As people get older, understanding speech in a noisy environment can become more difficult. The MUSC Hearing Research Program is seeking healthy adults between 25 and 89 years of age to participate in a research study to investigate the connection between listening difficulties and the brain. Payment is provided for participation and scheduling is flexible. The study involves two visits. Participants must be able to complete an MRI. Please contact us if you would like to participate in this research or learn more about our study.

The purpose of this medical research study is to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of a new medication called imatinib mesylate in the treatment of Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM). LAM is a rare disease in which abnormal cells (called LAM cells) grow out of control. Over time, LAM cells destroy healthy lung tissue and cause respiratory disease or failure.

Many patients with LAM are currently treated with a medication called sirolimus (rapamycin). Sirolimus slows the growth of LAM cells.

Imatinib mesylate (hereafter called imatinib) is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of some cancers that share common pathways with LAM cells. Laboratory studies suggest that imatinib could completely block the growth of LAM cells through initiation of targeted cell death.

An important purpose of this research is to determine the safety of imatinib in people with LAM. This study will also evaluate the short-term effectiveness of imatinib. Participants will be randomized to receiving imatinib (study medication) or placebo (no treatment) for the 180 day duration of participation. The study is being conducted at the Medical University of South Carolina and at Columbia University in New York (CUMC). Each site will enroll 10 participants.

Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) cause a chronic pulmonary infection associated with cough, fatigue, and shortness of breath. Our primary objectives are to better understand the trajectory of patient-reported outcomes (PROs), e.g.
respiratory symptoms and health-related quality of life (HRQoL), across the entire disease course and measure toxicity and tolerability using patient-reported symptomatic adverse events in treated patients with nontuberculous mycobacterial pulmonary disease (NTM-PD).

Evaluate the effect of pegozafermin compared to placebo in reducing the risk of clinical outcomes measured as a composite endpoint

This is a prospective, multi-center, two-arm, randomized clinical trial for Stage 5 Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD5) or End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) patients who are undergoing fistula creation for hemodialysis in order to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the EchoMark® ultrasound marker and the EchoSure® AVF Diagnostic System for assessing fistula maturation and reducing time to Clinical Maturation when used under a biweekly protocol as compared to the standard of care follow-up.

The EchoMark is a small device that is implanted in the soft tissue near the site where the fistula is created and can measure the fistula blood flow, diameter, and depth. The device can be easily seen by EchoSure, the ultrasound equipment which can provide measurements and information about blood flow and vessel diameter and depth.

This study will involve approximately 304 participants. Half of the subjects in this trial will receive the EchoMark implant, while the other half will receive traditional fistula creation. Participants will be followed for a duration of 12 months.

In this study, researchers are testing a drug called Alisertib in people with a specific type of lung cancer that has spread extensively. These patients have already undergone the first round of treatment, but unfortunately, their cancer has started growing again. The drug alisertib works by targeting certain molecules involved in cell division, which are often overactive in cancer cells.

Patients will take alisertib as pills twice a day for a week, followed by a break. To manage side effects, they'll also receive another medication to support their blood cell production. Throughout the study, researchers will closely monitor how much alisertib is in the patients' blood and how they're responding to treatment.

The study will continue until patients either see their cancer progress, experience intolerable side effects, or decide to leave the study. Even if the cancer spreads to the brain during the study, patients might still be able to continue treatment if it's deemed helpful by their doctor. This research hopes to find out if alisertib can offer a new option for people whose lung cancer has come back after initial treatment.

In this study, all eligible study participants will have a clinically indicated reason to undergo a bronchoscopy procedure, using a EBUS-TBNA scope, before enrolling in the study. EBUS-TBNA stands for "endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration" which is a procedure to collect lymph node tissue from within the lungs by inserting a flexible tube-like camera through the mouth, then down into the lungs.

After providing consent to participate in this study, each subject will be randomly assigned (by chance, like the flip of a coin) to either have or not have a cytopathology technologist (person who looks at samples under a microscope) in the room during your bronchoscopy, and then randomly assigned again (by chance, like the flip of a coin) to either have your tissue specimen prepared with clot or liquid preparation. Clot preparation is placing the tissue biopsy in a gel prior to being viewed under a microscope, whereas liquid preparation is placing the tissue biopsy in a liquid prior to being viewed under a microscope.

It is important to note that, by participating in this study, subjects will still receive the standard of care with a proven track record for obtaining lymph node tissue.

The reason for this research study is to determine whether rapid on-site cytopathologic evaluation, or the clot based method, can increase the chances of gathering adequate tissue for Next Generation Sequencing. Next generation sequencing is a test which detects molecular markers from tissue, or blood, samples and can provide possible treatment options for specific forms of lung cancer.

We will determine if aerobic exercise (AEx) and/or repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) are effective in treating symptoms of depression following stroke. This project is based on the idea that depression negatively affects the brain so that it doesn't change in the same way following treatment, the result being less effective recovery. We believe that effective treatment for depression will help improve how the brain in people with depression responds to other types of treatment. That is, effectively treating depression will enable individuals to better recover other forms of function following their stroke.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of pegozafermin compared to placebo to see how well pegozafermin might improve liver fibrosis after 52 weeks.

This study is for subjects that have been diagnosed with lung cancer and the disease has progressed on prior therapy. The purpose of the study is to determine the safety and efficacy of Fingolimod and whether it can aid in treatment against lung cancer tumors. Fingolimod is not FDA approved and is considered an investigational drug. Subjects can expect to be in this study for about 8 months, with routine visits occurring at MUSC.