Clinical trials

The goal of this clinical study is to find out if cadonilimab or ateganosine plus cadonilimab is effective and safe in treating resectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Cognitive impairment after moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (msTBI) not only significantly affects the quality of life in individuals with msTBI, but also increases the possibility of late-life dementia. The goal of this study is to determine whether acute (\< 1 week) cerebrovascular injury and its recovery within the first year postinjury measured by cerebral autoregulation and brain perfusion are associated with cognitive outcome at 12 months after msTBI. The results from this study will improve our understanding of cerebrovascular contributions to cognitive decline related to TBI and provide critical data to inform the development of strategies based on vascular mechanisms to improve cognition and prevent neurodegeneration after msTBI.

The study will be conducted at the following locations: 1. UT Southwestern Medical Center 2. Parkland Health and Hospital System 3. University of Michigan Investigators will prospectively compare the performance of dynamic contrast enhanced abbreviated MRI (AMRI) and contrast-enhanced ultrasound for early-stage HCC detection in patients with indeterminate liver nodules.

This is a prospective, non-randomized, non-blinded observational study. The overarching goal is to discover new disease-associated genes in children, while establishing a specific focus on disorders where molecular characterization is most likely to lead to novel therapies. This study will merge detailed phenotypic characterization of patients presenting to the Pediatric Genetics and Metabolism Division in the Department of Pediatrics/Children's Medical Center at Dallas and collaborating clinics with Next-Generation sequencing techniques to identify disease-producing mutations. The primary objective of the study is to identify novel pathogenic mutations in children with rare Mendelian disorders. A secondary objective of the study is to establish normative ranges of a large number of metabolites from healthy newborns and older children.

The goal of this clinical trial is to see the safety and efficacy of pembrolizumab and lenvatinib in patients with anal squamous cell cancer that cannot be removed through surgery or is spread to other organs. Eligible participants should have also received some form of standard therapy previously for their advanced cancer. Participants will be required to come for a clinic visit and infusion of pembrolizumab. Lenvatinib will be taken by mouth at home based on direction provided by physicians and research team.

This Phase II, single arm study evaluates a PSA-response-adapted approach to salvage radiotherapy after radical prostatectomy for prostate cancer. All participants will receive hypo-fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy to the prostate fossa. At 5 weeks, biochemical response will be assessed. responders will proceed to observation, while non responders will receive sequential pelvic nodal radiotherapy and 4 months of androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). The study aims to determine whether this response base approach achieves non inferior 2 year freedom from progression compared with historical outcomes using routine pelvic nodal radiotherapy and ADT in all patients.

The purpose of this study is to characterize the reduction in PSMA-avid tumor volume and metastasis-directed radiotherapy treatment intensity facilitated by PET PSMA-response adapted SABR for poly-metastatic castration sensitive prostate cancer.

The objective of this study is to enhance the safety profile of SAbR in ultra-central tumors of the lung (primary or metastatic) without compromising its effectiveness.

Over the past decades, healthcare systems face significant challenges to meet the needs of an aging population due to progressive debility, functional decline and chronic diseases development. While there is a growing appreciation of the potential impact of mTOR inhibitors on slowing aging processes, preventing chronic disease and prolonging healthy lifespan, a major challenge in developing clinical trials to establish the clinical efficacy of mTOR inhibitors is the absence of pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD) data in older adults. The proposed study will provide the foundation for future clinical trials assessing the role of mTOR inhibitors on aging related indications

Approximately 1.5 million of the 44 million Blacks in the United States are carriers of the valine-to-isoleucine substitution at position 122 (V122I) in the transthyretin (TTR) protein. Virtually exclusive to Blacks, this is the most common cause of hereditary cardiac amyloidosis (hATTR-CA) worldwide. hATTR-CA leads to worsening heart failure (HF) and premature death. Fortunately, new therapies that stabilize TTR improve morbidity and mortality in hATTR-CA, especially when prescribed early in the disease. However, hATTR-CA is often diagnosed at an advanced stage and conventional diagnostic tools lack diagnostic specificity to detect early disease. The overall objectives of this study are to determine the presence of subclinical hATTR-CA and to identify biomarkers that indicate amyloid progression in V122I TTR carriers. The central hypothesis of this proposal is that hATTR-CA has a long latency period that will be detected through subclinical amyloidosis imaging and biomarker phenotyping. The central hypothesis will be tested by pursuing 2 specific aims: Aim 1) determine the association of V122I TTR carrier status with CMRI evidence of amyloid infiltration; Sub-aim 1) determine the association of V122I TTR carrier status with cardiac reserve; Aim 2) determine the association between amyloid-specific biomarkers and V122I TTR carrier status; and Sub-aim 2) determine the association of amyloid-specific biomarkers with imaging-based parameters and evaluate their diagnostic utility for identifying subclinical hATTR-CA. In Aim 1, CMRI will be used to compare metrics associated with cardiac amyloid infiltration between a cohort of V122I TTR carriers without HF formed by cascade genetic testing and age-, sex-, and race-matched non-carrier controls. For Sub-Aim 1, a sub-sample of carriers and non-carrier controls enrolled in Aim 1 will undergo novel exercise CMRI to measure and compare cardiac systolic and diastolic reserve. Aim 2 involves measuring and comparing amyloid-specific biomarkers in V122I TTR carriers without HF with samples matched non-carriers (both from Aim 1) and individuals with symptomatic V122I hATTR-CA from our clinical sites. These biomarkers detect and quantify different processes of TTR amyloidogenesis and include circulating TTR, retinol binding protein 4, TTR kinetic stability, and misfolded TTR oligomers. Sub-aim 2 will establish the role of these biomarkers to detect imaging evidence of subclinical hATTR-CA disease.

