Mass General - Division of Clinical Research

The goal of this study is to explore whether a group exercise program called Strength After Breast Cancer can be delivered in an outpatient physical therapy clinic to improve physical function among women after treatment for breast cancer. The main questions this study aims to answer are: - Can the Strength After Breast Cancer program and the associated outcome battery be successfully delivered in an outpatient physical therapy clinic at Massachusetts General Hospital and do participants find the program practical? - What are the barriers to and facilitators of delivering the group exercise program in a clinical setting and what changes need to be made to the program to improve sustainability and to facilitate implementation at other clinical sites? Participants will complete study questionnaires before and after engaging in the group exercise program and they will participate in interviews following participation in the program.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Jan 2024

open study

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.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Aug 2023

open study

The goal of the study is to examine multiple markers of anthropometrics, body composition, sarcopenia and frailty and compare them to dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) output, which is considered the current clinical gold-standard tool to measure body composition. The result of this study will provide detailed data regarding the nutrition and body composition within this Cystic Fibrosis population and also provide a baseline evaluation for use of these biomarkers in the future studies including evaluation of nutritional intervention. Further, the study will also include psychosocial and other patient-reported outcomes and medical contributors to understand their contributions to the nutritional failure in the adult advanced lung disease population. Finally, the study will evaluate both established and emerging nutritional and body composition parameters and link them to clinical outcomes in adults with CF across the spectrum of pulmonary function.

Type: Observational

Start Date: Apr 2023

open study

This is a two-staged, Phase 2/3, randomized, multi-center study to investigate the efficacy and safety of REC-2282 in patients with progressive NF2 mutated meningiomas.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Jun 2022

open study

Phase 1 open label sequential dose escalation and cohort expansion study evaluating the safety, tolerability and preliminary antitumor activity of COM902 as monotherapy and in combination with COM701 in subjects with advanced malignancies.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Mar 2020

open study

The primary objective is to assess the safety and tolerability of TAB004 as monotherapy and in combination with toripalimab in subjects with selected advanced solid malignancies, including lymphoma, and to evaluate the recommended Phase 2 dose. The secondary objectives are to: 1) describe the pharmacokinetic (PK) profile of TAB004 monotherapy and in combination with toripalimab and to describe the PK profile of toripalimab when administered with TAB004, 2) evaluate antitumor activity of TAB004 monotherapy and in combination with toripalimab; and 3) determine the immunogenicity of TAB004 monotherapy and in combination with toripalimab and to determine the immunogenicity of toripalimab when administered with TAB004. The exploratory objectives are to: 1) evaluate pharmacodynamic effects of TAB004 on its target receptor BTLA, as well as effects on the immune system; 2) evaluate biomarkers that may correlate with activity of TAB004 as monotherapy and in combination with toripalimab; 3) evaluate the utility of BTLA ligand, herpesvirus-entry mediator (HVEM), and additional exploratory biomarkers that could aid in selection of appropriate subjects for TAB004 monotherapy and in combination with toripalimab.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Oct 2019

open study

This study will investigate the safety and tolerability of ADP-A2M4CD8 T-cell therapy in subjects who have the appropriate human leukocyte antigen (HLA) and MAGE-A4 tumor antigen. Tumor indications include endometrial, esophageal, esophagogastric junction (EGJ), gastric, head and neck, melanoma, non-small cell lung (NSCLC), ovarian or urothelial cancer.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Aug 2019

open study

This study is being conducted to decrease the rate of surgical wound complications. The investigators are studying the effects that caloric restriction has on decreasing the rate of surgical wound complications.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Jun 2016

open study

The purpose of the present investigation is to test the efficacy of a brief (6 sessions) dyadic (patient and caregiver together) intervention to prevent chronic emotional distress in at risk dyads admitted to a Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit with an acute brain injury. Through this study, we seek to solve the unmet need of preventing chronic emotional distress in Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit (NICU) dyads through a feasible, acceptable and credible program, and ideally improve the recovery trajectory and dyads' overall quality of life.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Dec 2021

open study

This trial aims to assess the feasibility and acceptability of colorectal survivors approached and engaged in HINT and aims to assess the preliminary efficacy of HINT to improve 1) health insurance literacy and 2) financial burden related to medical cost concerns colorectal survivors. The study investigators propose that, compared to the control arm (who will receive a health insurance information guide, but will not receive the navigation intervention), participants in the HINT intervention arm will have improved health insurance literacy and decreased financial distress related to medical costs.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Nov 2021

open study

This study aims to investigate a novel positron emission tomography(PET)-probe for imaging of fresh intravascular blood clots in pulmonary embolism (PE) and deep venous thrombosis (DVT).

