UAB - Center for Clinical and Translational Science

This is a Phase 3, multicenter, open-label, randomized, parallel group, treatment study to assess the efficacy and safety of lifileucel in combination with pembrolizumab compared with pembrolizumab alone in participants with untreated, unresectable or metastatic melanoma. Participants randomized to the pembrolizumab monotherapy arm who subsequently have a blinded independent central review- verified confirmed progressive disease (PD) will be offered lifileucel monotherapy in an optional crossover period.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Mar 2023

open study

The purpose of this study is to see if an early literacy and developmental program in addition to shared reading can increase developmental test scores at 24 months of age. All caregivers of infants in this study will receive shared reading training. Half of the caregivers will be trained in an additional coach-led caregiver-implemented early literacy and numeracy program. Information related to infant development will be collected from parent surveys, medical records, and questionnaires and assessments.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Feb 2026

open study

The purpose of this study is to assess sense of control and catastrophic symptom expectations as targets for Retraining and Control Therapy (ReACT- an intervention focused on changing behaviors and thoughts) for treatment of adult psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES, episodes resembling epileptic seizures but with no correlated epileptiform activity). 19 years and older participants diagnosed with PNES who are treated at UAB FND clinic will engage in twelve sessions of ReACT. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of three conditions: no wait, 3-month waiting period, 6-month waiting period. Sense of control over actions will be measured by the magic and turbulence task, a well-validated measure of sense of control. Participants will complete the cold pressor test (CPT) in which participants hold their hand in cool water for as long as possible up to 3 minutes. Catastrophic symptom expectations in response to the CPT will be measured by Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS), pain tolerance (time with hand in water) and cortisol response. Target assessments occur 7 days before treatment and 7 days after the 12th treatment session. Participants randomized to the 3-month and 6-month waiting period will also complete these measures one additional time immediately before the beginning of their waiting period. Long term follow-up assessments will occur at 2 months, 6 months and 12 months after the 12th treatment session. PNES frequency will be measured from 30 days before to 12 months after treatment. Participants randomized to the 3-month or 6-month waiting period conditions will log weekly PNES episodes until the start of therapy.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Apr 2025

open study

The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether the use of the Detection of Elder Mistreatment Through Emergency Care Technicians-Revised for Primary Care (DETECT-RPC) screening tool increases the average reporting of elder mistreatment (EM) by homebased primary care (HBPC) clinicians.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Feb 2025

open study

In 2014, a team of parents, nurses, and physicians created Patient and Family Centered I-PASS (PFC I-PASS), a bundle of communication interventions to improve the quality of information exchange between physicians, nurses, and families, and to better integrate families into all aspects of daily decision making in hospitals. PFC I-PASS changed how doctors and nurses talk to patients and families on rounds when they're admitted to the hospital. (Rounds are when a team of doctors visit patients every morning to do a checkup and make a plan for the day.) Rounds used to happen in a way that left out patients and families. Doctors talked at, not with patients, used big words and medical talk, and left nurses out. PFC I-PASS changed rounds by including families and nurses, using simple non-medical words, and talking in an organized way so nothing is left out. When PFC I-PASS was put in place in 7 hospitals, patients had fewer adverse events and better hospital experience. But it didn't focus on how to talk with patients with language barriers. This project builds upon upon PFC I-PASS to make it better and focus on the special needs of patients who speak languages other than English. This new intervention is known as PFC I-PASS+. PFC I-PASS+ includes all parts of PFC I-PASS plus having interpreters on and after rounds and training doctors about communication and cultural humility. The study team will now conduct a stepped-wedge cluster randomized trial to compare the effectiveness of PFC I-PASS+ and PFC I-PASS to usual care at 8 hospitals.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Mar 2024

open study

The choice of autograft for ACL reconstruction continues to be debated. To date, there has only be one completed randomized controlled trial with quad tendon to BTB and the tendon included a bone plug. There has been no study to date comparing an all soft tissue quad tendon to patellar tendon in a randomized controlled trial for ACL reconstruction.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Sep 2023

open study

The goal of the current pilot clinical trial is to evaluate the safety and tolerability of pirfenidone in patients with predicted moderately severe and severe acute pancreatitis. Pirfenidone is currently approved by FDA for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Now, over 5 years of data has accumulated demonstrating safety of its use in humans. The investigators' preclinical data suggest that pirfenidone is very effective in reducing the severity of acute pancreatitis in animal models. Following are the objectives of the proposed clinical trial: Primary Objective: - To evaluate the safety and tolerability of pirfenidone, compared to placebo, in patients predicted to have moderately severe or severe AP. - To evaluate the efficacy of pirfenidone in reducing the laboratory markers of inflammation and improving patient reported outcome measures. Secondary Objective: - To evaluate the efficacy of pirfenidone in reducing the severity of acute pancreatitis, as measured by well-defined endpoints.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Aug 2023

