Clinical trials

An open-labeled, interventional pilot trial, 10 youth with AVP-D and 10 PD matched for age, sex, and BMI will be recruited from Pediatric Endocrinology and Neuroendocrinology at Massachusetts General Hospital and in the community. This study tests the hypothesis that oral estrogen/progestin will stimulate endogenous oxytocin release in control subjects. Eligible participants will receive two tablets in a single administration containing a total of 1 mg of norethindrone acetate 70 mcg of ethinyl estradiol. Sampling for blood and saliva will take place at baseline and approximately 24 hours following study drug administration. Neuropsychological assessment (anxiety, mood and emotion regulation; impulse control; aberrant eating behaviors; social cognition and functioning; quality of life) will be assessed at baseline to characterize the study population.

The goal of this observational study is to learn about the natural progression of Angelman syndrome (AS) in children and adults with a confirmed genetic diagnosis of AS. The main questions it aims to answer are: * How do developmental skills, such as communication, motor abilities, and adaptive behaviors, change over a 1-year period in people with AS? * Are there specific patterns in brain activity or sleep that are associated with changes in AS symptoms over time? Participants will: * Attend 3 in-person and 2 virtual study visits over 1 year for assessments. * Complete tests and questionnaires about development, behaviors, and sleep with the help of their caregivers. * Undergo electroencephalograms (EEGs) to measure brain activity and wear a sleep-monitoring device at home (to collect actigraphy data).

The investigators aim to conduct an open pilot trial to determine the initial feasibility of a self-directed writing-based intervention in individuals with chronic musculoskeletal pain and elevated pain catastrophizing. The investigators will assess the feasibility of recruitment, acceptability of the treatment, credibility and participant satisfaction, treatment adherence, and feasibility of assessments following pre-specified benchmarks.

The purpose of this investigation is to evaluate pre- and post-operative patient reported outcomes and functional scores after open non-augmented Broström repair or open Broström repair augmented with the BioBrace Implant.

The overall goal of this study is to develop OCT Vibrography (aka OCT elastography) as a novel tool for measuring biomechanical properties of human tissues in vivo.

This is a multicenter prospective study of patients who currently have stably implanted spinal cord simulators. Patients will be randomly assigned to turn on or off their spinal cord stimulators for two week intervals up to six weeks after enrollment, and on the final day of study participation, for one hour intervals, in a multi-crossover design. In a subset of patients we will also perform combined positron emission tomography/magnetic resonance imaging at baseline, week 2 and week 4.

The primary aim is to test whether abatacept, as compared to placebo, is associated with a reduction in major adverse cardiac events (MACE) among participants hospitalized with myocarditis secondary to an immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI). The primary outcome, MACE, is a composite of first occurrence of cardiovascular death, non-fatal sudden cardiac arrest, cardiogenic shock, significant ventricular arrythmias, significant bradyarrythmias, or incident heart failure.

This study is being conducted to investigate gut-brain communication in individuals with functional dyspepsia and anorexia nervosa. The hope is that what the investigators learn from this study will improve the understanding the conditions better to improve treatments.

The goal of this clinical trial is to test an enhanced outreach intervention (EOI) delivered by Samaritans of Boston (a community organization that provides support during mental health crises) for people after they leave an emergency department (ED) visit for suicidal thoughts. The main questions the trial aims to answer are: * Is the EOI feasible and acceptable? * Can the EOI be delivered with fidelity by Samaritans staff? Participants will: * Receive outreach (by call or text) once per week for 12 weeks after ED visit. During these conversations, Samaritans staff will ask participants questions about their suicidal thoughts and behaviors, develop and review a list of coping skills to use if they have suicidal thoughts, and discuss plans for receiving mental health care. * Receive caring messages from Samaritans staff at least once per week. * Be asked to complete monthly self-report questionnaires, and participate in a phone interview with study staff at the end of the study.

