Clinical Trials

Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) impairs oxygen transport to tissue and causes endothelial injury. Thus, therapeutic interventions aim to improve both, but there is an unmet need for biomarkers to determine when intervention is necessary and evaluate the effectiveness of the chosen intervention in individual patients. This study proposes to monitor SCD and its treatment through their impact on cerebral hemodynamics, as the brain is one of the most vulnerable and consequential targets of the disease. Specifically, this study will optimize quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and advanced optical spectroscopy techniques such as frequency-domain near-infrared and diffuse correlation spectroscopies (FDNIRS-DCS) to monitor 1) cerebral oxygen transport with measures of cerebral blood flow (CBF), cerebral oxygen extraction fraction (OEF) and cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen consumption (CMRO2) and 2) endothelial function with cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR).

The main goal of this study is to determine whether the treatment will lead to a complete absence of severe vaso-occlusive events (VOEs) in patients with severe SCD.

Does your child have Down Syndrome? Did they have a complete atrioventricular septal defect (CAVSD) repair within the first year of their life? Researchers in this study are investigating how the
brain develops in children with Down Syndrome who have congenital heart disease. To participate, your child must be between 5 and 12 years old and have Down Syndrome. The study will enroll children who have congenital heart disease as well as children who do not have congenital heart disease. The study is taking place in locations in Delaware, Georgia, Indiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Washington, D.C., and Toronto, Canada

Do you or one of your children have a congenital heart defect? This study will find both common genetic causes of congenital heart disease and ways that genes influence results of medical treatment. To participate in this study, you or your child must have congenital heart disease. This study is located in Los Angeles, Palo Alto, and San Francisco, California; New Haven, Connecticut; Boston, Massachusetts; New York and Rochester, New York; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Salt Lake City, Utah.

Are you 15 to 40 years old and have severe sickle cell disease? This study is comparing long-term outcomes for patients who receive blood and bone marrow transplants and those who receive standard treatment with medicines. Participants also have an option of contributing blood samples to be stored for future research. Participants must be 15 to 40 years old and have severe sickle cell disease. This study is located in Madison, Wisconsin.