Clinical Research Directory

Pathways to Prevention Food-is-Medicine Trial

The goal of this study is to learn whether combining healthy food access with personalized tools can help families improve heart health and make lasting lifestyle changes. The main questions the study aims to answer are: * Do the new tools (PRO-CVH and Triple-C) help families improve their heart health? * Which combination of tools and supports works best for families with limited access to healthy food? * Is this type of program easy to carry out and acceptable to families and healthcare teams? Families in the study will include one parent with a BMI greater than 30 who has Medicaid insurance and their child aged 6 to 11 years. Depending on which group they are assigned to, families may: * Receive food and nutrition education via handouts and/or online curriculum * Have access to an online health assessment tool than can help you understand your/your child's risk factors for heart disease * Work with a personalized health coach who can help you set goals for healthier living online/virtually. * Receive medically tailored groceries and cooking classes. Researchers will follow participants for several months to see how their heart health changes and which parts of the program work best together. The information from this study will help design a larger clinical trial to test a practical, cost-effective program that can help families build healthier habits and reduce their risk of heart disease.

Intervention for Preventing Myopia and Multimorbidity in Children

This study aims to develop and evaluate a scalable, hybrid intervention model for the co-prevention of myopia, obesity, and mental health issues among children. By integrating cognitive behavioral therapy principles, the model targets key modifiable lifestyle factors-including dietary nutrition, physical activity, screen time, sleep hygiene, light exposure, and psychological adaptation-through coordinated family-school engagement and online-to-offline delivery. Using a cluster randomized controlled trial design in grades 3-4 primary school students, the research will assess the effectiveness of this multi-component strategy in reducing the incidence and burden of these co-occurring conditions.

Cardiovascular Health of Transgender Individuals During the Gender-affirming Pathway

Gender incongruence, now classified in ICD-11 as a "marked and persistent incongruence between an individual's experienced gender and the gender assigned at birth," is managed in dedicated, multidisciplinary centres that coordinate psychological support with medical-surgical care. Gender-affirming hormone therapy (GAHT) is central to this care pathway. In particular, masculinising GAHT for people assigned female at birth (AFAB) relies mainly on testosterone, and feminising or demasculinising GAHT for people assigned male at birth (AMAB) combines oestradiol with androgen-lowering agents such as cyproterone acetate or GnRH analogues (triptorelin, leuprorelin). In addition, Gender-affirming surgery (GAS) offers further individualised options: "Top" procedures- chest masculinisation for AFAB or breast augmentation for AMAB, and "Bottom" procedures\*\* such as hysterectomy with or without oophorectomy, phalloplasty or metoidioplasty for AFAB; orchiectomy or vaginoplasty for AMAB. Other ancillary interventions include facial feminisation or voice surgery. GAHT aims to suppress endogenous sex-hormone levels and secondary sex characteristics while inducing those consistent with the affirmed gender. Despite its widespread use, cardiovascular (CV) safety data are scant and largely observational. Sex-steroid receptors are ubiquitous in the vasculature and contribute to the sex-dimorphic patterns of CV risk seen in cisgender populations; GAHT is therefore biologically plausible as a modifier of CV outcomes in transgender people, yet robust evidence remains limited. Current literature suggests that AFAB individuals on testosterone exhibit an up to 2.66-fold higher composite CV risk than cisgender AFAB comparators. The most consistent changes are higher blood pressure and lower HDL cholesterol; clinically significant polycythaemia is uncommon and treatable. Instead, AMAB individuals on feminising therapy do not show a clearly increased overall CV risk compared with cisgender AMAB peers, though data are inconsistent. An observational study reported that within four months of GAHT initiation, systolic blood pressure rose by 2.6 mmHg in trans men and fell by 4 mmHg in trans women, with no diastolic change in either group. The current evidence base is weakened by small cohorts, inadequate control groups, and reliance on surrogate biochemical markers rather than hard clinical endpoints. Many studies also overlook GAHT exposure altogether, hampering meaningful interpretation. Moreover, social determinants-mental-health burden, substance use, and healthcare inequities-compound CV risk but are seldom accounted for. Key unanswered questions include the long-term CV effects of GAHT, age-specific interactions with blood pressure and lipids, optimal therapeutic targets, and underlying mechanisms. Addressing these gaps demands rigorously designed, large-scale, prospective studies that actively involve transgender participants. In summary, while GAHT is indispensable for gender affirmation, its cardiovascular implications-especially for AFAB individuals-warrant caution and systematic monitoring. Future evidence should inform tailored protocols that balance gender-affirming benefits against potential CV risks and integrate biomedical parameters with the broader social context impacting transgender health.

Effects of Resistance Training and Supplementation in Elderly: Cardiorespiratory and Metabolic Variables

Aging causes losses in strength, lean mass, and cardiovascular health in the elderly due to metabolic changes and alterations in body composition. To investigate whether nutritional interventions and physical training can mitigate these effects, a randomized clinical trial will be conducted at the Evangelical University of Goiás with elderly individuals aged 60 to 85. Participants will be divided into four groups: control, protein supplementation, physical training, and a combination of both. The study will last for 12 months, with evaluations every four months, covering cardiovascular, pulmonary, immunological, renal, muscular, and hematological parameters. The analyses will seek statistical significance, and it is expected that the interventions will significantly improve the participants\' health.