Mass General - Division of Clinical Research

The goal of this research study is to test the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of using a virtual reality (VR) psychosocial intervention for improving quality of life and psychological distress in patients hospitalized for bone marrow transplantation (BMT). Participants will be randomly assigned into one of the study groups: the virtual reality psychosocial intervention (BMT-VR) + usual care versus usual care alone. The BMT-VR intervention has several components: 1. Psychoeducation to enhance preparedness, manage expectations, and mobilize social supports. 2. Psychosocial skill building to promote effective coping and facilitate acceptance while living with uncertainty of treatment outcomes. 3. Self-care to promote effective coping and enhance patient's sense of control as they transition from inpatient to outpatient care

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Dec 2022

open study

The study will enroll 200 women newly diagnosed with peripartum cardiomyopathy within 5 months postpartum in a randomized placebo controlled trial of bromocriptine therapy to evaluate its impact on myocardial recovery and clinical outcomes. Given that bromocriptine prevents breastfeeding, an additional 50 women with peripartum cardiomyopathy excluded from the trial due to a desire to continue breastfeeding but meeting all other entry criteria will be followed in an observational cohort.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Jul 2022

open study

The overall objective of this study is to reduce the burden of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and its consequences for an aging U.S. population. To accomplish this, the investigators propose to conduct a multi-center randomized trial of an advance care planning (ACP) video intervention (vs. usual care) among older patients with CKD.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Jun 2021

open study

This is a study to investigate the efficacy and safety of ADP-A2M4 in HLA-A*02 eligible and MAGE-A4 positive subjects with metastatic or inoperable (advanced) Synovial Sarcoma (Cohort 1, 2 and 3 ) or MRCLS (Cohort 1) .

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Aug 2019

open study

FDA-approved multiple sclerosis (MS) disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) target the relapsing phase of MS but have minimal impact once the progressive phase has begun. It is unclear if, in the relapsing phase, there is an advantage of early aggressive therapy with respect to preventing long-term disability. The infectious risks and other complications associated with higher-efficacy treatments highlight the need to quantify their effectiveness in preventing disability. The TRaditional versus Early Aggressive Therapy for MS (TREAT-MS) trial is a pragmatic, randomized controlled trial that has two primary aims: 1) to evaluate, jointly and independently among patients deemed at higher risk vs. lower risk for disability accumulation, whether an "early aggressive" therapy approach, versus starting with a traditional, first-line therapy, influences the intermediate-term risk of disability, and 2) to evaluate if, among patients deemed at lower risk for disability who start on first-line MS therapies but experience breakthrough disease, those who switch to a higher-efficacy versus a new first-line therapy have different intermediate-term risk of disability.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: May 2018

open study

Participants with IBS (all subtypes) and with no exclusionary comorbid psychiatric or medical disorders will be enrolled in the study. This study will involve a randomized waitlist control design to investigate the rapid and sustained effects of TRP-8802 following two experimental sessions in which an oral dose of TRP-8802 is administered to participants with IBS. The study will include clinician and participant ratings of depression and anxiety pre- and post-drug-session, monitor and participant ratings of subjective drug effects during and after each drug session. This study comprises approximately a 28-day screening period (Days 28 to 1). After screening and enrollment, participants will be randomized to an immediate treatment group or a delayed treatment group ("waitlist control" condition). Participants in the immediate treatment group will proceed directly into three weeks of baseline and preparation (Days 1 to 18), a 2-dose administration period (Days 22 and 37), integration (Days 23, 30, 38, and 45), the End of Therapy (EOT) visit (Day 52). Participants in the delayed treatment group will wait 8 weeks after enrollment before beginning the study interventions and neuroimaging assessments. As a safety precaution, participants in the delayed treatment group will be assessed weekly via telephone calls or in-person visits during the wait period (i.e., telephone assessments during post-randomization weeks 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7; in-person assessment during post-randomization week 8) to assess suicide risk to determine if intervention is warranted. During week 8, IBS symptoms will also be assessed. At the end of the delay period, all participants in the delayed treatment group will complete the same intervention as the participants in the immediate treatment group. Validated and commonly used assessment tools will be used to evaluate symptoms at baseline and repeatedly after each session. The weekly average of worst daily pain score and weekly stool frequency and consistency for the 7 days immediately prior to EOT visit will be assessed for change from baseline and at the 3-, 6 , and 12- month follow-up visits (Days 120, 240, 365).