Type: Interventional

Start Date: May 2019

open study

This research is being done to evaluate the safety and efficacy of neoadjuvant lenvatinib on surgical outcomes of patients with invasive extrathyroidal differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC). This research study involves a study drug called lenvatinib

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Mar 2021

open study

The purpose of this research study is to see whether a psychosocial mobile app called Horizons is effective at improving quality of life, symptom burden, psychological distress, and coping in patients living with chronic graft-versus host disease (GVHD)

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Jan 2023

open study

This study aims to develop an ethical approach to developing and deploying novel neurotechnologies to aid in the detection of consciousness and prediction of recovery after brain injury.

Type: Observational

Start Date: Feb 2022

open study

Patients undergoing radiation for the treatment of malignancies may suffer from side effects to the skin in the form of radiation dermatitis. This can lead to local wound formation with poor healing. Treatment options for the resulting wound can range from watchful waiting to more aggressive debridement and secondary grafting. Epidermal grafting is a technique in which autologous epidermis is used to cover wounds that are larger than the donor site. Previous studies have demonstrated that this is an effective treatment for different wounds and ulcers but its utility has not yet been evaluated for the treatment of radiation induced injuries. The CelluTome Epidermal Grafting System is a semi automated device that allows easy formation of epidermal Blister. Our study will evaluate the efficacy of epidermal grafts collected using the CelluTome device in the treatment of radiation dermatitis.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Jan 2021

open study

Explore the effects of auricular transcutaneous vagal nerve stimulation (taVNS) on brain and stomach outcomes in functional dyspepsia and gastroparesis patients.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Nov 2018

open study

SMaHRT (Stroke Motor reHabiliation and Recovery sTudy) is a longitudinal study aimed at understanding the natural history of upper extremity motor recovery after ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke.

Type: Observational

Start Date: Jun 2017

open study

The primary objective of this study is to determine if the correction of functional iron deficiency by administering a single dose of intravenous iron (ferric derimaltose or Monoferric®) in participants with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) will improve exercise capacity as measured by the change in peak oxygen uptake (peak VO2) from baseline to 12 weeks.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Nov 2021

open study

Older people with HIV (OPWH) are disproportionately impacted by cardiovascular disease (CVD) attributable to behavioral risk factors, and chronic HIV immune dysregulation resulting inflammation. Systemic inflammation is exacerbated by psychological distress via activating the immune response and driving pro-inflammatory CVD risk behaviors. There is promising evidence to suggest that mindfulness could be an effective intervention to reduce psychological distress and support behaviorally- and inflammatory-mediated CVD risk reduction. This project aims to refine and synthesize mindfulness and behavior change content from evidence-based protocols (mindfulness-based stress reduction and diabetes prevention program) to develop and pilot test a new text message-enhanced intervention called "One Mind One Heart" (OM-OH) using feedback from semi-structured interviews with OPWH in psychological distress (N=20), and my multidisciplinary mentorship team (Aim 1). An open pilot (N=5) with exit interviews and pre-post self-report assessments, will inform the initial acceptability of OM-OH and further refine OM-OH as needed (Aim 2). Finally, a pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT; N=50) will be conducted to a.) evaluate benchmarks of feasibility and acceptability of study methods and refined OM-OH compared to enhanced usual care, and b.) investigate potential for effects on psychological distress, inflammation, and behavioral CVD risk (Aim 3). Findings will provide the foundation for an R01 application to conduct an efficacy trial of OM-OH to reduce inflammatory-mediated CVD risk among OPWH.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Sep 2023

