You are being asked to take part in this research study because you have been diagnosed with pulmonary sarcoidosis. Sarcoidosis is a disease that can affect the lungs, skin and other organs of the body. Sarcoidosis also involves immune cells which fight bacteria. The purpose of this study is to see if using specific antibiotics will help these immune fighting cells get rid of bacterial proteins and how the antibiotics affect respiratory (breathing) function. The antibiotics used in this study are Levaquin, Ethambutol, Azithromycin, and either Rifampin or Rifabutin. You will by chance be assigned either these medicines or a placebo (an inactive substance).
The ECHO Cohort is a longitudinal prospective multi-site study aiming to understand how the environment and things that happen early in children's lives - even before they are born - affect their development, health, and well-being. This research program includes many study sites across the United States. ECHO will combine information about 20,000 pregnant participants, more than 50,000 children, and their families. With so many participants from across the country, researchers can answer important childhood health questions.
This study aims to investigate innovative approaches to managing chronic pain and opioid use. This study consists of two phases, each offering different treatment options. Participation is voluntary.
This study will sequentially evaluate three novel and scalable interventions for at-risk individuals on long term opioid therapy for chronic pain: (1) low-dose transdermal buprenorphine initiation without a period of opioid withdrawal; (2) a brief Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for pain (CBI); and (3) transcranial magnetic stimulation by examining standardized repeated measures of clinical outcomes at baseline, during treatment, and at follow-up.
Phase 1:
In this initial phase, all participants will have a 1-week open-label trial of buprenorphine (worn as a patch on the arm, shoulder or upper-back). This trial aims to assess the safety and effectiveness of buprenorphine in managing chronic pain and opioid use. During this phase, participants will have the opportunity to experience the effects of buprenorphine under close monitoring.
Phase 2:
After completing Phase 1, participants will have the opportunity to choose their next course of treatment. They can decide to continue with buprenorphine, and undergo a 1-week trial of either real buprenorphine or a placebo (an inactive substance). They will be randomly assigned to receive either real or placebo buprenorphine. If participants respond well to buprenorphine treatment, they may continue the medication under the care of their physician.
Alternatively, participants can explore an alternative treatment called repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in Phase 2. If they opt for rTMS, they will receive either real rTMS or a sham version interspersed with cognitive-behavioral therapy for pain. Participants will be randomly assigned to receive either real or sham rTMS.
In both phases, participants will receive close monitoring and attend regular study visits to assess safety and progress. Throughout the study, they will be asked to complete questionnaires about pain, functioning and opioid use, undergo physiological monitoring and blood samples will be collected at specific points.
It's important to note that there are potential risks associated with the study medication, such as difficulty sleeping, nausea, and dizziness. Additionally, for the rTMS arm, there is risk of mild headache, pain at the stimulation site, and there may be unknown risks related to the brain stimulation.
Participants' experience in Phase 1 will involve an open-label trial of buprenorphine, and participants' decisions in Phase 2 will determine the treatment path. While the effectiveness of these treatments is uncertain, participants will receive thorough monitoring throughout the study, and have the option to withdraw at any time. Improvement in participant symptoms is possible but not guaranteed.
This project examines how to improve speech understanding with cochlear implants (CIs), particularly for older CI recipients. While older individuals benefit from CI technology, performance is poorer than that of younger implanted adults for difficult listening tasks. The mechanisms that contribute to this variability are not well-understood. The current project examines how differences in brain structure and function may contribute to success with a cochlear implant. To compare, we will also be examining how older patients without cochlear implants understand speech in difficult listening situations.
The goal of this study is to get the highest possible quality of life restuls for individuals suffering lower-limb impairment after suffering a stroke. This will be done by examining three different modern carbon fiber ankle-foot orthosis (AFO) options targeting the rehabilitation of individuals post-stroke. The study seeks to achieve the best AFO prescription that maximizes the mobility and satisfaction of the particpant.
Stroke survivors routinely report disabling emotional health challenges and inability to find emotional wellness support. This project will increase emotional support within a stroke rehabilitation occupational therapy (OT) and/or speech therapy (ST) rehabilitation program. OT and/or ST provided via telerehabilitation will be enhanced with a type of emotional wellness therapy that teaches stroke survivors various strategies to better address anxiety, worry and dread.
LiveWell is a telehealth-delivered coping skills training program for people living with advanced lung cancer. LiveWell teaches skills from dialectical behavioral therapy, a type of evidence-based psychotherapy, that have been specifically adapted for people living with advanced lung cancer. The skills (e.g., mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, interpersonal effectiveness) are designed to help you live as well as possible, with cancer. We are interested in seeing whether the program can help you to balance your emotions and better manage distress (e.g., anxiety, sadness) and symptoms (e.g., fatigue, breathlessness, pain) that can be common when living with lung cancer.
Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two groups: the LiveWell group, or usual care. LiveWell involves meeting with a skills trainer for nine sessions via telemedicine, in addition to receiving usual cancer care. Meetings last 45-60 minutes and are scheduled at a time that works best for them. The participants will not know whether you will be in the LiveWell group or the usual care group before enrolling in the study, but you will know which group you are in after enrolling. Participants in both groups will complete questionnaires four times: at baseline, 5 weeks, 11 weeks later, and 24 weeks after that. For most people, participation will last approximately 5 months. Participants will be compensated for completing study questionnaires.
Half of caregivers in the US are adults caring for a parent, and many of these are young adults, between the ages of 18-35. This presents communication and quality of life challenges for both the young adult child caregiver and parent with cancer; however, this dyad (e.g., two people together) has not been well studied. We will conduct interviews with young adult child caregivers and parents with cancer to learn more about communication challenges and support needs in this dyad. Dyad members will also complete self-report measures asking about mood, coping, communication and quality of life. Findings will inform the development of an intervention to improve dyadic communication and quality of life.
LiveWell mBC is a group-based skills training program for women with metastatic breast cancer (mBC). The program teaches skills from dialectical behavioral therapy, an evidence-based psychotherapy, that have been adapted specifically to help women live as well as possible, with metastatic breast cancer. LiveWell mBC involves meeting with a small group of women with mBC plus two skills trainers 9 times total via telemedicine. Meetings include orientation plus 8 sessions learning and practicing skills including mindfulness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance and interpersonal effectiveness and they last 90 minutes each. We are interested in seeing whether the program can help women to balance their emotions and better manage distress (e.g., anxiety, sadness) and symptoms (e.g., fatigue, breathlessness, pain) that can be common when living with mBC.
Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two groups. They will have a 2 in 3 chance of being assigned to LiveWell mBC (experimental group) and a 1 in 3 chance of being assigned to Usual Care (control group). Women in the usual care group will continue to receive their standard oncology care. Participants in both groups will complete questionnaires four times total. Participants may be invited to participate in an exit interview about their experience. Participants will be compensated for completing questionnaires and the interview. For most people, participation will last approximately 4 months.