Boston University - Clinical & Translational Science Institute

Since its launch in 2004, the overarching aim of the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) Study has been to validate biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease (AD) clinical trials. ADNI4 continues the previously funded ADNI1, ADNI-GO, ADNI2, and ADNI3 studies that have 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 AD.

Type: Observational

Start Date: Jun 2023

open study

This is a longitudinal study with regular quantitative assessments of all participants every six months for 3 years. The quantitative portion of the study will recruit couples, consisting of individuals over the age of 65 who are in a committed relationship. Both members of the couple must be willing to participate at baseline. The assessment is in two parts. In the first part, each member of the couple will be asked the following: demographic information, mental health history, self-reported physical and emotional health, measures of emotional and mental health, personality, relationship and attachment style, social support and self-efficacy. Then each member of the study couple will be asked a series of questions to determine whether they consider themselves a caregiver. If they do, individuals will be asked to respond to additional caregiver questionnaires. Follow-ups will occur every six months for the study couples for a total of three years from the baseline visit. Each visit, the entire assessment except for demographic questions, will be re-administered to each individual in the couple. At the end of each questionnaire battery, individuals will be screened for cognitive impairment and those who are in the middle to advanced stages of dementia will no longer participate. Recruitment will end when 600 individuals (300 couples,150 couples at each site) are enrolled in the longitudinal portion of the study. All study visits will be conducted virtually via Zoom or WebEx video conferencing. Analyses will be conducted to determine the association between changes in dyadic relationship and changes in mental health and cognitive outcomes, to elucidate how relationship characteristics impact health and well-being as perceived by each member of the dyad.

Type: Observational

Start Date: Apr 2021

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 purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of rapcabtagene autoleucel (administered once following lymphodepletion) versus Standard of Care (SOC) in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) with active, refractory lupus nephritis (LN).

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Sep 2024

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

In this study, researchers will learn more about a study drug called litifilimab (BIIB059) in participants with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The study will focus on participants who have active disease and are already taking standard of care medications. These may include antimalarials, steroids, and immunosuppressants. The main objective of the study is to learn about the effect litifilimab has on lowering the activity of the disease. The main question researchers want to answer is: - How many participants have an improvement in their symptoms after 52 weeks of treatment? Researchers will answer this and other questions by measuring the symptoms of SLE over time using a variety of scoring tools. These include the SLE Responder Index (SRI), the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index-2000 (SLEDAI-2K), and the Patient Global Assessment - Visual Analog Scale (PGA-VAS). Researchers will also learn more about the safety of litifilimab. They will study how participants' immune systems respond to litifilimab. Additionally, they will measure the effect litifilimab and SLE have on the quality of life of participants using a group of questionnaires. The study will be done as follows: - After screening, participants will be randomized to receive either a high or low dose of litifilimab, or placebo. A placebo looks like the study drug but contains no real medicine. - All participants will receive either litifilimab or placebo as injections under the skin once every 4 weeks. The treatment period will last 52 weeks. Participants will continue to take their standard of care medications. - Neither the researchers nor the participants will know if the participants are receiving litifilimab or placebo. - There will be a follow-up safety period that lasts up to 24 weeks. - In total, participants will have up to 22 study visits. The total study duration for participants will be up to 80 weeks.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Jul 2021

open study

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy, safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics (PK) of VX-147 in adult and pediatric participants with apolipoprotein L1 (APOL1)-mediated proteinuric kidney disease.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Mar 2022

open study

The COSMID (Comparison of Surgery and Medicine on the Impact of Diverticulitis) trial is a pragmatic, patient-level randomized superiority trial of elective colectomy vs. best medical management for patients with quality of life (QoL) limiting diverticular disease. A parallel observational cohort will include those who are disinclined to have their treatment choice randomized, but are willing to contribute information about their outcomes. The goal of the COSMID trial is to answer the question: For patients with QoL-limiting diverticular disease, is elective colectomy more effective than best medical management? The hypothesis being tested in the COSMID trial is that patient-reported outcomes (PROs) among patients in the surgery arm will be superior to those in the best medical management arm.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Oct 2019