The goal of this pilot study is to test the effectiveness of a novel intervention for young adults (ages 18-27) with mental health conditions who have been released from an acute care psychiatric facility. The intervention aims to reduce suicidality, depression, anxiety, re-hospitalization, and improve mental health recovery by using outpatient services. The current standard of care (SOC) for these patients at discharge includes a discharge plan with a list of their medications, anticipated outpatient appointments, and information on when and where to find community resources. The intervention being tested involves the implementation of a mental health recovery education and support program, involving one-on-one and small group meetings led by Peer Support Specialists (PSS) and Recovery Community Organizations (RCO). Participants will be assigned to either Cohort A or B for 8 weeks. Cohort A will be the intervention group with PSS and RCOs. * Weeks 1-4: One-on-one meetings with PSS for education and support. Assessments will be completed at weeks 2 and 4. * Weeks 5 and 7: One-on-one meetings with PSS for education and support. * Week 6 and 8: Group meetings with PSS and other participants from RCOs. Assessments will be completed during these weeks. Cohort B will be the SOC group with no PSS or RCOs. * Weeks 1-4: Weekly check in phone calls with a member of the research team. Assessments will be completed at weeks 2 and 4. * Weeks 5-8: Check in phone calls with a member of the research team every other week. Assessments will be completed at weeks 6 and 8. Data collected from participant assessments, adherence to medication, and re-admittance to a psychiatric facility will be used to compare the intervention to the SOC.

This phase II randomized placebo-controlled trial studies low-dose erlotinib treatment to assess its efficacy and safety to prevent development of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with advanced liver fibrosis or cirrhosis.

This goal of this clinical trial is to evaluate how Acetadote affects metabolism in patients with glioblastoma. Drugs like Acetadote, which affect the level of damage in a cell (oxidative stress), may impact brain tumor metabolism and slow the growth of brain tumors. The investigators are evaluating how Acetadote affects glioblastoma metabolism by using MRI-based methods and by determining the changes in metabolism in brain tumor tissue resected from patients with a new diagnosis of glioblastoma.

The overall objective of this pilot randomized clinical trial is to determine whether low-dose Colchicine (LoDoCo) improves vascular disease including vascular calcification, peripheral arterial disease (PAD), and chronic kidney disease-mineral and bone disorder (CKD-MBD) biomarkers in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) stage 3 over a 12-month intervention period, compared with usual care. Successful completion of this study will generate critical preliminary data to support a larger clinical trial aimed at evaluating inflammation-targeted therapies to mitigate CKD-MBD, including vascular calcification and related PAD, as well as osteoporosis, ultimately reducing cardiovascular events and mortality in patients with CKD. Additionally, this work has the potential to redefine the diagnostic framework for CKD-MBD.

This research study is being done to find out if the immunotherapy drugs called CDX-301 and CDX-1140 in combination with the standard chemotherapy treatment pegylated liposomal doxorubicin (PLD, Doxil) are safe and effective at controlling the cancer in patients with metastatic triple Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 (HER2) negative breast cancer, and to determine a safe dose and treatment schedule of the three drugs. This research study will also test how your immune system responds to these treatments alone and in combination.

The purpose of this study is to better understand how the immune system plays a role in fighting breast cancer and specifically research if the immune system response against breast cancer can be improved with endocrine therapy and cyclin dependent kinase inhibitor therapy in patients with hormone receptor positive breast cancer. This will be studied by collecting tumor tissue and blood samples before and after 2 weeks of study treatment with commonly used endocrine therapy and cyclin dependent kinase inhibitor therapy.