open study

The APOLLO study is being done in an attempt to improve outcomes after kidney transplantation and to improve the safety of living kidney donation based upon variation in the apolipoprotein L1 gene (APOL1). Genes control what is inherited from a family, such as eye color or blood type. Variation in APOL1 can cause kidney disease. African Americans, Afro-Caribbeans, Hispanic Blacks, and Africans are more likely to have the APOL1 gene variants that cause kidney disease. APOLLO will test DNA from kidney donors and recipients of kidney transplants for APOL1 to determine effects on kidney transplant-related outcomes.

Type: Observational

Start Date: Mar 2019

open study

The rare histiocytic disorders (RHDs) are characterized by the infiltration of one or more organs by non-LCH histiocytes. They can range from localized disease that resolves spontaneously, to progressive disseminated forms that can be sometimes life-threatening. Since they are extremely rare, there is limited understanding of their causes and best treatment options. Physicians, patients and parents of children with RHDs frequently consult members of the Histiocyte Society regarding the best management of these disorders. Very often, no specific recommendation can be made due to the lack of prospective outcome data, or even large retrospective case series. The creation of an international rare histiocytic disorders registry (IRHDR) could facilitate a uniform diagnosis of the RHDs, as well as the collection and analysis of the clinical, epidemiological, treatment and survival data of patients with RHD. The registry may also lead to future therapeutic recommendations, provide a framework for future clinical trials and create excellent research opportunities.

Type: Observational [Patient Registry]

Start Date: Oct 2014

open study

The primary purpose of this study is to perform a high-quality randomized control trial comparing intramedullary tibial nail fixation with standard design nails to a micromotion tibial nail device, to evaluate the rates of union and post-operative outcomes.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Apr 2025

open study

The purpose of the study is to observe the outcomes of patients with acute myeloid leukemia who do not receive an immediate second round of chemotherapy after undergoing a standard mid-induction bone marrow biopsy.

Type: Observational

Start Date: May 2024

open study

This is an open-label, two-part, phase 1-2 study designed to determine the safety, tolerability, PK, pharmacodynamics (PD), and proof-of-concept efficacy of ST316 administered IV in subjects with selected advanced solid tumors likely to harbor abnormalities of the WNT/β-catenin signaling pathway. The study consists of two phases: a phase 1 dose escalation/regimen exploration phase and a phase 2 expansion phase.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Jun 2023

open study

The goal of this clinical trial is to develop an pharmacist-led preoperative opioid taper intervention for patients undergoing total knee or hip replacement who are on chronic opioids before their surgery. The main questions it aims to answer are: - Is the intervention feasible and acceptable to patients? - Does the intervention result in a decrease in opioid dose during the preoperative period? Participants will meet with a clinical pharmacist, who will provide some basic education on pain and opioids, and will propose an opioid taper schedule. The pharmacist will then follow-up with the participant by phone each week until surgery to assess progress and adjust the taper as necessary.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Jan 2024

open study

The study aims to test the benefits of a 24-week, cardio-emphasized Movement-to-Music exercise program for reversing cardiometabolic health risk factors compared to asynchronous, standard exercise programs among 132 adult wheelchair users. The targeted cardiometabolic health factors are waist circumference, triglycerides, "good" cholesterol, glucose, and blood pressure. Additionally, a 12-week follow-up phase (weeks 25-36) is included to see whether the gains are maintained.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Sep 2023

open study

This phase I trial studies the side effects of nivolumab before and after surgery in treating children and young adults with high grade glioma that has come back (recurrent) or is increasing in scope or severity (progressive). Immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies, such as nivolumab, may help the body's immune system attack the cancer, and may interfere with the ability of tumor cells to grow and spread.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Oct 2020

open study

The purpose of this project is to examine the effects of virtual reality greenspace exposure on physiological and affective acute stress responses among adults with mobility impairments.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Apr 2025