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Jan 2024

open study

The goal of this observational study is to correlate molecular alterations with outcomes including overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS) for patients with a new diagnosis, primary refractory or relapse, of mature T-cell and NK-cell neoplasms (TNKL). We hypothesize that machine learning will uncover distinct genetic vulnerabilties that underlie treatment response and resistance for patient with TNKL.

Type: Observational [Patient Registry]

Start Date: Jan 2024

open study

This research is being done to see if proton beam radiation therapy (PBT) results in fewer changes to a participant's heart measured with MRI-imaging than conventional or "photon" radiation therapy (XRT) for participants with non-metastatic left sided breast cancer. The names of the two study groups in this research study are: - Proton Radiation Therapy (PBT) - Conventional or "Photon" Radiation Therapy (XRT)

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Aug 2023

open study

This project aims to optimize a critical but understudied ingredient of language intervention provided to children with developmental language disorder (DLD) - feedback. The project will bridge a gap between previous findings in our lab of inefficient feedback processing in DLD and clinical practice by identifying the conditions under which feedback-based learning can be improved in DLD. The investigators hypothesize that the effectiveness of feedback can be significantly enhanced for children with DLD when it is tailored to their unique learning strengths. The rationale for this project is based on evidence that feedback-based learning can be improved by enhancing the dominance of an intact learning system. The project will achieve its aim by manipulating (1) the timing of the feedback (immediate vs. delayed) and (2) the level of the learner's involvement in error correction dictated by feedback (active vs. passive correction). Aim 1 will determine the effect of manipulating feedback timing on learning in 140 school-age children (8-12 years) with DLD. While immediate feedback is processed by the striatum, which is also implicated in implicit learning, delaying the feedback by a few seconds shifts feedback processing to the mediate temporal lobe (MTL)-based declarative learning system. Evidence that delaying feedback improves learning in DLD would support the hypothesis of the implicit deficit theory that intervention should capitalize on declarative learning mechanisms. The project will test a novel alternative feedback-learning parity hypothesis whereby feedback-based learning is optimized when the timing of the feedback is aligned with the dominant learning system at a given time (i.e., immediate feedback during striatal-based probabilistic learning; delayed feedback during MTL-based declarative learning). Within the same group of children, Aim 2 will compare feedback-based learning in children with DLD when feedback (a) prompts active self-correction or (b) passively exposes learners to error corrections (corrective recast). Children will engage in two nonword-object paired-associate learning tasks. In one task, feedback will promote active self-correction, which is in line with declarative learning. In the other task, feedback will passively expose the learner to corrective feedback in a manner consistent with teaching approaches aiming at reducing awareness of errors. The project will determine whether children with DLD learn better when feedback prompts self-correction or when they are exposed to passive corrections. Electrophysiological measures will indicate whether passive corrections (corrective recast) are processed as negative feedback by children with DLD. For both aims, behavioral indicators of response to feedback will be complemented by electrophysiological measures of feedback processing that can determine the involvement of the striatum and MTL brain systems during the learning process. This work is scientifically and clinically significant because elucidating what manipulations optimize feedback-based learning will enhance our understanding of the impaired learning mechanism in DLD and will provide clinical guidance on what type of feedback to use during an intervention.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Jul 2023

open study

This research study is studying a combination therapy as a possible treatment for recurrent glioblastoma (GBM), a brain tumor that is growing or progressing despite earlier treatment. The names of the study interventions involved in this study are/is: - Pembrolizumab - Olaparib - Temozolomide (Temodar)

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Oct 2022

open study

This is a prospective, multicenter, single arm study designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the Temporary Bare Spur Stent System (Spur Stent System).

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Oct 2022

open study

This Phase 3 study is conducted to evaluate lanifibranor in adults with NASH and liver fibrosis histological stage F2 or F3

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Aug 2021

open study

This is a phase Ib, open label clinical study to evaluate the safety, tolerability, PK and antitumor activities of IN10018 as monotherapy and in combination with cobimetinib in subjects with metastatic uveal melanoma and NRAS-mutant metastatic melanoma.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Mar 2020

open study

The purpose of this Clinical Research Collaboration is to investigate the prognostic implications of pulmonary hemodynamics during exercise based on a large scale multi-centre approach by using retrospective and prospective analysis of hemodynamic data.

Type: Observational [Patient Registry]

Start Date: Dec 2018

open study

The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between the levels of Ribonucleic acid (RNA) circulating molecules, including ones in extracellular vesicles from different organs in the blood and in the saliva of patients with Acute Decompensated Heart Failure (ADHF) and Chronic Heart Failure (CHF) to see if a new, non-invasive diagnostic test can be developed for heart failure exacerbation.

