumab, among racial and ethnic minorities, including Black or African American, with newly diagnosed AL amyloidosis treated with D-VCd (cohort 2).

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Mar 2022

open study

A Phase 3 study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of birtamimab plus standard of care compared to placebo plus standard of care in patients with AL amyloidosis in Mayo Stage IV.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Aug 2021

open study

This study is being conducted to assess the acceptability and feasibility of a randomized trial of a 10 week virtual intervention to reduce fall risk in people with HIV who consume alcohol. The hypothesis is that this randomized trial of the fall prevention intervention will be found to be feasible and acceptable in this pilot stage. Standardized assessments will be administered in-person at Boston University Medical Campus to assess various domains including fall risk, fear of falling, physical performance measures (such as grip strength, balance, and gait speed), substance use, and other related measures. The intervention has 3 main components: home exercises, virtual group sessions and weekly phone check-ins. Home exercise will be customized to match the current fitness level of participants. Participants will be asked to complete assigned exercises 3 times per week. Additionally, there will be a weekly virtual group session led by an Occupational Therapist trained in group facilitation via Zoom. The virtual group sessions will be used to help answer any questions and lead a discussion around challenges related to falls. Finally, a member of the research team will check-in with participants once per week to answer any remaining questions that participants have, provide individual feedback on exercises, and set up reminders for the upcoming week. Reminders will be tailored to the individual participant's needs to remind the participant to complete the intervention's components.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Oct 2021

open study

This is a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover design trial that will test the effect of pitolisant on alcohol self-administration and craving following a priming dose of alcohol. The specific objective of this proposal is to determine whether pitolisant has effects on alcohol consumption and craving

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Sep 2021

open study

This randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled Phase 3 study is designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of maternal immunization with RSVpreF against medically attended lower respiratory tract illness (MA-LRTI) in infants.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Jun 2020

open study

Hemodialysis represents a life line of patients with end stage renal disease, who are commonly maintained on hemodialysis through catheters. Prolonged exposure to these catheters eventually damages the walls of veins, which results in stenosis at the local site. This condition is called central venous stenosis (CVS) and affects number of patients on hemodialysis in the United States and can compromise the dialysis efficacy. The current diagnostic modality for CVS is venography, which has several limitations. This study proposes to examine intravenous ultrasound (IVUS) as a potentially superior modality, which will provide additional information.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Aug 2021

open study

This study is a Phase 3 multi-site, randomized, evaluator-masked, study of endurance treadmill exercise on changes in the Movement Disorder Society-Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) Part III score at 12 months among persons with early stage Parkinson disease. 370 participants will be randomly assigned to 2 groups: 1)60-65% HRmax or 2)80-85% HRmax 4 times per week. The primary objective is to test whether the progression of the signs of Parkinson's disease is attenuated at 12 months in among persons who have not initiated medication for Parkinson Disease (PD) when they perform high-intensity endurance treadmill exercise.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Mar 2021

open study

This phase III trial studies how well vitamin D3 given with standard chemotherapy and bevacizumab works in treating patients with colorectal cancer that has spread to other parts of the body. Vitamin D3 helps the body use calcium and phosphorus to make strong bones and teeth. Drugs used in chemotherapy, such as leucovorin calcium, fluorouracil, oxaliplatin, and irinotecan hydrochloride, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells by killing the cells, by stopping them from dividing, or by stopping them from spreading. Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies, such as bevacizumab, may help the body's immune system attack the cancer, and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Giving vitamin D3 with chemotherapy and bevacizumab may work better in shrinking or stabilizing colorectal cancer. It is not yet known whether giving high-dose vitamin D3 in addition to chemotherapy and bevacizumab would extend patients' time without disease compared to the usual approach (chemotherapy and bevacizumab).