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is when a person's lungs become inflamed, which can be caused by infection, trauma, surgery, blood transfusion, or burn. ARDS often leads to a situation where the person cannot breathe independently and needs machines' help. Once the lungs are inflamed, the small air sacs responsible for exchanging gases (i.e., ventilation) and the blood flow in the lungs (i.e., perfusion) can be affected. In the past, most research focused on studying ventilation physiology and how to help people breathe with machines. Less was done on perfusion because it requires imaging techniques such as computed tomography with intravenous contrast and radiation. One treatment option for low oxygen levels is inhaled nitric oxide (iNO), a gas that can dilate the lung blood vessels and improve oxygenation; however, it is not always clear whether this treatment will work. Prone position has been used for several years in the care of ARDS patients and has been demonstrated to improve survival in more severe patients. It is not known how iNO and prone positioning interact in determining the distribution of pulmonary perfusion and whether their combine use can benefit ARDS patients. Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) is a bedside and accessible imaging technique that is radiation-free and non-invasive and can potentially detect changes in lung perfusion. EIT can perform multiple measurements; it is portable and accessible. This prospective interventional study aims to assess changes in regional blood perfusion in the lungs of patients with ARDS in response to iNO and to prone positioning utilizing EIT. The main questions it aims to answer are: 1. If EIT can measure lung regional perfusion response to an iNO challenge of 20ppm for 15 minutes. 2. If EIT can measure the lung regional perfusion responses to prone position, applied alone and in combination with iNO. 3. If EIT is comparable to dual-energy computed tomography (DECT), the gold-standard method, in the detection of changes in regional lung perfusion due to iNO. 4. If EIT can be an imaging marker to identify ARDS severity Participants will be divided into three cohorts: 1. Sub-Cohort 1 (n=60): Participants will be asked to be monitored by EIT before, during, and after the administration of iNO (20 ppm) for 15 minutes (OFF-ON-OFF) in the supine position 2. Sub-Cohort 2 (N=10): Participants will be asked to be monitored by EIT before and during the administration of iNO (20 ppm) for 15 minutes (OFF-ON) in both the supine and in the prone position. The same subjects will be monitored also with DECT in the supine position and then after 30 minutes in the prone position (without NO administration). 3. Sub-Cohort 3 (N=10): In this subset of Sub-Cohort 1, subjects will be asked to be monitored also with DECT (in addition to EIT) in the supine body position before iNO and after 15 minutes while receiving iNO.

This research is being done to assess the impact of a supervised and structured strength and conditioning program on cardiac remodeling in participants with prostate cancer undergoing treatment with external beam radiation therapy and at least 6 months of Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) therapy.

This study evaluates the impact of intranasal oxytocin vs placebo in patients with binge eating disorder or episodes of binging. We hypothesize that 8 weeks of intranasal oxytocin vs placebo will improve clinical outcomes \[reduction in bingeing frequency\], and have a satisfactory safety and tolerability profile. We will also explore the predictive value of changes in homeostatic appetite, reward sensitivity, and impulse control, the identified underlying mediators, as assessed 4 weeks into the intervention, for treatment success after 8 weeks of the intervention.

People with serious mental illness (depression, bipolar, and schizophrenia spectrum disorders) have high rates of repeated criminal legal involvement and psychiatric hospitalizations. Longstanding research shows that in addition to treating clients' symptoms of mental illness, targeting risk factors for legal involvement can help reduce their chances of future incarcerations. Because hospitals are becoming increasingly forensic, treatment programs that address both mental illness and risk factors for legal involvement may be especially helpful in a state hospital setting, like Worcester Recovery Center and Hospital (WRCH). This treatment study offers an adjunctive 9-session intervention, Changing Lives and Changing Outcomes-9 (CLCO-9), for patients at WRCH; this program is designed to help people with serious mental illness who are involved in the legal system increase their awareness of their mental health and reduce their chances of future legal involvement. The investigators are proposing a treatment study testing the use of the CLCO-9 group intervention with patients with serious mental illness with current or previous criminal legal involvement at Worcester Recovery Center and Hospital (WRCH). The study has three aims: 1. Evaluate feasibility, fidelity, and patient satisfaction during the implementation of the CLCO-9 group treatment at WRCH 2. Evaluate CLCO-9's effectiveness on improving patient's self-reported mental health, and behavioral indicators of mental health and risk factors for legal involvement 3. Explore changes in WRCH clinicians' knowledge and attitudes about treating risk factors for criminal legal involvement. To test these aims, the research team will employ a two-phase study. In the first phase, the researchers will implement the intervention and make necessary adjustments to maximize the success of the implementation. In the second phase, the researchers will evaluate the treatment program's effectiveness in producing change from pre- to post-treatment. All patient participants in this study will receive the intervention. The projected sample size is about 20 treatment completers and 4 to 8 group leaders.

