Clinical trials

The proposed research aims to conduct implementation trials in Benin, co-designed with national stakeholders, to evaluate different delivery strategies for optimizing health system delivery of post-discharge malaria chemoprevention (PDMC) drugs and adherence to PDMC. This chemoprevention strategy is effective in reducing hospital readmissions and deaths after discharge. However, there is no clear delivery platform for PDMC, and adherence to the 3-day dosing regimen, provided monthly three times after discharge, is a potential limitation. The current trial will provide evidence-based data on acceptability, feasibility, and cost-effectiveness to aid decision-makers. The evidence generated will be used to support the effective implementation and scale-up of PDMC in high malaria-endemic areas such as Benin.

The overall objective of the Stroke Minimization through Additive Anti-atherosclerotic Agents in Routine Treatment II (SMAART-II) is to deploy a hybrid study design to firstly, demonstrate the efficacy of a polypill (Polycap ®) containing fixed doses of antihypertensives, a statin, and antiplatelet therapy taken as two capsules, once daily orally in reducing composite vascular risk over 24 months vs. usual care among 1000 recent stroke patients encountered at 12 hospitals in Ghana. Secondly, SMAART II seeks to develop an implementation strategy for routine integration and policy adoption of this polypill for post-stroke cardiovascular risk reduction in an under-resourced system burdened by suboptimal care and outcomes.

Dovramilast has not been approved for leprosy type 2 reaction (erythema nodosum leprosum, ENL) or any other disease anywhere in the world. In this study, an experimental drug called dovramilast is being tested to see how it compares to current treatments for leprosy type 2 reaction. Specifically, this study aims to assess the efficacy of 100mg or 150 mg dovramilast compared with standard treatments (also known as standard of care). This study also aims to assess the safety of two strengths in adults with leprosy type 2 reaction.

Our study rationale is based on: 1. Tuberculosis Preventive Treatment (TPT) is given to healthy people and needs to be safe; 2. Tuberculosis Preventive Treatment (TPT) with shorter regimens are superior with respect to acceptance, completion, and costs; 3. 4 months of Rifampin 10mg/kg (4R10) is the safest regimen, but is completed by \<80% of patients; 4. The safety of 2 months of Rifampin 20mg/kg (2R20) is similar to that of 4 months of Rifampin 10mg/kg (4R10), but completion is a concern; 5. 1-month regimens have promising efficacy; 6. Safety and tolerability must be carefully assessed with comparisons to 4 months of Rifampin 10mg/kg (4R10), and head-to-head with each other. OBJECTIVES: The investigator will use a Bayesian adaptive Phase 2 randomized open-label trial design to test at least three experimental Tuberculosis Preventive Treatment (TPT) regimens to identify at least one regimen of ≤2 months duration that has non-inferior safety, completion, and tolerability in adults and children relative to the reference Tuberculosis Preventive Treatment (TPT) regimen. The shortest, safest, and best tolerated regimen identified in this Phase 2 trial will be tested for effectiveness and efficacy in a Phase 3 trial. Specific Tuberculosis Preventive Treatment (TPT) regimens (All are daily and self-administered) Reference: Rifampin at a dose of 10 mg/kg/day for 4 months (4R10); Experimental: 1) Rifampin at 20 mg/kg/day for 2 months (2R20); (2) one month Levofloxacin and Rifapentine (1LP). At a later stage a 3rd experimental regimen will be selected and added: one another novel 1-2-month regimen identified from pre-clinical and clinical studies. When selected, this will be explained fully including preliminary data on safety and efficacy in an amended protocol and consent - which will be submitted for ethics and regulatory approval at that time).

This study is conducted to compare the safety and effectiveness of a novel short 6-week regimen of daily rifapentine (6wP, experimental arm) with a comparator arm of 12-16 weeks of rifamycin-based treatment (standard of care, control arm) of latent M. tuberculosis infection (LTBI). This trial is conducted among persons who are at increased risk of progression to tuberculosis (TB) and require treatment of LTBI. The study will be conducted in low, medium and high TB incidence settings that have treatment of LTBI as their standard of care and offer 12-16 week rifamycin-based therapy as standard of care. The hypothesis of this study is that the safety and effectiveness of the experimental treatment (6wP arm) is non-inferior to a comparator arm of 12-16 weeks of rifamycin-based treatment of LTBI (control arm). Participants are enrolled and randomly assigned to one of the two study arms: experimental 6wP or control. The comparator (control) arm's treatment regimens include 12 weeks of once-weekly isoniazid (INH) and rifapentine (3HP), 12 weeks of daily INH and rifampin (3HR), and 16 weeks of daily rifampin (4R). A total of 560 participants per arm (1,120 total) for the evaluation of safety and 1,700 participants per arm (3,400 total) for the evaluation of effectiveness will be enrolled, given treatment as per randomization assignment, and followed for 24 months from the date of enrollment. After completion of data collection, statistical analyses will be conducted to compare proportions of drug discontinuation due to adverse drug reaction (ADR) and proportions of newly diagnosed tuberculosis between 6wP and control arm.