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Sep 2019

open study

Primary: The primary objective of the study is to compare the efficacy of intranasal oxytocin in reducing the weekly percentage of heavy drinking days over the 10 weeks of maintenance treatment among subjects with moderate to severe Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD). A "heavy drinking day" is 4 or more drinks per drinking day for women and 5 or more drinks per drinking day for men. Secondary: Secondary objectives include assessment of other measures of the effects of oxytocin compared with placebo on reduction of alcohol use as well as effects on psychological assessments, alcohol craving, alcohol-related consequences, cigarette smoking and other nicotine use, retention in the study, safety, and application site (nares) tolerability throughout the study.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: May 2022

open study

This is a multi-center prospective comparative cohort study examining the safety, efficacy, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacogenomics of naltrexone for pregnant women with opioid use disorder. Pregnancy, delivery, and maternal and infant outcomes to 12 months post-delivery will be examined and compared with a cohort treated with buprenorphine/naloxone.

Type: Observational

Start Date: Dec 2018

open study

Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States. Mortality rates of cardiac arrest range from 60-85%, and approximately 80% of survivors are initially comatose. Of those who survive, 50% are left with a permanent neurological disability, and only 10% are able to resume their former lifestyle. Early prognosis of comatose patients after cardiac arrest is critical for management of these patients, yet predicting outcome for these patients remains quite challenging. The primary study objective of MOCHA is to develop an accurate and reliable assessment algorithm for determining neurologic prognosis in patients initially unconscious (no eye opening, GCS-M<6 and not following commands) post-cardiac arrest, using multiple prognostic modalities at standardized time points.

Type: Observational [Patient Registry]

Start Date: Aug 2017

open study

This single blind study is to primarily evaluate wearable devices and Observer Reported Itch Assessment in children to assess reduction of itch and night-time scratch in response to Crisaborole treatment vs. vehicle treatment (active control comparator without crisaborole) in children with atopic dermatitis (AD). Participants, age 3 months to 5 years with symptomatic mild to moderate AD, along with their primary caregivers will be recruited. The goal of this study is to more fully evaluate the rapid onset of night-time itch and scratch relief, as well as improvements in sleep following treatment with Crisaborole in comparison to vehicle treatment in children with AD. the study will also assess the quality of life (QoL) and sleep within the associated caregivers.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Jul 2022

open study

To define a serum protein-based diagnostic for the progression and failure of fracture healing, through the identification of a set of serum proteins that appear at early times of biological healing and show a specific correlation with later radiological and functional signs used to define delayed healing and non-union.

Type: Observational

Start Date: Jun 2021

open study

The Boston University Medical Campus (BUMC) will serve as the site for the RURAL Study Coordinating Center, led by PI Vasan Ramachandran, MD, and the Pulmonary Core, led by George O'Connor, MD. The primary function of the Study Coordinating Center (SCC) is to serve as an administrative liaison between all of the RURAL study's cores. The SCC schedules, facilitates, and hosts, all RURAL meetings including preparation for Observational Study Monitoring Board (OSMB) meetings, and maintains direct communication with the study's program officers at NHLBI. The SCC monitors the overall progress of RURAL and keeps all RURAL cores abreast of study updates through meetings, emails, newsletters. It also maintains the official RURAL website and serves as an administrator for investigators seeking to collaborate with RURAL through the submission of Ancillary Studies. The SCC will have no direct interaction with any participants, nor will it have access to identifiable data. The RURAL pulmonary core's primary function will be to read the daily Pulmonary Function Tests (PFTs) performed by participants at each of RURAL's recruiting sites (Alabama, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi). The BUMC Pulmonary Core investigators will receive de-identified data on a daily basis sent by the Statistical Data Coordinating Center at the University of Pennsylvania and will provide a clinical interpretation for each test and "score" the results for quality assurance purposes. Although the Pulmonary Core investigators will not have direct interaction with any participants, in rare circumstances, there may be a need to review identifiable results in the case of a medical emergency at one of the recruiting sites. The pulmonary core will also provide training for all staff who will carry out PFTs.

