Clinical Trials

ASCEND researchers are partnering with families of children who receive extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) after a sudden failure of breathing named pediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome (PARDS). ECMO is a life support technology that uses an artificial lung outside of the body to do the lung's work. ASCEND has two objectives.

ASCEND researchers are partnering with families of children who receive extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) after a sudden failure of breathing named pediatric acute respiratory distress syndrome (PARDS). ECMO is a life support technology that uses an artificial lung outside of the body to do the lung's work. This study aims to learn more about children's abilities and quality of life among ECMO-supported children in the year after they leave the pediatric intensive care unit. It will also compare short and long-term patient outcomes in two groups of children: one group managed with a mechanical ventilation protocol that reserves the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) until protocol failure to another group supported on ECMO per usual care.

The overall goal of the study is to risk stratify pediatric Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) patients and to identify sub-phenotypes with shared biology in order to appropriately target therapies in future trials. This is a prospective, multicenter study of 500 intubated children with ARDS, with planned blood collection within 24 hours of ARDS onset and subsequent measurement of plasma protein biomarkers and peripheral blood gene expression.

Do you or your child have a platelet, bleeding, or white blood cell disorder? This study is looking at people who have platelet or other blood disorders. The researchers will use a blood sample to look for problems with platelets and a possible genetic cause in the participant’s DNA or RNA. To participate in this study, you must be a child or adult who either is healthy or has a platelet disorder, coagulation disorder, or white blood cell disorder. This study is located in New York, New York.

Does your infant have a low platelet count? This study is investigating the safety and efficacy of platelet transfusion as a treatment for infants with thrombocytopenia. Researchers are looking at the positive effects of platelet transfusion against the negative effects, such as the release of inflammatory molecules and the formation of blood clots. To participate in this study, your child must be younger than 6 months old and have a low platelet count (less than 100 × 109/L). This study takes place in Boston, Massachusetts.

Does your infant have a low platelet count? This study investigates immature platelet counts as a marker for bleeding risk in newborns with thrombocytopenia, compared with platelet counts alone. Immature platelets are the most recently produced platelets and may be a better marker of platelet production. To participate in this study, you must have a newborn who is less than 32 weeks’ gestational age, has a birth weight greater than 500 grams, and has a platelet count less than 100 × 109/L. This study takes place in multiple locations in the United States, the Netherlands, and Sweden.

Are you an adult with polycythemia vera or thrombocytosis? This study aims to find a new treatment or cure for polycythemia vera and thrombocytosis by locating genes and their changes, or mutations, that may contribute to these disorders. To participate in this study, you must have polycythemia vera with elevated hemoglobin (higher than 18 in men and 16 in women) or thrombocytosis with an elevated platelet count (higher than 450,000). This study takes place in Salt Lake City, Utah.