open study

Although multiple treatments for OCD exist, slow symptom decrease, high remission, and significant side effects for some OCD patients limit their efficacy. More research into the precise neural mechanisms and linked cognitive functions in OCD is also necessary. To address both concerns, this study by Dr. Reinhart and his team will test a new, non-invasive, and well-tolerated neuromodulation method for reducing OCD symptoms, based on reward-related rhythms of the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC; a brain region responsible for reward, decision making and other crucial functions that is affected by OCD). This proposal is based on highly encouraging preliminary data in both subsyndromal and treatment-resistant populations that shows rapid reductions in OCD behaviors that last at least 1-3 months. Using high-definition transcranial alternating current stimulation (HD-tACS) guided by EEG brain wave recordings, the study will test whether repetitive modulation of relevant rhythm activity in the OFC can lead to rapid (within five days) and sustainable (up to three months) OCD symptom reduction. This research aims to increase knowledge of OCD and development of effective treatment with minimal side effects.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Jul 2024

open study

The purpose of this study is to determine whether a sensor device called an Automatic Ingestion Monitor (AIM) that is worn on eyeglasses can be used with a smartphone to change eating behavior. Participants will wear the device for one week of no-intervention observation. They will then test behavioral interventions focused on eating for two weeks. The researchers hypothesize that messages sent to a smartphone that are based on information from the AIM can reduce the amount of food that is eaten and slow eating.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Aug 2024

open study

The purpose of this clinical trial is to learn about the safety, extent of the side effects, and immune responses of the study vaccine (called variant-adapted BNT162b2 RNA-based vaccine) in healthy children. The trial is divided into 5 individual studies or substudies based on age group and prior history of COVID-19 vaccinations. All participants in each of the 5 sub-studies will receive study vaccine as a shot depending on what group they are in. - Substudy A design: Phase 1 includes participants 6 months through less than 4 years 3 months of age who have not received a previous coronavirus vaccination (COVID-19 vaccine naïve) and will receive 3 doses of study vaccine as their initial series, followed by a fourth dose of study vaccine. Phase 2/3 includes participants 6 months through less than 5 years of age who have not received a previous coronavirus vaccination (COVID-19 vaccine naive) and will receive 1, 2, or 3 doses of study vaccine, depending on what group they are in. - Substudy B design: includes participants 6 months through less than 5 years of age who have either received 2 or 3 prior doses of BNT162b2 and will receive study vaccine as their third or fourth dose. - Substudy C design: Phase 1 includes participants 6 months through less than 5 years of age who have received 3 prior doses of BNT162b2 and will receive study vaccine as their fourth dose. - Substudy D design: includes participants 5 through less than12 years of age who have received 2 or 3 prior doses of BNT162b2 and will receive study vaccine as their third or fourth dose. - Substudy E design: includes participants 2 through less than 12 years of age who have not received a previous coronavirus vaccination (COVID-19 vaccine naive) and will receive a single dose of study vaccine.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Sep 2022

open study

Anxiety-, obsessive-compulsive and trauma- and stressor-related disorders reflect a significant public health problem. This study is designed to evaluate the predictive power of a novel biomarker based on a CO2 challenge, thus addressing the central question "can this easy-to-administer assay aid clinicians in deciding whether or not to initiate exposure-based therapy?"

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Nov 2022

open study

The goal of this randomized controlled trial (RCT) is to test the feasibility of an 10-week telehealth mindful exercise intervention compared to a telehealth exercise only intervention for people with knee osteoarthritis (OA). This RCT will be fully digital with all recruitment, assessments, and intervention being conducted remotely.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Apr 2025

open study

The primary purpose of the study is to assess how well amivantamab subcutaneous (SC) administration in combination with lazertinib or in combination with chemotherapy works (antitumor activity) in participants with epidermal growth factor receptor mutated (EGFRm) non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC; that is one of the major types of lung cancer).

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Dec 2024

open study

This Phase III, multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled, treat-through study will evaluate the efficacy and safety of RO7790121 compared with placebo in participants with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis (UC).

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Sep 2024

open study

Participants eligible for the study will be randomly allocated (1:1:1) to receive either Luminopia dichoptic treatment while wearing optical correction if needed, Vivid Vision dichoptic treatment while wearing optical correction if needed, or continued optical correction alone if needed, with clinical assessments at 9- and 18-weeks post-randomization. At the 18-week primary outcome visit, participants who were randomly assigned to receive optical correction alone if needed with an IOD of 1 logMAR line (5 letters) or more, will be offered randomization to Luminopia or Vivid Vision dichoptic therapy and if they accept, followed forward with visits at 27- and 36-weeks post-randomization. The study will end for all other participants at 18 weeks.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Oct 2024

open study

The aim of this research study is to test the feasibility of a physical and mental health intervention (Positive Minds, Strong Joints or PMSJ) for Black adults with knee osteoarthritis (OA).

