Clinical Research Directory

Digital Engagement for Lifelong Health

The DELPHI project (Digital Engagement for Lifelong Prevention and Health Improvement) aims to develop, implement, and validate an advanced digital platform for promoting well-being and personalized prevention of chronic non-communicable diseases in healthy adults. By integrating wearable sensors, artificial intelligence, federated learning, and the Human Digital Twin (HDT) paradigm, the DELPHI platform is designed to collect, analyze, and interpret multidimensional data in order to deliver dynamic and personalized recommendations for healthy lifestyles. The study adopts a multicenter, randomized controlled pilot design, with a maximum duration of 12 months per participant. A total of 200 healthy adults aged 18-65 will be recruited in Southern Italy (Sicily, Campania, and Basilicata) and randomly assigned to either: (1) an experimental group using the full DELPHI platform, including personalized recommendations, adaptive content, and continuous feedback; or (2) a control group using a basic version limited to passive monitoring. As a non-clinical primary prevention pilot study, DELPHI aims to assess the operational feasibility, usability, and acceptability of the platform in real-world settings, while also exploring preliminary signals of impact on health and lifestyle domains without confirmatory purposes. Secondary objectives include monitoring physiological indicators, adherence to the app and wearable devices, and evaluating the feasibility of implementing the platform in workplace environments. Data collection will rely on wearable devices, digital questionnaires, and behavioral analysis, with strong safeguards for personal data protection in compliance with GDPR and advanced security approaches such as federated learning and encryption. Specific subgroups, including workers from the Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi (FDG) as well as university staff and students, will be involved in targeted assessments related to mental well-being and distress. In addition, workers from the FDG will test a virtual reality module designed to evaluate biomechanical overload risks during manual handling activities in simulated environments. These additional physiological and virtual reality components are exploratory and non-diagnostic. Overall, DELPHI seeks to provide a solid foundation for the adoption of predictive and personalized models in digital health, contributing to the development of a sustainable and accessible prevention ecosystem, particularly in Southern Italy.

Development of PI-ML Algorithm for Prediction of the Real-time Risk for Developing Pre-diabetes

In this prospective, non-randomized, monocentric study, data will be collected from otherwise healthy individuals with overweight/obese grade I to increase data availability in the pre-diabetes field (impaired glucose intolerance), and to validate the outputs of an algorithm for the "physics-informed machine learning (PIML)" designed to estimate the real-time risk of prediabetes. Each participant will take part in the study for 4 months, including 3 onsite visits. During the screening visit, participants' eligibility will be determined by checking the inclusion and exclusion criteria after detailed information and obtaining informed consent by the investigator. Blood will be withdrawn for exclusion of existing prediabetes/diabetes at the fasted state. For women in reproductive age, a urinary pregnancy test will be performed. After getting the results of blood tests (glucose and HbA1c), participants will be asked to participate in study. On the visit 1, eligible participants will arrive at the study centre in a fasting state. Blood samples will be collected and participants will get vials and instructions for collection of stool and urine samples. Anthropometric data, lifestyle habit (cigarette, alcohol consumption) and family history will be collected. A 6-minute walking test to determine VO2 max will then be performed. Lap counts and time will be manually recorded using a sports watch. The Polar H10 heart rate monitor chest strap will be used to record heart rate (HR) throughout the test. To measure resting HR and heart rate recovery (HRR), participants will be asked to sit still for 5 minutes before the walking test and for 2 minutes after the test. Participants will receive a blinded Abbott Libre Pro glucose sensor, which they will wear for the next 14-days. Further, participants will be provided with a Fitbit Charge 5 health and fitness wristband. For validation purposes some part of study participants will be kindly asked to test newly develop wrist-worn device (EDIBit). With the help of 24-hour food recall, study subjects will be trained by medical staff on how to correctly enter their food intake in the Study app for completion of digital 3-day food diaries. They will be asked to fill in the diaries for 3 days after study visit1 and 3 days before study visit2. They will also receive a food frequency questionnaire during visit1. The second study visit will run nearly identical to study visit1 (except for food frequency questionnaire which will be omitted). During this visit, participants will receive information sheets on physical activity and dietary recommendations. The third and last visit will run nearly identically to the study visit2, except that no new glucose sensor will be inserted and also stool samples will not be collected.

Brain Health on College Campuses

Center for BrainHealth is beginning a one-year pilot with local college campuses investigating the impact of (i) brain health assessment and training tools delivered through the online BrainHealth Platform and (ii) in-person educational brain health workshops delivered to college students and faculty/staff, with the overarching goal to better understand how to promote brain-healthier campuses (i.e., reflecting generally positive function across cognitive, social, emotional, and lifestyle domains). This initial study is intended to be a one-year pilot, with findings informing feasibility and efficacy as well as future, more extended and expanded study informing translation to other colleges/universities.