Justice-involved individuals face disproportionately high rates of stimulant use disorder and HIV, along with disrupted access to HIV treatment and prevention services like ART and PrEP. Contingency management (CM) is the most effective intervention for stimulant use, but its use in justice-involved populations has been limited by logistical and structural barriers. DynamiCare is an FDA-approved mobile app that delivers behavioral CM and has shown promise in reducing stimulant use, but its impact on HIV-related outcomes remains unknown. The RESTORE study (Recovery and Engagement for Stimulant Users on Re-entry) will evaluate whether combining DynamiCare with patient navigation (DynamiCare-plus) improves PrEP/ART initiation and reduces stimulant use among individuals recently released from justice settings. The R61 phase will assess feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary effectiveness among 40 participants. If milestones are met, the R33 phase will scale to a randomized controlled trial with 252 participants to assess effectiveness, implementation, and cost. This scalable, mobile approach has the potential to address a critical gap in care for a highly vulnerable population.

The goal of this behavioral interventional trial is to determine how best to communicate personalized cardiovascular risk information and support behavior change among participants enrolled in the Dallas Heart Study (DHS) cohort. The main questions it aims to answer are: * What are the effects of presenting health information in a coarse vs. granular manner? (This question will be measured by randomizing participants to two groups: one group will get a cover letter with their health information communicated in a more detailed manner, while another group will receive a cover letter which presents their health information in a coarse manner. Two letters will be sent containing the same information regarding their results. 4 months after the second letter, participants will be asked about changes made for their health after receiving the letter) * How curious are people about bettering their health after being presented their health information? (This question will be measured by placing QR codes linking educational health videos on each cover letter. Each letter will be sent twice with exactly the same health information but with new QR (Quick Response) codes. QR code use will be tracked by the study staff) Researchers will assess whether participants who received different style letters had different responses to their health behaviors and medication afterward and will measure this with a follow-up phone call. Researchers will also assess the use of QR codes showing health-related videos (about physical activity, heart-healthy diet, diabetes medication, statin medication) by sending out two different letters with the same health information and format, but with different QR code-linked videos. Participants will: * Receive two letters in the mail, 4 weeks apart, containing their results from the Dallas Heart Study's 4th visit. The cover letter for this report will be randomized and will contain coarse vs. granular presentations of the participant's heart health risk. * Receive a follow up call after 4 months to assess: whether they received the letter, whether they understood the information provided, whether they made any health changes after receiving the letter, whether they saw a healthcare provider after receiving the letter, whether the letter prompted a new diagnosis by a doctor, and whether the participant made any medication changes after the letter.

Many preterm babies born between 22-28+6 weeks' estimated gestational age (EGA) need surfactant, a medicine that helps the lungs. The goal of the study is to compare the use of video-based visualization to direct visualization during a procedure called less invasive surfactant administration (LISA). The main questions the study aims to answer are: 1) does one method of visualization have a increased rate of giving the medicine successfully on the first attempt? 2) what benefits are there of each method?

This is a prospective study to determine if the use of curcumin randomized against placebo will reduce cancer progression in patients with prostate cancer undergoing active surveillance.

There is a substantial need to identify objective measures associated with hyperadduction of the vocal folds to recognize those at higher risk of developing phonotrauma so that risk mitigation strategies can be implemented before phonotrauma develops. The overall objective of this proposed project is to investigate the sensitivity and direction of change in cepstral peak prominence (CPP) and the magnitude difference between the first two harmonics of the voice spectrum (H1-H2) in response to varied phonation patterns, which will be addressed using the following two aims: Aim 1: Determine how CPP and H1-H2 change as a function of using pressed voice production in individuals without laryngeal pathology. Aim 2: Examine the sensitivity (minimally detectable change) and responsiveness (minimal clinically important difference) of CPP and H1-H2 to detect changes in different voice production conditions.

In this study the investigators aim to optimize Port-Wine-Birthmark (PBW) laser therapy in children in order to reduce the number of laser treatments required for clearance and improve outcomes for refractory cases. This approach also seeks to reduce the frequency with which children require general anesthesia for treatment.

The purpose of this research study is to investigate whether tDCS to the cerebellum (specifically, the right crus I/II area of the cerebellum) of children and young adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) is safe and to examine its effects on some of the symptoms of ASD, such as repetitive behaviors and hyperactivity.

The goal of the study is to determine effectiveness of a behaviorally informed text messaging intervention to help parents increase safety practices and reduce their teens' access to lethal means following a suicide-related emergency department visit.

The goal of this study is to observe metabolic features associated with human melanoma tumors.