The purpose of this study is to measure the efficacy of the study drug, epcoritamab, in participants with relapsed/refractory large B-cell lymphoma.

The goal of this clinical trial is to test the impact of a screening and linkage intervention for adverse social determinants of health (aSDoH) on oral health linkage to care for emergency department patients. Researchers will compare three groups: Patients in Arm A will receive paper handouts with general oral health and aSDoH resources. Patients in Arm B will receive paper handouts with geographically-proximate oral health and aSDoH resources. Patients in Arm C will receive geographically-proximate oral health and aSDoH resources plus active navigational assistance.

We are doing this research to identify biomarkers in individuals who are at-risk for familial prion disease. We hope to use these biomarkers to predict timing of disease onset in pre-symptomatic individuals and to guide the direction of future clinical trials.

This is a single arm, open-label, non-randomized multi-institution phase II trial of a Fc enhanced CTLA4 antibody, vilastobart, in combination with PD-1 antibody, retifanlimab, in patients with BRCA1, BRCA2 or PALB2 deficient pancreatic cancer (PC).

After having a baby, some women develop a condition called postpartum depression, or PPD, which can cause sadness, anxiety, and difficulty bonding with their newborn. Right now, most women aren't screened for PPD until about 6 to 8 weeks after giving birth, but this study wants to find out if checking earlier could help identify signs sooner. To test this, researchers will work with 428 women who deliver at an MGH hospital clinic and have no history of depression. Each woman will be randomly placed into one of two groups: one group will fill out a short depression questionnaire online at 2 to 3 weeks after delivery, while the other group will follow the usual process and complete the same questionnaire at their regular 6-week visit. The results will go to each woman's doctor, who will decide if any follow-up care is needed, just like they normally would. The study will follow each participant for 6 months after delivery to see whether earlier screening makes a difference.

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if a mind body resilience group program can help increase lymphoma survivors' ability to cope with and manage the challenges that come with the transition into early post treatment survivorship.

The goal of this trial is to learn if a resilience intervention can lead to improvements in lymphoma survivors' quality of life.

The purpose of this study is to determine the proportion of participants who achieve undetectable measurable residual disease (uMRD) in previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) or small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL).

The goal of this study is to demonstrate the efficacy of an evidence-based, small-group, telehealth intervention ('STRIDE') for improving patients' ability to cope with side effects from adjuvant endocrine therapy (AET) and adhere to AET medication regimens for patients with hormone-sensitive breast cancer.

We are studying whether waking patients up and removing the breathing tube (also known as "extubation") in the operating room after cardiac surgery improves postoperative recovery without causing harm.

The goal of this clinical trial is to conduct a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to test the feasibility of two dose- and time-matched pain management programs, delivered via live video, for adults with chronic (lasting at least 3 months) and non-arthritic hip-related pain (HRP). Following pre-determined benchmarks, findings from this trial will be used to assess the feasibility, credibility, and acceptability of both programs (HIPS-1, HIPS-2). In preparation for a future clinical trial powered to test efficacy, we will optimize the protocol for patient recruitment, study protocol, and fidelity materials.

The overall goal of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of perioperative oral creatine supplementation and to explore its effects on cognitive function and physiological responses to surgery in older adults. Creatine is commonly used to enhance athletic performance, but it can also have positive effects on the brain. Since surgery can alter thinking, memory, and attention patterns in some patients, we will assess whether creatine affects these changes in older adults undergoing surgery.