Patients can become critically unwell following surgical operations. Delay in recognition of this deterioration can result in patient harm and even death. Wearable wireless sensors that record patients vital signs such as heart rate could help improve recognition of patient deterioration. The goal of this observational study: Enhanced Monitoring Using Sensors After Surgery (EMUs) is to determine if data from wearable physiological monitors can be used for the early detection of postoperative deterioration, while being acceptable to patients and healthcare staff. The study participants and surgical inpatients undergoing open surgery. There are 3 objectives which each represent a stage of the study: 1. To perform usability testing of device with clinicians, nurses, and healthcare workers in non-clinical environment. 2. To determine baseline postoperative monitoring practice across our network and perform device usability testing in clinical environment. 3. To perform a shadow-mode cohort study with collection of time-stamped sensor clinical event data to determine relationships between physiological waveforms and patient deterioration. This registration focuses on the shadow-mode cohort study. Participants will wear wireless sensors on their chest and fingers, pre-, intra-, and post-operatively for up to 10 days. The sensors will record their vital signs such as heart rate, and oxygen levels. This will then be analysed, and used to aid the design of early detection algorithms that may be able to predict clinical illness or complications in this patient group. This is an observational study gathering real time data only. No changes in patient care will result, and in Stages 2 and 3 no sensor data will be available to clinical teams. This study will be performed in departments of general surgery in Benin, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Rwanda, and the United Kingdom.

GR-Ex is a program labelled by Labex (Laboratory of Excellence) by the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research. This program aims to develop the means to improve knowledge in the physiology and pathologies of erythropoiesis, red blood cells and iron metabolism, and to develop new therapeutic protocols capable of providing added value in terms of innovation.

SurgPASS is a pilot randomised cluster trial utilising a pre-operative checklist with the aim of reducing deaths after surgery. If SurgPASS is successful, the intervention will be implemented in a separate full-scale cluster randomised trial.

This study aims to assess and improve the global management of appendicitis, the most common emergency surgery, by examining various aspects of emergency care systems worldwide. Appendicitis is a time-sensitive condition, and delays in diagnosis or treatment can lead to complications, affecting patient outcomes and increasing healthcare costs. The study uses appendicitis as a "tracer condition" to explore how different healthcare systems manage emergency care, focusing on factors like access, quality, and efficiency. By gathering data from hospitals worldwide, the study seeks to identify areas where emergency surgical care can be improved, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The main goal is to identify gaps in emergency care systems, using a set of key performance measures (KPMs) that assess access to care, the quality of surgical treatment, and patient safety. These include factors like the time from symptom onset to first surgical assessment, the rate of appendectomy performed via minimally invasive (laparoscopic) surgery, and postoperative complications. The study aims to collect data on at least 14,000 patients from around 500 hospitals globally between February and May 2025. The data will be analyzed by hospital income group (from low to high) to understand how different resource levels impact outcomes and to help guide future policy and practice improvements. The study also includes two sub-studies that focus on specific issues in surgical care. The Sustainability and Waste Management sub-study aims to explore how hospitals manage waste and sustainability practices in operating theatres. This sub-study is part of global efforts to reduce carbon emissions in healthcare settings. The Financing sub-study examines the financial burden of appendicectomy, particularly the out-of-pocket costs for patients in LMICs. It will explore how the costs of open vs. laparoscopic surgery differ and investigate the impact of these costs on patients. By combining global data on clinical outcomes with information on hospital resources and patient finances, this study hopes to provide valuable insights into how to improve emergency surgical care across diverse settings, making recommendations that can lead to better access to safe, timely, and affordable treatment for appendicitis worldwide.

MARLIN is a stratified, multi-arm, multi-stage factorial randomised platform trial aiming to reduce the incidence of post-operative surgical site infection (SSI).