Clinical trials

This observational, multi-center study aims to collect data to develop a novel, minimally invasive diagnostic tool for myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) based on peripheral blood (PB) profiling of circulating hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (cHSPCs) using single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq). Current diagnostic practice relies on bone marrow (BM) biopsy, procedures that is invasive, technically demanding, and may be inconclusive in early or prefibrotic disease stages. Our prior work established a reference atlas of healthy cHSPC subtypes and a computational pipeline capable of identifying disease-specific transcriptional changes by quantifying deviations from this reference. This study will assess whether PB-based genomic profiling can accurately distinguish MPN from non-clonal cytoses, including secondary erythrocytosis or thrombocytosis. Patients referred for bone marrow biopsy due to suspected myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN) will undergo PB collection for genomic profiling. The study's primary objective is to develop a PB-based test by comparing the developed test diagnoses to the conventional BM-based diagnostics. Secondary objectives include evaluating its potential for MPN subtype classification, risk stratification, as well as assessing its ability to reduce the need for BM biopsies.

In this study, the investigators will explore our protein-based platform assessing commensals potentially contributing to features of CD, while assessing the global composition and abundance of AMPs expressed in the GI tract under specific CD-relevant clinical contexts. This would enable us to (a) identify new commensals contributing to features of CD spectrum and various sub-types; (b) uncover the mechanistic basis of dysbiosis in CD (c) utilize the pipeline to develop new theranostic for disease exacerbation, complication and treatment responses; and (d) potentially enable future exploitation of novel AMP combinations, and their respective antimicrobial capacity to counteract dysbiosis in CD. Uncovering the proteomic manifestations of perturbed host-microbiome communications in CD will eventually enable the development and validation of clinical non-invasive surrogate markers, mechanistically determine causative drivers of CD, and potentially facilitate the development of novel therapeutic interventions.

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is considered the most common gastrointestinal disorder in humans, with an estimated global prevalence of 11%-20% of all humans. Alterations in the gut microbiome are at the center of IBS, and microbiome-induced volatile metabolites in response to dietary exposures is believed to drive a downstream impact on susceptible hosts, thereby driving the disease. However, the characteristics and functions of these metabolites remain unknown to date. The two main mechanisms invoking IBS development and flares include 1) an increase in luminal water content due to malabsorption of small molecules and 2) incrementation of colon gas production generated by the fermentation of small molecules by gut bacteria.Yet to date, a person-specific elucidation of the specific small molecules and bacteria driving IBS, and their downstream effects on the human gut epithelium remain unknown. Over the past years, it became evident that dietary regimes, and their interactions with the intestinal microbiome, are at the center of IBS symptom generation and alleviation. The most widely used dietary intervention is a highly restrictive diet, the low-Fermentable Oligo-saccharides Di-saccharides Mono-saccharides And Polyols (FODMAP) diet, based on avoidance of multiple food items that contain available fermentable molecules. The low-FODMAP diet remains an effective line of treatment for IBS patients, yet due to its complexity and unhealthy nature, it remains a last line of treatment and fails to impact the majority of IBS patients.

decipher the role of microbiota in glycemic response change after bariatric surgery

This observational, multi-center study aims to collect data in order to develop a novel, minimally invasive diagnostic tool for MDS based on peripheral blood profiling of circulating hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (cHSPCs) using single-cell RNA sequencing and DNA sequencing.

This past century witnessed a significant increase in the prevalence of obesity. Successful weight loss maintenance is defined as losing at least 10% of the initial body weight and maintaining it for at least one year. However, keeping a low body weight is rarely maintained, as 80% of people who lost 10% of their body weight will return to their initial weight within a year. Although there is no agreement as to what contributes to the recurrent weight regain phenomenon (also known as 'weight cycling' or 'yo-yo diet'), it is strongly associated with the risk of developing metabolic risk factors and their complications, including heart disease and all-cause mortality. Altering the gut microbiota is one method to treat disease states associated with gut bacteria. Antibiotics consumption is known to influence host glycemic response through changes induced in microbiome composition and function. Therefore, it may be a possible pathway to jumpstart changes in the gut microbiota. This study will determine whether microbiome modulation might be a possible future target against recurrent obesity in humans and whether orally administered antibiotic treatment post-weight loss might be an effective intervention to prevent weight regain.

This is a prospective study aimed at recruiting 30,000 individuals, aged 40-70 years old, and following them longitudinally for 25 years with repeated measurements. The basic follow-up frame will include a visit to the Clinical Test Center (CTC) every two years and a phone interview every other year (on uneven years). Sample collection and biobanking will be performed every two years and online questionnaires will be filled out on an annual basis. The primary goals are to study the variation observed across different individuals in disease susceptibility, clinical phenotypes, and therapeutic responses. The study aims at studying the complex interplay and relative contribution of different omics, physiological characteristics and lifestyle on disease pathogenesis and progression and to evaluate how these effects are mediated.