Search Results

The purpose of this research is to test the efficacy of different interventions to increase vaccination against human papillomavirus (HPV). Survivors of childhood, adolescent and young adult cancers are at increased risk of developing HPV-associated secondary cancers, but have lower HPV vaccination coverage compared to the general population. Interventions which are found to be successful in this study will be incorporated into future survivorship care to improve adherence to recommend preventive healthcare practices. All research procedures will be conducted remotely (e.g. online).

We are investigating how paired non-invasive electrical stimulation of surface body regions and sound changes sound perception and tinnitus. Body stimulation regions include: external ear/behind the ear, shoulder, neck, forearm, hand, and upper arm. We aim to better understand the optimal conditions of this paired stimulation, which opens opportunities for applying this method to improving hearing loss or tinnitus. We are studying three groups of people: those with normal hearing, those with mild to moderate hearing loss, and those with tinnitus.

There is evidence that dysfunction of the diaphragm following COVID infection that leads to the shortness of breath and chest tightness. The diaphragm is the main muscle of respiration. This study involves muscle stretching of the diaphragm and associated muscles to improve the quality of respiration. Half of the participants will receive PT twice a week, for 12 weeks, for 1 hour (in person) and a half hour via telehealth. A control group will undergo traditional treatment as recommended by your provider.

The purpose of this research is to better understand how deep brain stimulation settings can affect the electrical activity in the brain and the frequency of seizures. There are a number of different ways in which the deep brain stimulation electrodes can be programmed to stimulate the brain. This research study uses the implanted battery in the chest to record electrical activity from the brain at different stimulation settings. We then use this electrical activity to determine stimulation settings that are “personalized” to your brain.

The purpose of this study if to determine if stool or blood can be used to detect colon cancers as early or earlier than colonoscopy. The researchers plan to use these samples to learn about specific proteins (also known as biomarkers) that may indicate colon polyps, colon cancer or an increased risk of developing colon cancer. In order to learn more about preventing and detecting colon and rectal cancer, we are collecting samples from subjects with cancer, adenomas, and colonoscopies who may be at risk for polyps.

REM sleep behavior disorder may predict the eventual symptom development of Parkinson’s disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, or multiple system atrophy. This occurs over years to decades and the sleep disorder may hide other typical symptoms and result in a delay in diagnosis. We are studying the changes in the brain over two years. We will do high field MRI’s (7T) and other tests of neurological function of people who have REM sleep disorder and people who don’t have this disorder (matched for age and sex).

The purpose of this study is to learn if removing the donor T cells from the donor product using this new method will be a better way to reduce the risk of GVHD. The benefit of removing these cells with this new method is that they will prevent GVHD without requiring drugs to suppress the immune system. Potentially, the immune system will recover from the transplant faster, which in turn will also lessen the risk of severe infections. As well, the patient will not have the other common undesired side effects of these immunosuppressive drugs.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate if a partial enteral nutrition diet, with a pea protein plant-based oral nutrition supplement (ONS; Kate Farms Peptide 1.5), combined with the Inflammatory bowel disease - Anti-Inflammatory Diet (IBD-AID) improves the nutritional intake of adult patients experiencing a CD flare initiating immunologic therapy compared to standard of care. Standard of care for patients experiencing a CD flare is commonly characterized by prescription of a low fiber diet and either lack of oral nutrition supplementation or use of an animal protein based supplement.

This research is being done to determine whether not taking oral prophylactic antibiotics after surgery is less effective compared to taking oral prophylactic antibiotics after surgery in preventing urinary tract infections (UTI) within 90 days after surgery. We will divide study participants randomly (similar to tossing a coin) into two groups; one group not receiving postoperative prophylactic antibiotics and the other group receiving prophylactic antibiotics postoperatively. Both groups will receive the exact same preparation before surgery, care during the day of surgery care, postoperative care, and care after hospital discharge.

The purpose of this multicenter study is to compare outcomes between patients who will undergo different types of ACL reconstruction. All patients will have a tendon from their own knee used to reconstruct the ACL. Prior to knee surgery, researchers will randomize (i.e. a coin toss) to determine if ACL reconstruction will be done with patellar or quadriceps tendon and if the lateral extra-articular tenodesis will or will not be added to the ACL surgery. We will follow-up with participants as they undergo treatment and recovery after surgery for 2 years.

This study’s strategy is to take a personalized approach, using a type of donor source combined with a drug regimen specific to that source. The common risks of a transplant approach include graft failure – when the transplant does not take; graft versus host disease (GVHD) – when the transplanted donor cells attack the recipient; and a late effect of infertility. We are studying whether this new approach with conditioning regimen matched with donor source is safer and more effective than our previous approach. Additionally, we are testing whether the dose of radiation will reduce the risk of graft failure.

