Clinical trials

The purpose of this study is to identify survival free of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), fatty acid profiles, and early biochemical measures for oxidative stress comparing mixed oil lipid emulsion (MOLE) vs soybean oil-based lipid emulsion (SOLE) and to establish whether MOLE or SOLE is more effective in minimizing pulmonary outcomes, neonatal morbidities, long-term morbidity and mortality, and improving discharge growth and Bayley Scales of Infant Development Fourth Edition (BSID-IV) neurodevelopmental assessment at two years

The purpose of the study is to assess if the Fresh Connect food prescription (Fresh Connect Food Rx) program that provides consistent access to healthy fresh produce through purchases at the grocery store plus nutrition education impacts gestational weight gain, other pregnancy and birth outcomes, and food and nutrition security in low-income, ethnically diverse, at-risk women residing in Houston, Texas. Enrollment of participants will begin in pregnancy at the time of the first prenatal visit (as long as the first visit occurs before the end of the first trimester); each participant will be followed until 60 days post-partum (up to 11 months follow-up per participant).

The purpose of this study is to learn whether virtual Lifestyle medicine shared medical appointments (LMSMAs) can help people better manage their blood pressure and improve their overall health.

The purpose of this study is to assess the efficacy of iCHAMPSS 2.0 in impacting Reach Effectiveness Adoption Implementation Maintenance (RE-AIM) implementation outcomes, with implementation of a sexual health evidence-based program (EBP) assess iCHAMPSS 2.0's efficacy in impacting determinants of sexual health EBP implementation and to conduct a process evaluation to monitor iCHAMPSS 2.0 implementation, reach, dosage, and barriers and facilitators to implementing iCHAMPSS 2.0 during the study.

The purpose of this study is to test the feasibility and acceptability of an evidence-based treatment for depression delivered over an ipad, computer, or smartphone can help Adult Protective Services (APS) clients with their activities of daily living to evaluate whether reductions on measures of depression and apathy (a) mediate reduced Elder Neglect/Self Neglect (EN/SN) behaviors; and (b) whether secondary posited mediating mechanisms are also active in impacting depression and apathy

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of Contingency Management (CM)+transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) on treatment outcomes in individuals who are initial non-responders and to evaluate the effects of CM+TMS on putative mechanisms of change

The purpose of this study is to determine the difference in the duration of mechanical ventilation, to evaluate the difference in ICU length of stay and to determine the difference in the overall dose of sedation medications between the between participants who were monitored using Bispectral index monitoring (BIS) monitors and those who were not.

The purpose of this study is to compare the effectiveness of innovative intervention of breathing controlled electrical stimulation (BreEStim) and sham BreEStim and Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) in management of neuropathic pain in patients after spinal cord injury (SCI).

This study will develop novel low intensity focused ultrasound (LIFU) therapy to help people to quit cigarette smoking. Smoking is associated with cancers of the lung. Available smoking cessation methods help many to quit. However, for the many who continue to smoke despite the strong desire to quit and after exhausting existing therapeutic approaches, new treatment methods are needed. Without more effective treatment, many will continue to smoke, and our progress on cancer prevention through smoking cessation may decelerate as these associated cancer risks will remain. Brain imaging research has identified specific areas of the brain linked to severe nicotine addiction, but up to now there are no effective ways to directly target most of these deeper brain regions. LIFU is a new and safe method to modulate brain functions that can either inhibit overactive activity or restore normal activity levels. The purpose of this study is to provide a novel ultrasound-based neuromodulation strategy for smoking cessation in people who have difficulty to quit smoking despite numerous serious attempts in their lives. LIFU works by sending acoustic pressure modulating neural activity in the human brain.

In order to expand neuroscience research and move laboratory advances to patients, there is a need to integrate reliable clinical data with biologic information from patient tissue specimens. The Neuroscience Research Repository (NRR) seeks to meet this need. The NRR is a prospective database and sample bank created to collect information and samples for current and future neuroscience research. The objective of this NRR is to develop a data and sample repository for study of neurological conditions. A repository utilizing standardized electronic health data and samples collected in a uniform manner serves to foster the ability to perform research on current and future projects. Samples and data for clinical, genomic and proteomic analysis will be provided to optimize their value for neuroscience research. The NRR will enroll patients and collect clinically recorded longitudinal data for as long as they are followed by the Neurosurgery service and up to an additional 5 years after being released from care. Patients will be enrolled on admission to the service and samples will be taken at three time points: Time One, within 24 hours of event (preferably first blood draw); Time Two, within 48 hours of event; and Time Three, time of any residual tissue availability. Family members of select groups of patients will also be approached for enrollment. Samples and data will be labeled with a study code to maintain confidentiality. Samples and data will be maintained in secure, limited access environments with back-up/redundancy procedures in place. Sample inventory will be maintained with a bar-coding system. A duty to warn clause will be included in the consent as will the determination of willingness to be re-contacted for future research. Time of sample acquisition to time of sample processing will be documented for quality control purposes. Freezers will be monitored for temperature stability. Recipient investigators will be requested to provide feedback on sample quality. Samples will be distributed to neuroscience investigators after approval from the Neurosurgery Scientific Review Committee - Dissemination Review Committee and the Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects (CPHS).