open study

There are few treatment options available for patients once they have failed standard psychopharmacological therapy for generalized anxiety disorder. Existing brain stimulation methods such as rTMS fail to target deep brain structures associated with anxiety disorders; structures such as the amygdala. In this double-blind sham-controlled clinical trial, the investigators propose to establish baseline severity of anxiety in 48 patients, then deliver eight treatments over four sessions of focused ultrasound stimulation to the amygdala. Anxiety severity will be assessed using standard psychometric scales after each session, and at follow-ups.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Jul 2021

open study

Right ventricular (RV) pacing can cause left ventricular systolic dysfunction in 10- 20% of patients. Biventricular pacing had previously been shown to prevent left ventricular systolic dysfunction. However, implantation of coronary sinus lead increases procedural risk and can be limited by higher threshold and phrenic nerve capture. HIS pacing has been evaluated as an alternative pacing strategy, but its routine use was limited by difficulty of the procedure, success rate and high pacing threshold. Left bundle branch area pacing (LBBAP) is a promising physiologic pacing technique that has been proposed as a pacing strategy to prevent pacing induced cardiomyopathy and for treatment of desynchrony in heart failure. LBBAP has been adopted widely and performed routinely on patients with AV block. Currently, it is up to the discretion of the proceduralist whether LBBAP is performed given that there is lack of evidence to guide pacing strategies.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: May 2023

open study

Spinocerebellar ataxias (SCA) are genetic neurological diseases that cause imbalance, poor coordination, and speech difficulties. There are different kinds of SCA and this study will focus on types 1, 2,3, and 6 (SCA 1, SCA 2, SCA 3 , also known as Machado-Joseph disease and SCA 6). The diseases are rare, slowly progressive, cause increasingly severe neurological difficulties and are variable across and within genotypes. The purpose of this research study is to bring together a group of experts in the field of SCA for the purpose of learning more about the disease. The research questions are: 1. How does your disease progress over time? 2. What are the best ways to measure the progression? 3. Do some genes, other than the gene that is abnormal in your disease, have any effect on the way the disease behaves? This is a nationwide study and we expect that 800 patients will participate all over the USA. The participants will be in the study for an indeterminate period of time. Study visits will be done every 6 or 12 months depending on the participating site.

Type: Observational

Start Date: Apr 2010

open study

This study evaluates KRT-232, a novel oral small molecule inhibitor of MDM2, for the treatment of patients with Merkel Cell Carcinoma (MCC) who have failed treatment with at least one anti-PD-1 or anti-PD-L1 immunotherapy or in combination with avelumab in MCC patients who are anti-PD-1 or anti-PD-L1 treatment naïve. Inhibition of MDM2 is a novel mechanism of action in MCC.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Mar 2019

open study

This research study is evaluating a new method for determining stage and prognosis of individuals with malignant pleural mesothelioma.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Oct 2018

open study

The DETECT AS Trial is a randomized clinical trial and quality improvement initiative that seeks to investigate the impact of electronic provider notification of severe aortic stenosis (AS) on its management, on the utilization of aortic valve replacement (AVR), and on ethnic and racial disparities in AVR utilization. After the investigators identify patients in whom echocardiography shows severe aortic stenosis, defined by an aortic valve area (AVA) <1.0cm2, the ordering provider of the echocardiogram will then be randomly assigned to either the intervention group or to the control group. Providers randomly assigned to the intervention group will be sent an electronic (email or message via the electronic health record) physician notification for every one of their patients with severe aortic stenosis on TTE. Electronic notification will also highlight relevant ACC/AHA Clinical Practice Guideline recommendations regarding the management of severe AS. No intervention will be performed for patients belonging to physicians assigned to the control group. The primary endpoint will be AVR utilization, defined as the proportion of patients with a clinical indication for severe AS that undergo AVR. Clinical indications will be based upon the 2020 AHA/ACC Clinical Practice Guidelines for Valvular Heart Disease. Secondary end-points will be mortality, heart failure hospitalization, TTE utilization/surveillance, AS billing code diagnosis, and cardiology/Heart Valve Team referral. Pre-defined subgroup analyses will be performed to assess AVR utilization among women, racial/ethnic minority groups, low-gradient AS, cardiologist and non-cardiologist ordering provider, and inpatient and outpatient practice settings.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Feb 2022

open study