Type: Observational

Start Date: Apr 2023

open study

The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of a brief psychoeducational intervention to improve the self-efficacy of patients with locally advanced rectal cancer who are initiating multimodality treatment (e.g., total neoadjuvant therapy).

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Sep 2023

open study

In this study, the investigators aim to evaluate changes in lung function in women with cystic fibrosis (CF) during pregnancy and for 2 years after pregnancy based on exposure to highly effective cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) modulators.

Type: Observational

Start Date: Sep 2021

open study

Patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) often have concomitant coronary artery disease (CAD) which may adversely affect prognosis. There is uncertainty about the benefits and the optimal timing of revascularization for such patients. There is currently clinical equipoise regarding the management of concomitant CAD in patients undergoing TAVR. Some centers perform routine revascularization with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) (either before or after TAVR), while others follow an alternative strategy of medical management. The potential benefits and optimal timing of PCI in these patients are unknown. As TAVR expands to lower risk patients, and potentially becomes the preferred therapy for the majority of patients with severe aortic stenosis, the optimal management of concomitant coronary artery disease will be of increasing importance. The COMPLETE TAVR study will determine whether, on a background of guideline-directed medical therapy, a strategy of complete revascularization involving staged PCI using drug eluting stents to treat all suitable coronary artery lesions is superior to a strategy of medical therapy alone in reducing the composite outcome of Cardiovascular Death, new Myocardial Infarction, Ischemia-driven Revascularization or Hospitalization for Unstable Angina or Heart Failure. The study will be a randomized, multicenter, open-label trial with blinded adjudication of outcomes. Patients will be screened and consented for elective transfemoral TAVR and randomized within 96 hours of successful balloon expandable TAVR. Complete Revascularization: Staged PCI using third generation drug eluting stents to treat all suitable coronary artery lesions in vessels that are at least 2.5 mm in diameter and that are amenable to treatment with PCI and have a ≥70% visual angiographic diameter stenosis. Staged PCI can occur any time from 1 to 45 days post successful transfemoral TAVR. Vs. Medical Therapy Alone: No further revascularization of coronary artery lesions. All patients, regardless of randomized treatment allocation, will receive guideline-directed medical therapy consisting of risk factor modification and use of evidence-based therapies. The COMPLETE TAVR study will help address the current lack of evidence in this area. It will likely impact both the global delivery of health care and the management and clinical outcomes of all patients undergoing TAVR with concomitant CAD.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Dec 2020

open study

This study aims to evaluate the effect of 8 weeks of a stress reduction intervention on atherosclerotic plaque inflammation in adults with stable coronary artery disease, as quantified by positron emission tomography (PET) with 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) in individuals with increased psychosocial stress.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Nov 2021

open study

The purpose of the study is to evaluate a new radiotracer called 64Cu-FBP8 for PET-MR imaging of thrombosis. The tracer has the potential of detecting thrombosis anywhere in the body, for instance in the left atrial appendage of patients with atrial fibrillation, and thereby may provide a non-invasive alternative to the current standard-of-care methods.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Apr 2016

open study

The goal of this study is to investigate the safety of [68Ga]CBP8 and its efficacy to detect collagen deposition in pulmonary fibrosis.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Aug 2018

open study

This study will evaluate the tolerability and effectiveness of two treatments in Neurofibromatosis Type 1 Cutaneous Neurofibromas. These treatments are: Kybella and Asclera injection. Each patient will have a treatment and a control site.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Dec 2022

open study

The purpose of this study is to investigate if repeat bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccinations can confer a beneficial immune and metabolic effect on pediatric Type 1 diabetes.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Mar 2022

open study

This is a longitudinal study where individual with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) will be monitored for 12 weeks. The study aims to develop an objective, sensor-based, algorithm able to detect the presence of depression as well as predict treatment response. Measurement-based treatment is considered optimal and the development of a valid passive, objective, behavioral and biological assessment of depressive symptoms that does not rely on clinician interviews will improve monitoring and ultimately improve treatment significantly.

Type: Observational

Start Date: Jan 2020

open study

The goal of this research study is to study U.S. Black women with a history of smoking to examine the feasibility, acceptability, and performance of low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) screening among this population. The name of the intervention used in this research study is: Low-dose computed tomography (radiologic scan) chest scan

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Sep 2023

open study