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a spasticity screener and to determine if the spasticity screener results are useful to healthcare providers and impact clinical decision making

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate feasibility, usability, and acceptability of VR-based cognitive and physical rehabilitation, evaluate adherence, tolerability, and fidelity to the VR intervention and explore preliminary effectiveness of VR-based rehabilitation on cognitive, physical, and functional outcomes

The purpose of this study is to establish the clinical efficacy of Mentalizing Imagery Therapy (MIT) for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders (ADRD) family caregivers in terms of mentalizing and elder mistreatment (EM) risk factors of stress, depression, and suicidality and to identify the mechanistic impacts of MIT on ADRD family caregivers' mental health,including stress, depression, and suicidality.

The overall goal is to investigate the effectiveness of a novel intervention - transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) for neuropathic pain management in people after spinal cord injury.

The overall goal is to investigate the effectiveness of a novel intervention - transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) for motor recovery in stroke survivors.

The overall goal is to investigate the effectiveness of a novel intervention - Breathing-controlled electrical stimulation (BreEStim) on finger flexor spasticity reduction and hand function improvement in chronic stroke with moderate impairment.

The overall goal is to investigate the effectiveness of a novel intervention - Breathing-controlled electrical stimulation (BreEStim) on finger flexor spasticity reduction and hand function improvement in chronic stroke with moderate impairment after a long-term use.

The overall goal is to investigate the effectiveness of a novel intervention - Breathing-controlled electrical stimulation (BreEStim) on finger flexor spasticity reduction and hand function improvement in chronic stroke with severe impairment.

The purpose of this study is to ascertain the feasibility and effectiveness of an 8-week social engagement program aimed at reducing depression and increasing social engagement among seniors who are transitioning out of Adult Protective Services (APS) for either elder abuse or self-neglect.

The investigators will randomize adults having major non-cardiac inpatient surgery to blinded versus unblinded continuous postoperative vital sign monitoring (saturation, ventilation, and heart rate). The investigators will use a wearable, untethered, and battery-powered sensor (Masimo Radius PPG, Masimo, Irvine, CA) that wirelessly connects to a Masimo monitor and continuously records saturation, ventilation, and pulse rate. The primary outcome will be areas-exceeding-thresholds for desaturation (\<85%), bradypnea (\<7 breaths/min), tachypnea (\>30 breaths/min), tachycardia (heart rate \>130 beats/min), and bradycardia (heart rate \<45 beats/min). These exposure thresholds represent a balance between events that are clinically meaningful and excessive alarms that will discourage clinician participation. The investigators expect about 1 alert per patient per day with these thresholds, with most being considered informative or actionable by nurses. In unblinded patients, clinician alerts will be activated at these thresholds.

The purpose of this study is to establish differences in the primary outcome of walking dysfunction using the 12-Item Multiple Sclerosis Walking Scale (MSWS-12) and to establish differences in the secondary outcome of HRQoL using the 29-Item Multiple Sclerosis Walking Scale (MSWS-29) between the exercise training intervention condition and the waitlist control condition following the 16-week intervention period.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of Virtually Assisted Home Rehabilitation After Acute STroke (VAST) + post-acute stroke usual care (PASUC) compared to PASUC alone and examine how social determinants of health (SDOH) influence access to and utilization of PASUC rehabilitation.

The LIMB Study is a prospective, observational pilot study evaluating the feasibility of combined non-invasive hemodynamic and lower-limb tissue oximetry monitoring during prolonged minimally invasive pelvic surgeries performed in lithotomy position. Thirty patients will undergo continuous intraoperative monitoring, with the primary outcome being the frequency and duration of tissue oxygen desaturation events and secondary outcomes examining correlations with postoperative limb pain, sensation, and motor function. The study is non-interventional, poses minimal risk, and aims to generate preliminary data to inform future strategies for early detection and prevention of limb ischemia and well-leg compartment syndrome

This study hypothesizes that temporary bilateral uterine and utero-ovarian artery occlusion with laparoscopic clamps at time of minimally invasive myomectomy will lead to a decreased blood loss at time of myomectomy compared to minimally invasive myomectomy without temporary occlusion.

The purpose of this study is to document the incidence of allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) to silk fibroin and 2-octyl cyanoacrylate mesh dressings after open shoulder surgery, to identify differences in clinic utilization for complications related to silk fibroin and 2-octyl cyanoacrylate mesh dressings and to collect patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) related to patient comfort and satisfaction for silk fibroin and 2-octyl cyanoacrylate mesh dressings.