We are studying the effects of stimulating the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve connects the brain to many organs in the body. Vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) is already approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat depression and epilepsy. We want to learn more about how it affects other parts of our bodies, such as the heart, metabolism, the immune system, and the nervous system. We hope that by understanding how VNS affects the body as a whole, we can develop new treatments for other conditions, or help to improve its use for depression and epilepsy.

The purpose of this pilot research study is to test whether a tool called “High-Resolution Manometry” can diagnose laryngeal dystonia (also known as spasmodic dysphonia) and measure how well treatment works. High-Resolution Manometry measures pressures from a small catheter that is passed from your nose into your throat. We believe that pressures in the throat might be different for people with laryngeal dystonia than for people without laryngeal dystonia, or with other types of voice disorders. If we can diagnose laryngeal dystonia shortly after symptoms start, we can get patients the treatment they need sooner.

We will enroll healthy pregnant women (following enrollment, all subsequent study procedures will be completed postpartum) or postpartum women on hormonal birth control or no hormonal birth control with either a recent history of smoking and a desire to remain abstinent after childbirth, or who are currently smoking and motivated to quit smoking. Participants will be recruited throughout the continental United States (US). Participants living in Minnesota (our clinical site) will receive a 12-week course of exogenous progesterone. Participants will be followed for six months with remote visits, self-administered surveys, and self-collection of dried blood spots to measure hormones and smoking-related biomarkers.

The purpose of this study is to learn more about the origin of tinnitus (phantom sound) and how age and hearing loss affect the ability to hear simple and complex sounds, such as tones and speech, presented in isolation and in the presence of other competing sounds. Possible participants may have normal hearing or mild-to-moderate hearing loss. Participants will be seated in a sound-treated room and listen to sounds over headphones, insert earphones (earbuds), or via loudspeakers. The tasks involve making judgments about the sounds, such as discriminating which of two sounds appeared to fluctuate in intensity or reporting the words in a sentence.

Diabetes mellitus is a common condition which is defined by persistently high blood sugar levels. This is a frequent problem that is most commonly due to type 2 diabetes. However, it is now recognized that a small portion of the population with diabetes have an underlying problem with their pancreas, such as chronic pancreatitis or pancreatic cancer, as the cause of their diabetes. Currently, there is no test to identify the small number of patients who have diabetes caused by a primary problem with their pancreas. The goal of this study is to develop a blood test to distinguish these various causes of diabetes.

This phase II trial studies how well combination chemotherapy works in treating patients (≤ 30 years old) with newly diagnosed stage II-IV diffuse anaplastic Wilms tumors (DAWT) or favorable histology Wilms tumors (FHWT) that have come back (relapsed).This trial may help doctors find out what effects, good and/or bad, regimen UH-3 (vincristine, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, carboplatin, etoposide, and irinotecan) has on patients with newly diagnosed DAWT and standard risk relapsed FHWT (those treated with only 2 drugs for the initial WT)and regimen ICE/Cyclo/Topo (ifosfamide, carboplatin, etoposide, cyclophosphamide, and topotecan) has on patients with high and very high risk relapsed FHWT (those treated with 3 or more drugs for the initial WT).

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) confers a high risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD), particularly among older adults who tend to be physically inactive. Most studies that have examined the effects of changing sedentary behavior (SB) have focused on young healthy males and prioritized glycemic outcomes. We will look at the effect of 3 different ways of breaking up sitting: 1) 4 hours of prolonged SB, 2) 4 hours of SB broken up by 5 minutes of self-paced walking every hour, and 3) 4 hours of SB with one 20-minute bout of self-paced walking. In addition to examining the overall effects of each condition, differences between men and women will be evaluated.

This study will look at the effects of treatment combining Comprehensive Behavioral Intervention for Tics (CBIT) and Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) for young people who have tic disorder. Participants must be 12- 21 years old and able to have an MRI. All participants will receive 10 daily sessions of CBIT, a well-established behavioral treatment that is considered to be the first treatment for tics. Participants will also be assigned randomly (by chance) to receive TMS or a sham (treatment not delivered) just before each CBIT session. The device for TMS delivers electromagnetic stimulation to a specific area of the brain with a small coil on the scalp. The effectiveness of the CBIT for the two groups, with and without the TMS, will be compared.

This research study is for people who have a diagnosis of lung fibrosis and are experiencing increased shortness of breath from it. Participation involves being randomly (by chance) selected to participate in either the home-based rehab program right away or an observation only group. If randomly selected to participate in the observation group first, participants will be transitioned to the home-based rehab program after the observation period. Both programs last 12 weeks. The home-based rehab program involves the use of an electronic tablet containing video exercises that to complete daily for a total of 24 minutes of exercise each day. There is also a mindful breathing meditation that lasts about 3 minutes which you will do after completing the video exercises.

