Clinical trials

Alcohol consumption is a critical factor in HIV treatment that significantly contributes to poor treatment-related outcomes. Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) of alcohol interventions for people with HIV (PWH) have had limited success, perhaps due to an increasingly recognized co-morbitity of co-occurring hazardous alcohol use and other mental health-related problems among PWH. This has necessitated a shift in the literature towards trans-diagnostic approaches that target core psychological processes that underlie multiple mental health-related problems. One trans-diagnostic mechanism that is relevant to alcohol and other substance use is experiential avoidance (EA)- i.e., repeated, and maladaptive, use of substances and/or other behaviors to escape or avoid unwanted thoughts, feelings, and/or urges. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) targets EA and is an empirically supported treatment for multiple psychological and behavioral health-related outcomes; however there have not been any full-scale RCTs of ACT for alcohol use among any population, including PWH. The investigators recently adapted a telephone-delivered ACT intervention originally developed for smoking cessation, into an intervention for PWH who drink at unhealthy levels (NIH/NIAAA; R34AA026246). This six-session, telephone-delivered ACT intervention for alcohol use showed high feasibility and acceptability in a pilot RCT conducted by our team. The overall objective of this application is therefore to determine if ACT can significantly reduce alcohol use and comorbid symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress among adult PWH who drink at unhealthy levels. The specific aims are: To determine the relative efficacy of ACT, compared to BI, for reducing alcohol use among PWH (Aim 1) and to determine if ACT has an effect on trans-diagnostic processes that in turn affect alcohol use and other psychological and functional outcomes (Aim 2). The investigators will accomplish these aims by: conducting a remote, RCT in which the investigators randomly assign 300 PWH who drink at unhealthy levels to either the ACT intervention the investigators developed (n = 150), or a BI intervention (n = 150) previously shown to reduce alcohol use among PWH. The investigators will assess alcohol-related outcomes-via self-report and a biomarker- at baseline, post-treatment (7 weeks post-baseline), and again 3-, 6-, and 12-months post-randomization. The investigators will also measure EA to determine if it mediates treatment effects for alcohol use and other psychological and functional outcomes, measured at all timepoints.

The goal of this randomized-controlled trial is to compare distributed treatment schedules and intensive treatment schedules in 84 school-age children with residual speech sound disorders. The main question it aims to answer is: * How does intensive and distributed treatment affect speech sound learning in residual speech sound disorder? Some participants will be treated with a traditional Distributed schedule of 2 sessions per weeks for 8 weeks (16 hours total), whereas others will be treated with an Intensive schedule and will complete 16 hours of treatment in 4 weeks.

The goal of this randomized-controlled trial is to determine how artificial intelligence-assisted home practice may enhance speech learning of the "r" sound in school-age children with residual speech sound disorders. All child participants will receive 1 speech lesson per week, via telepractice, for 5 weeks with a human speech-language clinician. Some participants will receive 3 speech sessions per week with an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-clinician during the same 5 weeks as the human clinician sessions (CONCURRENT treatment order group), whereas others will receive 3 speech sessions per week with an AI-clinician after the human clinician sessions end (SEQUENTIAL treatment order group.

The primary aim of this randomized controlled trial is to examine the effects of a 4-week high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and time-restricted eating (TRE) intervention on cardiometabolic biomarkers in adolescents and young adults.

We want to learn about a new way to help people make the /s/ sound, like in the word "snake." We will be studying a way to teach the /s/ sound that uses very short speech sessions. This study will also collect recordings from people as they say words with the /s/ sound. We will listen to these recordings and check if the words are said clearly. In the first visit, we'll do a speech lesson on how to make a clear /s/ sound. We will also have the participant say some words while we record them talking. If they are a good fit for the study, we will invite them to do a second visit. In the second visit, they will name some pictures, answer some questions, repeat words and sentences, and do some mouth movements. After the second visit, if they are a good fit for the study, we will invite them to do the speech lessons. The speech lessons will each take 10 minutes, and they will have lessons 4 times a week for 8 weeks. They will do these lessons on video chat. They will be randomized to either start right away or after 8 weeks. We'll also ask them to participate in 3 other visits to track progress by having them repeat words with /s/.

The goal of this clinical trial is to determine if electrical brain stimulation applied to the front parts of the brain can help people who have had a stroke improve their fatigue, language, and attention. The main question it aims to answer is: * Does transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) administered to the pre-frontal areas of the brain improve post-stroke fatigue and aphasia? * What kinds of participant characteristics are associated with better improvement of post-stroke fatigue and aphasia? Researchers will compare active electrical stimulation to sham stimulation to see if the active stimulation does a better job at reducing fatigue and language deficits after stroke. Participants will be asked to complete fatigue, language, and cognitive testing before and after receiving 10 sessions of tDCS plus speech and language therapy.

The primary aim of this randomized clinical trial is to compare the effects of three different HIIT protocols and a control group on cardiometabolic health in young adults with obesity. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of the following three groups, with each having varying work-to-rest ratios: 1) HIIT-A, 2) HIIT-B, 3) HIIT-C, and 4) control group. HIIT-A, HIIT-B, and HIIT-C groups will participate in six sessions of a running based HIIT program over a 2-week training period. Pre-clinical markers of cardiovascular disease, blood lipids and fasting glucose will be measured at the following three time points: baseline, post-intervention, and 2 weeks after the training cessation (i.e., measure for detraining effect). All measurements will be performed three days before the training program and three days after the intervention to avoid the effect of the last training session. Afterwards, the detraining test will be measured 2 weeks post intervention.

The purpose of this research study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a hybrid Artificial Intelligence-assisted speech therapy model, which combines the use of an AI speech therapist (Jessica) with traditional speech therapy sessions led by a Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP). This study aims to determine whether the hybrid model improves articulation in children more effectively than traditional SLP-only therapy. Over the course of 8 weeks, participants will receive weekly therapy sessions, and those in the hybrid therapy group will also practice with Jessica between sessions. The study will also gather feedback from parents and speech therapists to assess their experiences and satisfaction with treatment.