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Feb 2025

open study

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn whether IBD patients have better disease outcomes and feel more empowered to manage their condition if they have access to text messaging with their clinical team and if their symptoms are more regularly monitored through text-based surveys. Researchers will compare participants who have access to text-based monitoring, communication and education to participants who have access to text-based education alone. Researchers will also examine if different social and other non-medical factors impact IBD symptoms and quality of life. All participants will: - complete 5 brief on-line surveys over 12 months about their IBD and social risk factors, - receive IBD education content by text message up to 2 times a week. Some participants will also: - receive additional surveys by text to monitor their IBD progression, - have the opportunity to directly text message their IBD medical team.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Jul 2024

open study

The goal of this study (iMMagine-3) is to compare the study drug, anitocabtagene autoleucel to standard of care therapy (SOCT) in participants with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma who have received 1 to 3 prior lines of therapy, including an anti-CD38 monoclonal antibody and an immunomodulatory drug. The primary objective of this study is to compare the efficacy of anitocabtagene autoleucel versus SOCT in participants with RRMM as measured by progression-free survival (PFS) per blinded independent review committee (IRC).

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Aug 2024

open study

The emergence of crawling and walking is significantly delayed in infants with Down syndrome (DS), but the development of independent mobility provides infants with new opportunities for exploring the environment and interacting with objects and people that are important foundations for early learning. Increasing infant mobility early in development with body weight supported harness systems may support infant exploration, communication, and social interaction. This project will set the stage for the first clinical trial of a mobility-related intervention specifically tailored for infants with DS by testing the feasibility of harness systems with infants and families and identifying measures that will serve as primary outcome variables. Upon completion of this pilot project, necessary preliminary data and experience required for an in-home, high-impact clinical trial for infants with DS will have been obtained.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Jul 2024

open study

This is a one-year longitudinal, observational study of 250 urban children and adolescents with asthma and 60 without asthma, ages 6-17 years old. Participants with asthma will require daily controller therapy with inhaled corticosteroids ICS (at least Step 2 therapy). Those without asthma cannot have used asthma medications in the year prior to enrollment and cannot demonstrate bronchodilator reversibility at baseline. Phenotypic characteristics will be established at baseline, and the participants will be seen at scheduled visits over 12 months. Each participant will be asked to monitor and self-report cold symptoms and will be asked to complete up to three cold visits

Type: Observational

Start Date: Apr 2024

open study

The purpose of this study is to assess if adding LY3537982 in combination with standard of care anti-cancer drugs is more effective than standard of care in participants with untreated advanced NSCLC. NSCLC must have a change in a gene called KRAS G12C. Study participation, including follow-up, could last up to 3 years, depending on how you and your lung cancer are doing.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Dec 2023

open study

This phase II trial tests how well giving durvalumab with standard chemotherapy, gemcitabine and cisplatin, before surgery works in treating patients with high risk liver cancer (cholangiocarcinoma) that can be removed by surgery (resectable). Durvalumab is a monoclonal antibody that may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread. Chemotherapy drugs, such as gemcitabine and cisplatin, work in different ways to stop the growth of tumor cells, either by killing the cells, by stopping them from dividing, or by stopping them from spreading. Giving durvalumab with gemcitabine and cisplatin before surgery may make the tumor smaller and reduce the amount of normal tissue that needs to be removed in patients with high risk resectable cholangiocarcinoma.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Jul 2024

open study

The purpose of this study is to compare the efficacy and safety of glofitamab in combination with polatuzumab vedotin plus rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and prednisone (Pola-R-CHP) vs Pola-R-CHP in participants with previously untreated CD20-positive large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL).

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Sep 2023

open study

Vocal hyperfunction (VH) is the most commonly treated class of voice disorders by speech-language pathologists and voice therapy is the primary curative treatment. Patients and clinicians report that generalizing improved voicing into daily life is the most significant barrier to successful therapy. We will test if extending biofeedback into the patient's daily life using ambulatory voice monitoring will significantly improve generalization during therapy and if individual patient factors, like how easily they can modify their voice and engagement during therapy, moderate the effects of the biofeedback.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Mar 2024

open study