Respiratory illnesses, including ear and sinus infections, colds, and pneumonias, are among the most common infectious diseases affecting Minnesotans across their lifespan. These diseases can be caused by many different types of microbes—bacteria, viruses and fungi—and different types of microbes may require different kinds of treatment. This research is being done to learn more about the specific types of microbes that cause respiratory infections in children and adults across the state of Minnesota over time. Antimicrobial resistance happens when microbes develop the ability to defeat the drugs designed to kill them. Through this study, we will learn which types of genes are carried by microbes living in the respiratory tract by collecting and analyzing nasal and oral specimen.

This phase III trial studies brentuximab vedotin and combination chemotherapy to see how well they work compared to combination chemotherapy alone in treating children and young adults with stage IIB with bulk, stage IIIB, IVA, or IVB Hodgkin lymphoma. Combinations of biological substances in brentuximab vedotin may be able to carry cancer-killing substances directly to Hodgkin lymphoma cells. Chemotherapy drugs, such as doxorubicin hydrochloride, bleomycin sulfate, vincristine sulfate, etoposide, prednisone, and cyclophosphamide, work in different ways to stop the growth of cancer cells, either by killing the cells, by stopping them from dividing, or by stopping them from spreading. It is not yet known if combination chemotherapy is more effective with or without brentuximab vedotin in treating children with high-risk Hodgkin lymphoma.

The purpose of this research study is to investigate new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) methods to better detect and monitor osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) before and after treatment. ONFH causes injury to the hip joint that can lead to osteoarthritis (the breaking/wearing down of cartilage & tissues within the joint) and the eventual need for a hip replacement. It can be difficult to detect ONFH early on using current medical imaging techniques, which is when treatments may be the most effective. Furthermore, available treatments are not always effective at preventing the progression (spread or growth) of ONFH. This research may benefit others with ONFH by providing more effective medical imaging tools to detect ONFH earlier and inform treatment decisions to increase the chance of stopping or delaying the progression of ONFH and preventing hip osteoarthritis.

Background: Distal radius fractures (DRF) account for nearly one-fifth of all fractures in older adults, and women experience them 5x as often as men. Most DRF occur with low impact injuries to the wrist with an outstretched hand, and are often managed via closed treatment and cast immobilization. Women sustaining a DRF are at risk for upper limb immobility, sensorimotor changes, edema and type I complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). Since CRPS onset is likely influenced by alterations in the brain’s somatosensory region, a rehabilitation intervention, Graded Motor Imagery (GMI), aims to restore cortical representation, including sensory and motor function, of the affected limb. To date, there are no studies on the use of GMI in reducing risk of or preventing the onset of type I CRPS in women with DRF treated with cast immobilization. Due to a higher likelihood of women with this injury developing type I CRPS, it is important to early intervention is needed. Methods/Design: This article describes a six-week randomized comparative effectiveness trial, where the outcomes of a modified GMI program (mGMI) + standard of care (SOC) group (n=33) are compared to a SOC only control group (n=33). Immediately following cast immobilization, both groups participate in four 1-hour clinic-based sessions, and a home program for 10 minutes three times daily until cast removal. Blinded assessments occur within 1 week of cast immobilization (baseline), at three weeks post cast immbolization, cast removal, and at three months post cast removal. The primary outcomes are patient reported wrist/hand function and symptomology on the Patient Rated Wristand Hand Evaluation, McGill Pain Questionnaire, and Budapest CRPS Criteria. The secondary outcomes are grip strength, active range of motion as per goniometry, circumferential edema measurements, and joint position sense. Discussion: This study will investigate the early effects of mGMI + SOC hand therapy compared to SOC alone. We intend to investigate whether an intervention, specifically mGMI, used to treat preexisiting pain and motor dysfunction might also be used to mitigate these problems prior to their onset. If positive effects are observed, mGMI + SOC may be considered for incorporation into early rehabilitation program.

More than 65% of people with lower extremity peripheral artery disease (PAD) are overweight or obese. Overweight or obese people with PAD have greater functional impairment and faster functional decline than normal weight people with PAD. Walking exercise is first line therapy to improve walking performance in PAD. However, our NHLBI-funded observational longitudinal study of functional decline in PAD showed that overweight and obese PAD participants who combined weight loss with walking exercise had significantly less functional decline than those who walked for exercise but did not lose weight. Therefore, we hypothesize that among people with PAD who are overweight or obese, a weight loss intervention combined with exercise will improve walking ability more than exercise alone. However, the effects of intentional weight loss in overweight or obese people with PAD are unknown and may not be beneficial if weight loss exacerbates PAD-related sarcopenia. Behavior change that achieves sustained weight loss is particularly challenging in older obese people with chronic disease. Therefore, among people with PAD and BMI>28 kg/m2, we will conduct a randomized clinical trial to test the hypothesis that a weight loss intervention combined with walking exercise achieves greater improvement in functional performance than exercise alone at 12-month follow-up.