open study

The proposed 6-month pilot Sequential Multiple Assignment Randomize Trial (SMART) has two aims. The first and primary aim is to determine the feasibility of conducting a full-scale SMART to compare weight-focused (i.e., weight loss) and weight-neutral (i.e., weight loss is not an explicit goal) adaptive biobehavioral interventions for improving cardiometabolic health in Black adults with overweight or obesity (BMI ≥27 kg/m2) plus at least one weight-related cardiometabolic condition (high blood pressure, prediabetes or diabetes, and/or high cholesterol). Biobehavioral interventions are treatment strategies that combine lifestyle-based behavioral interventions such as eating a healthy diet and exercise with medications. In this study, participants will be randomly assigned to receive either weight-focused or weight-neutral health coaching for 7 weeks. At week 8, participants will be identified as either "responders" or "nonresponders" to the initial interventions. The threshold for response in the weight-focused condition is greater than or equal to 3% weight loss. The threshold for response in the weight-neutral condition is engaging in greater than or equal to 150 minutes of moderate physical activity for the 7 days prior to the week 8 study visit. Responders to the initial interventions will continue with health coaching on a biweekly basis for weeks 9-26 of the intervention. Nonresponders will be re-randomized to either intensify the lifestyle-based intervention by receiving a membership to the YMCA and enrolling in group fitness classes or augmenting the health coaching with enhanced medical management in partnership with their established primary care provider. The second aim is to use clinical data from the pilot SMART to estimate treatment effects and the between-person variability in these effects. Because this is a pilot study, these estimates will not be used to make comparisons or draw conclusions on the comparative effectiveness of intervention conditions. Rather, these data will be used to generate preliminary effect sizes that can be used to estimate the sample size required for a full-scale trial. Clinical trial feasibility data will be collected on an ongoing basis throughout the study and clinical data will be collected prior to initiating the intervention (baseline) and at week 8 (response visit) and week 26 (post-intervention visit).

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Oct 2024

open study

African Americans are less likely to receive quality end-of-life (EoL) care. Addressing disparities in EoL care will need efforts to support a better understanding of African American patients' EoL cultural values and preferences for EoL communication and the impact of historical and ongoing care delivery inequities in healthcare settings. Our proposed "Caring for Older African Americans" training program is designed to empower clinicians to improve goal-concordant EoL care delivery by using community-developed storytelling videos to create empathy with experiences of racism in EoL care, guidelines for culturally concordant EoL care delivery, and an implicit bias recognition and management training to mitigate bias in goals of care communication.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Feb 2025

open study

I-SPY Phase I/Ib (I-SPY-P1) is an open-label, multisite platform study designed to evaluate single agents or combinations in a metastatic treatment setting that may be relevant for breast cancer patients with the overall goal of moving promising drug regimens into the I-SPY 2 SMART Design Trial (NCT01042379) and/or other oncology-based trials in a timely manner.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Feb 2023

open study

To determine if there is any benefit to using pulsed lavage to wash out the mastectomy pocket during breast reconstruction. Primary outcomes will include post-op complications including surgical site infection (SSI), hematoma, seroma, and implant failure.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Mar 2024

open study

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety and tolerability of: - casdatifan when taken alone in participants with advanced solid tumor malignancies and clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) during the dose escalation stage; and - casdatifan monotherapy and casdatifan in combination with cabozantinib or zimberelimab in participants with ccRCC in the dose expansion stage

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Oct 2022

open study

The purpose of this pilot study is to explore wither ivacaftor in refractory CRS patients will demonstrate safety and tolerability; restore CFTR-mediated Cl- secretions as measured by EDSPD testing; produce detectable improvements in validated measures of CRS including the SNOT-22 questionnaire, Lund-MacKay CT scan grading, and Lund-Kennedy endoscopic scores; and provide beneficial effects on readily measured markers of sinonasal inflammation and infection (IP-10, IL-8, and Pseudomonas CFUs).

Type: Interventional

Start Date: May 2019

open study

IRIS-CKD is a two-program implementation study to improve guideline-recommended screening and treatment of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2D) in the United States.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Oct 2025

open study

The purpose of the study is to examine the effects and feasibility of a specific form of psychotherapy, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), on religiously oriented obsessive and compulsive disorder (OCD).

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Jul 2025

open study

The purpose of this research is to better understand how emotion processing unfolds in the brain using stereoelectroencephalography (sEEG) and direct brain stimulation. This study will use standard behavioral emotion processing tasks combined with neural recording and direct brain stimulation to assess different aspects of emotion processing. Stimulation pulses during pre and post-test periods will assess the effects of stimulation before and after conditioning, the results of which will be combined with results from the activity of each electrode during the emotion tasks to inform us of the nature of emotion processing in the brain and allow us to devise brain modulation protocols in the future.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Mar 2023

open study