LiPO Teen (the Lifestyle in Pregnancy and Offspring Teenagers

The study is a follow-up of a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) performed in 2007-10 - the "Lifestyle in Pregnancy" LiP study. The LiP study included 360 pregnant women with BMI ≥30 kg/m2 from Odense University Hospital and Aarhus University Hospital. The women were randomized to intervention with low-calorie diet and physical activity from gestational age 10-14 in pregnancy and until delivery - or to a standard care control group. The objective of the LiPO-Teen project is to perform a clinical follow-up study of the eligible 301 mothers who completed the trial until delivery with a liveborn child, and their 14 year-old offspring. The overall ambition is to understand whether lifestyle intervention in pregnancy prevents obesity and its complications across generations, with a specific focus on modifiable factors.

Protocol for a Natural-Based Intervention to Promote Quality of Life and Healthy Habits on Children and Adolescents.

In current society, physical activity practices show a decreasing trend, together with a low perception of life quality. In addition, urban overcrowding has led to disconnection from the natural environment, causing the benefits that this context offers to be lost, especially for children and adolescents. Physical literacy is an approach to physical activity that encompasses more than just individual physical skills. It emphasises the importance of performing physical activity on a regular basis as part of daily life, encompassing bodily expression and understanding, as well as self-confidence and motivation, making it a factor that contributes to quality of life. Although research shows a correlation between physical literacy and life satisfaction, there is no research on other variables, such as the impact of green spaces in this correlation. This study aimed to present the rationale and methods of a randomized controlled trial in green spaces for children and adolescents aged 8 to 18 to evaluate the efficacy of a nature-based intervention designed to promote healthy habits through physical literacy and quality of life through life satisfaction. The statistical techniques applied will include a comprehensive method encompassing sociodemographic information, physical activity levels, perceptions of physical literacy, and life satisfaction. The camp shifts were randomly distributed, with half in the control group and the other half in the experimental group . Two measures of physical literacy and life satisfaction were measured: one at the beginning of the camp and one on the day of completion. The intervention included 24 sessions of adventure activities carried out in a natural environment, and the values obtained for both variables were collected using two questionnaires validated for these age groups. This intervention is expected to improve levels of physical literacy and perceived life satisfaction by providing valuable

Lifestyle for the BRAin Health - Nutrition and Exercise Training Intervention

Due to the increasing incidence of dementia and the lack of causal treatment, non-pharmacological interventions represent an attractive and effective therapeutic strategy of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease. The aim of the study is to assess the impact of a supervised 9-month intervention with aerobic-strength training and nutritional counseling compared to cognitive training and stretching on the brain, cognitive and motor functions, metabolism, physical fitnes and plasma markers of neurodegenertion in older adults at increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

Bimbingamba Zerosix Third Phase: Studying Communities

Childhood obesity is increasing in the last years especially in developed countries, and, as well as adult obesity, is related to the development of pathologies. Unfortunately, the restoration of a normal weight condition, if the ponderal excess rose in the first years of life, seems very difficult. Despite the importance of this issue, there is a paucity of evidence demonstrating effective interventions in reducing weight over time. The observation that in developed countries childhood obesity appears with evident social and geographical gradients justifies the implementation of inter-sectoral interventions of primary prevention, to be declined at the contextual level: family and community. Nowadays, there are numerous interventions for the promotion of lifestyle in pediatric age, in particular, those aimed at primary school and adolescence. On the other hand, few interventions were directed at the 0-7 age group. Therefore, this community intervention trial involved the pediatric population (aged 0-7 years) and their families, and it is aimed at the prevention of obesity and the restoring normal weight through community interventions aimed at improving lifestyles and with them the bio-metric parameters, health and well-being outcomes and soft skills in the population aged 0-7 years. The target population is children aged 0-7 years resident in the two municipalities (Mondovì and Savigliano), respectively selected as Intervention and Control Common. Totally, to conduct this study 2000 children, of both sex, will be enrolled (near 1000 for each of the two Municipalities).

Health-Enhancing Adapted Physical Activity Program at "Mon Stade"

Introduction: Regular practice of exercise or physical activity (PA) is a recognized intervention as a determinant of good health acquisition, maintenance, or recovery for a large number of chronic pathologies. Nevertheless, few studies have evaluated adherence to an initial health-adapted PA (APA) program, and persistence of active behavior over the time in individuals with a chronic disease. The aim of the study is to determine the brakes and levers associated with motivation and long-term compliance. In addition, the investigators aim to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of such program in term of care consumption. Finally, the investigators complete their interest for APA prescription from practitioners agreeing to enroll their patients in the present study. Method: The investigators perform a prospective monocentric cohort, of 2024 patients affected of a chronic disease or long-term illness (LTI), enrolled from 2021 to 2024 (4 years, 506 per year), for a 16-week APA program, and followed 5 years with an annual fitness and habits of life and care consumption evaluation.