Clinical Research Directory

Target Trial Emulation for Pharmacologic Treatment of Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome

The goal of this observational study is to learn how two medicines used in routine care-buprenorphine and morphine-affect recovery in newborns (≥36 weeks' gestation) with Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome (NOWS). The main questions it aims to answer are: 1. Do infants treated with buprenorphine become medically ready for discharge sooner than those treated with morphine? 2. Does one treatment lead to better overall clinical outcomes than the other? Researchers will compare infants who received buprenorphine with infants who received morphine to see whether one treatment helps babies recover more quickly. Participants will not be asked to do anything. Instead, the study team will collect information already documented in the infant's and mother's medical records securely without any contact or changes to clinical care. No new medicines, procedures, or visits are involved. This study only reviews existing clinical data to better understand which commonly used treatment may support faster recovery for newborns with NOWS.

MicroRNA Biomarkers for Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome

Infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) experience prolonged hospital stays and poor neurodevelopmental outcomes, in-part because of the lack of accurate, individualized, biologic assessments available to manage this increasingly common medical condition. The proposed study will define the molecular mechanisms that regulate the response to opioid withdrawal in the developing brain by focusing on three candidate microRNAs (let-7a, miR-146a, miR-192) that have been shown to respond to opioid exposure in animal models and adults, and are impacted in both my preliminary study of infants with NAS, and my human neural progenitor cell (NPC) design of opioid withdrawal. By determining the mechanism through which microRNAs impact NPC differentiation in opioid withdrawal, and determining whether exosomal salivary microRNA levels predict treatment dose and neurodevelopmental outcomes in infants with NAS, this study will enhance our knowledge of NAS-related biology and identify potential biomarkers that could improve medical care for this important medical condition.

Neurostimulation to Improve NOWS Outcomes

The objective of this study is to determine if tAN therapy can reduce the median number of days of oral morphine administered to an infant after start of treatment.

Trial to Shorten Pharmacologic Treatment of Newborns With Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome (NOWS)

The objective of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of a rapid wean intervention compared with a slow-wean intervention in reducing the number of days of opioid treatment from the first dose of weaning to cessation of opioid among infants receiving an opioid (defined as morphine or methadone) as the primary treatment for neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome (NOWS).

ACT NOW Longitudinal Study: Outcomes of Babies With Opioid Exposure Study

The objective of this longitudinal cohort study is to quantify the effects of antenatal opioid exposure on the trajectory of brain development over the first 2 years of life, examine associations with developmental and neurobehavioral outcomes, and explore how specific factors (differing antenatal and postnatal exposures, severity of neonatal opioid withdrawal, maternal stress/depression/parenting) modify these effects