Clinical Trials

Alpha-1 Anti-trypsin Deficiency (AATD) is a genetic disease with lung and liver disease presentations. The purpose of this study is to examine the density of the lung as measured by chest computed tomography (CT) and determine if existing emphysema predicts changes in the rate of subsequent emphysema or changes in CT, serum or plasma biomarkers of interest. The overarching goal is to develop biomarkers that can be used in interventional trials since lung function changes do not typically inform disease progression in AATD.

Do you or your child have a lung disease? This study will investigate the genes involved in the breathing process and in the development of lung diseases such as asthma or sarcoidosis to improve understanding of the role they play. To participate in this study, you or your child must be between 2 and 90 years old. This study is located in Bethesda, Maryland, at the NIH Clinical Center.

Does your developing baby have a heart defect? Have you had a stillborn baby? This study tests a new technology to measure fetal heart activity and find possible problems early. These problems include fetal arrhythmia and conduction disorders such as Brugada syndrome. To participate in this study, you must be at least 18 years old and pregnant, and have one of five high-risk complications of pregnancy: a fetus with a major congenital heart defect, hydrops, or gastroschisis; a previous unexplained stillbirth; or twins who share a placenta. This study is located in Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Have you been diagnosed with orthostatic intolerance? This study aims to find out how the body’s regulation of basic functions, such as heart rate and blood pressure, is altered in people who have orthostatic intolerance. This condition, which has an unknown cause, is characterized by a racing heartbeat, dizziness, lightheadedness, and other symptoms that occur when a person stands up. To participate in this study, you must be between 18 and 80 years old and have orthostatic intolerance. This study is located in Nashville, Tennessee.

This study aims to see if a blood test can predict rejection and take the place of biopsies. The test shows how much donor DNA is in a recipient s blood. Adults 18 years and older who are on the lung or heart transplant waitlist are eligible.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of the Promoting Resilience in Stress Management (PRISM) intervention in patients with adult congenital heart disease.

Participants from this study will be recruited mainly from Emory Healthcare-associated hospitals, the Emory Heart Disease Center for Prevention, and Emory Healthcare outpatient cardiology clinics. Participants will have physical exams, blood tests, stress tests, exercise tests, surveys, questionnaires, and images taken of their hearts and blood vessels. They will be asked to take home devices to monitor their autonomic function, sleep and to track their mood, stress level, and symptoms for one week. Data and specimens will be saved for future research.

Cardiopulmonary bypass during cardiac surgery provides blood flow to the body during surgery but has adverse effects on different organs. Blood flow during cardiopulmonary bypass may be pulsatile or non-pulsatile, which may impact normal organ function after surgery. The study will collect data on the type of cardiopulmonary bypass used during surgery and organ function to determine if there is an association between the type of bypass and organ function.

This study will identify and test the physiological effects of several sedentary behavior interruption strategies and explore the feasibility (i.e., likelihood of an individual performing the requested activities) of those strategies to inform the development of public policy surrounding sedentary behavior interruption. Long-term, the findings of this study will inform a large clinical trial that can test whether sedentary behavior reduction can decrease cardiovascular disease risk.

The researchers propose that exercise and weight loss interventions (bariatric surgery) will restore adipose tissue homeostasis, reduce GSL-loaded adiposomes, and subsequently alleviate vascular risk in OB-T2D patients. The investigators will test the hypotheses by pursuing the following aims: aim 1: Investigate the role of GSL-rich adiposomes in the pathogenesis of endothelial dysfunction in OB-T2D adults; aim 2: Test the effectiveness of exercise training in reducing adiposome-mediated effects on vascular function; and aim 3: Examine changes in adiposome/caveolae axis following metabolic surgery and their association with vascular function.