There are two classes of drugs for preventing blood clots in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF), an irregular heartbeat, after cardiac surgery: antiplatelet drugs (like aspirin) and anticoagulants (blood thinners). This study aims to determine whether the addition of blood thinners to antiplatelet drugs will improve treatment outcomes in patients who develop AF after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery.

In this study, you will be randomized (assigned to a group by chance--like flipping a coin) into one of 2 study groups; the assignment to receive the antiplatelet drug alone or the antiplatelet drug plus a blood thinner.

Before discharge from the hospital, you will undergo an electrocardiogram (ECG), which examines the electrical activity of your heart. At 1 and 2 months after randomization, you will receive a phone call from the study staff. At 3 months after randomization, you will return to the institution where you received your surgery for an in-person visit. At 6 months, you will receive a phone call from the study staff. Your total participation will be about 6 months.

Persistent smell loss that can include diminished or distorted smell function is a common symptom of long COVID syndrome. There are limited treatment options for long COVID-related smell loss. Our study aims to determine the efficacy of two at-home treatments, smell training and non-invasive trigeminal nerve stimulation. This study requires participants to conduct daily at-home treatment sessions, attend three in-person study visits at the MUSC Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and complete electronic questionnaires over the 12-week trial, and again at the six-month timepoint. Participants in this trial may benefit directly with an improvement in sense of smell. However, participation may also help society more generally, as this study will provide new information about long COVID-related smell loss and its treatment.

Substudy

Long COVID syndrome has been associated with cognitive impairment and may be related to affected emotional regulation. This study will use a electroencephalography (EEG) to examine how the body and brain responses to emotional cues in participants who are currently undergoing treatment for COVID-related smell loss. Participation will aid in the understanding of how emotional processing in long COVID is impacted by treatment for related smell loss.

Apathy is a common set of symptoms seen in many people following a stroke. Apathy occurs when a person has lost motivation, becomes withdrawn, and stops doing things that used to be important to them. Apathy has a large negative impact on a person's quality of life, and can also have a large impact the people who take care of individuals with apathy. There are currently no FDA-approved treatments to help with apathy, and other services like therapy may be difficult to access for people who have had a stroke. To address this problem, we are conducting a study to find out if a form of treatment called repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) can be safe and helpful for people struggling with apathy after a stroke. Our study will apply a new form of rTMS which can be delivered quickly to a part of the brain called the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). Our study will help establish whether this treatment is safe, comfortable, and effective for people with apathy after a stroke, and will help researchers develop new forms of treatment.

This study will apply a novel imaging technique in patients with brain tumors to systematically evaluate the impact of various imaging parameters on image appearance, contrast, signal, and tumor sharpness, and to optimize the technique to maximize tumor visibility while minimizing scan time and image artifacts.

This is a research study to find out if the study drug called BEAM-101 is safe and effective in the treatment of patients with severe Sickle cell disease (SCD). The study drug, BEAM-101 is a new investigational (experimental) therapy that is the first in human use of this drug.

The study medication uses patients' own stem cells that are harvested through apheresis (process where blood is removed, stem cells collected and blood is returned), changed by genetic modification, and transplanted back into the individual through intravenous infusion to treat severe SCD.

Participation in this study is expected to last approximately 24 months, starting at time of screening, through the collection of cells, transplantation of study drug, and 15-month follow-up period. Study visits during the screen and mobilization period will vary depending on the cell collection process, in other words, the mobilization and collection period could be 3 separate visits to harvest adequate stem cells. Subjects are then hospitalized for the conditioning period, transplantation of study drug and engraftment period (when blood counts return to normal). The follow up visits after discharge from the hospital will be monthly for the first 6 months, then every other month until 24 months post transplant period.

At the end of the 24 months, all participants will be asked to enroll in the long-term extension study for a duration of 13 years making the total follow-up period of 15 years.

This is an observational non-medication study. The purpose of this study is to understand the immune system in people who are at risk for developing systemic lupus erythematosus ("lupus" or "SLE"). The investigators hope to develop better ways to predict who will get lupus and possibly come up with ideas for new treatments that can prevent or treat the disease.

Participants will be asked to complete 4 annual study visits and monthly telephone contacts with the study team over the course of 3 years. Visits will include a physical exam, collection of blood and urine, and the completion of some surveys/questionnaires about your health and wellbeing. The monthly phone calls will be a brief contact to check on any changes in your health and should take no longer than 15 minutes to complete.

Compensation is available for participation.

This study is being done to understand whether a different type of electroencephalography (EEG) monitoring that permits longer monitoring is able to capture more seizures than regular EEG monitoring, and whether this new type of monitoring will improve clinical care. This type of EEG monitoring (REMI) is currently cleared by the United States Government Food and Drug Administration (or FDA) for use in hospitals but not yet cleared to be used at home.
Eligible subjects who have EEG monitoring scheduled with either a 3-day EEG monitoring performed at home or with a 3-day EEG monitoring schedule at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). Subjects are in the study for approximately 4 weeks and will need to come to the study center for one or two visits. They will be asked to wear 4 of Epitel's REMI Sensors on their head, in addition to the regular EEG electrodes, for two 2-week REMI EEG monitoring periods. A 2nd visit (clinic visit) at MUSC may be needed if the recording is at MUSC, in order to start the second REMI EEG monitoring session.
At the end of the study, three independent epileptologists will review the REMI EEG recordings and compile a report of any findings. They will then provide this report to the subject's neurologist who will assess the value of the additional EEG information, and save the report within the MUSC medical record.

Hypermobile EDS and hypermobile spectrum disorder (collectively referred to as hEDS) are estimated to affect 1 in 500 individuals worldwide. hEDS patients have limited treatment options for their numerous symptoms that impact the quality of life. This clinical trial tests a new ear stimulation method in hEDS patients to determine if it may improve quality of life.

This study is for people with non-small cell lung cancer that has come back or grown after receiving immunotherapy treatment. This study is being done to see if a new combination of 2 non-chemotherapy drugs will help patients live longer than the usual approach.

The purpose of this research study is to study the utility of advanced blood testing for patients who have had a stroke and tend to form blood clots more than usual. The study involves blood tests using a new testing system that may detect issues with blood clotting easier than conventional tests. This is a 12-month study and will involve one blood draw and follow-up phone calls