Type: Observational

Start Date: Jan 2021

open study

Substudy A: The study will evaluate the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of a booster dose of BNT162b2 when administered to participants having previously received 2 doses of BNT162b2 at least 6 months prior to randomization. The study is designed to describe vaccine efficacy of a booster dose of BNT162b2 over time against COVID-19 - At a dose of 30µg (as studied in the Phase 2/3 study C4591001) - In healthy adults 16 years of age and older - The duration of the study for each participant will be up to approximately 12 months. - The study will be conducted in the United States, Brazil and South Africa Substudy B: The study will assess the safety and tolerability of a single dose of BNT162b2 as compared to placebo control, through the potential analysis of serum troponin levels, in participants ≥12 and ≤30 years of age who have received 2 or 3 prior doses of BNT162b2 (30-µg doses) with their last dose at least 4 months prior to randomization. - Blood samples will be collected for troponin testing - The duration of the study for each participant will be up to approximately 2 months. - The study will be conducted in the United States, Germany, Poland and South Africa Substudy C: The study will assess the safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of a booster (third) dose of BNT162b2 at doses of 10 µg or 30 µg in participants who have completed a 2-dose primary series of BNT162b2 (30 µg doses) at least 5 months prior to randomization. - In healthy adults 12 years of age and older - The duration of the study for each participant will be up to approximately 12 months. - The study will be conducted in the United States, Germany and South Africa Substudy D: The study will assess the safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of a 2-dose primary series of BNT162b2 OMI, and as a booster (third, fourth or fifth) dose - Participants in Cohort 1 will have completed a 2-dose primary series of BNT162b2 (30-µg doses), with their last dose 90 to 240 days prior to enrolment - Participants in Cohort 2 will be enrolled from Study C4591001 and C4591031 Substudy A and will have completed a 2-dose primary series and received a single booster (third) dose of BNT162b2, with their last dose 90 to 180 days prior to randomization - Participants in Cohort 3 who are COVID-19 vaccine-naïve and have not experienced COVID-19 will be enrolled to receive 2 doses (primary series) of BNT162b2 OMI, 3 weeks apart, with a third dose approximately 5 months later. - In healthy adults 18 to 55 years of age - The duration of the study for each participant will be up to approximately 12 months. - The study will be conducted in the United States and South Africa Substudy E: This study will assess the safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of high-dose BNT162b2 (60 µg), high-dose BNT162b2 OMI (60 µg), and a high-dose combination of BNT162b2 and BNT162b2 OMI at 60 µg (30 µg each), given as a single dose - In healthy adults 18 years of age and older who have received 3 prior doses of BNT162b2 (30 µg) with the most recent dose being 5 to 12 months prior to randomization - The duration of the study for each participant will be approximately 6 months. - The study will be conducted in the United States Substudy F: This study will assess the safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of high-dose BNT162b2 (60 µg), high-dose BNT162b2 OMI (60 µg), and a high-dose combination of BNT162b2 and BNT162b2 OMI at 60 µg (30 µg each), given as a single dose. - In healthy adults 60 years of age and older who have received 3 prior doses of BNT162b2 (30 µg) with the most recent dose being ≥4 months prior to randomization - The duration of the study for each participant will be approximately 6 months. - The study will be conducted in Israel

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Jul 2021

open study

A majority of residents in low income communities have been exposed to a potentially traumatic event, and up to half (30-50%) of trauma-exposed residents in safety net clinical settings meet criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Despite this, only 13% receive treatment. Poor access to PTSD treatment is due to a shortage of mental health specialists. This study aims to evaluate the implementation and effectiveness of a brief, cognitive-behavioral intervention for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)-Skills Training in Affective and Interpersonal Regulation (STAIR)- that will be offered in Boston Medical Center (BMC)'s primary care clinics as the new standard of care following integrated behavioral healthcare (IBH) therapist training. In response to clinician capacity concerns and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, we will be offering the intervention in both clinician-administered and self-paced, web-administered formats. The evidence base suggests that STAIR, delivered both synchronously (in-person/telehealth STAIR) and asynchronously (webSTAIR), is associated with significant improvements in PTSD and depression symptoms.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Jun 2021

open study