Clinical Trials

Do you or your child have overweight or obesity? This study aims to find effective ways to prevent and treat obesity and metabolic syndrome in African American communities. The study will test the effectiveness of a family-based comprehensive health and fitness programs involving community health workers. Participants must be 12 years old or older and African American and have overweight or obesity. This study takes place in Charleston, South Carolina.

Does your child have higher triglyceride levels but normal cholesterol levels? This study is testing whether a protein supplement called carnitine can help prevent blood vessel stiffness in teenagers who have metabolic syndrome or other risk factors for heart and blood vessel diseases. Participants in this study must be between 13 and 19 years old and have moderate to high blood triglyceride levels but normal blood cholesterol levels. This study takes place in Houston, Texas.

The purpose of this trial is to evaluate if augmenting a usual audit and feedback implementation approach with telehealth-enabled support improves coordinated spontaneous awakening/breathing trials and patient outcomes for mechanically ventilated patients.

Ventilated pediatric patients are frequently over-sedated and the majority suffer from delirium, a form of acute brain dysfunction that is an independent predictor of increased risk of dying, length of stay, and costs. Universally prescribed sedative medications-the GABA-ergic benzodiazepines-worsen this brain organ dysfunction and independently prolong duration of ventilation and ICU stay, and the available alternative sedation regimen using dexmedetomidine, an alpha-2 agonist, has been shown to be superior to benzodiazepines in adults, and may mechanistically impact outcomes through positive effects on innate immunity, bacterial clearance, apoptosis, cognition and delirium. The mini-MENDS trial will compare dexmedetomidine and midazolam, and determine the best sedative medication to reduce delirium and improve duration of ventilation, and functional, psychiatric, and cognitive recovery in our most vulnerable patients-survivors of pediatric critical illness.

Is your newborn in the NICU at Holtz Children’s Hospital in Miami? Newborns born very prematurely often need oxygen therapy or ventilation to help them breathe and survive. This study will help doctors understand how changes in oxygen and carbon dioxide levels while newborns are getting treatment affect how their lungs develop. While your newborn is in the newborn neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), researchers will record his or her oxygen and carbon dioxide levels, heart rate, and other measures. To participate in this study, your newborn must have been born prematurely between 23 and 28 weeks’ gestation, be less than 28 days old, and be receiving oxygen therapy. This study is located in Miami, Florida.

Is your child on a ventilator at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles? Ventilators can sometimes weaken the muscles around the lungs, especially in children. This study is testing whether a new computer method to control ventilators can help prevent muscle weakness in children. To participate in this study, your child must be between 1 month and 18 years old and have been on a ventilator for less than 48 hours (or 72 if they were transferred from another hospital) because of a serious lung disease. This study is located in Los Angeles, California.