Clinical Research Directory

Investigating Complex Neurodegenerative Disorders Related to Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and Frontotemporal Dementia

Background: Neurodegenerative disorders can lead to problems in movement or memory. Some can cause abnormal proteins to build up in brain cells. Researchers want to understand whether these diseases have related causes or risk factors. Objective: To test people with movement or thinking and memory problems to see if they are eligible for research studies. Eligibility: People ages 18 and older with a neurodegenerative disorder associated with accumulation of TDP-43 or Tau proteins Design: Participants will have a screening visit. This may take place over 2-3 days. Tests include: Medical history Physical exam Questions about behavior and mood Tests of memory, attention, concentration, and thinking Movement measurement. The speed at which participants can stand up from a chair, tap their finger and foot, and walk a short distance will be measured. Some movements will be videotaped. They will be videotaped while they speak and read a paragraph. Blood tests. This might include genetic testing. Lung and breathing tests MRI. They will lie on a table that slides into a cylinder that takes pictures of the body. Some participants will get a dye through IV. Electromyography. A thin needle will be inserted into the muscles to measure electrical signals. Nerve tests. Small electrodes on the skin record muscle and nerve activity. A small piece of skin may be removed. A skin or blood sample may be taken to create stem cells. Optional lumbar puncture. A needle will be inserted into the space between the bones of the back to collect fluid. If participants are not eligible for current studies, they may be contacted in the future.

A Study to Test the Safety and Tolerability of Long-term UCB0107 Administration in Study Participants With Progressive Supranuclear Palsy

The purpose of the study is to assess the long-term safety and tolerability of UCB0107 in study participants with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP).

Automated Imaging Differentiation of Parkinsonism

The purpose of this study is to test the performance of the AID-P across 21 sites in the Parkinson Study Group. Each site will perform imaging, clinical scales, diagnosis, and will upload the data to the web-based software tool. The clinical diagnosis will be blinded to the diagnostic algorithm and the imaging diagnosis will be compared to the movement disorders trained neurologist diagnosis.

Remote Monitoring in Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP)

This is a single-arm, longitudinal, observational study on the use of wearable sensors and digital health technology to measure fall frequency and motor, speech, and cognitive function in patients with PSP over the course of approximately one year. Participants will perform supervised remote assessments monthly and in-person assessments approximately every 6 months.

Cholinergic Mechanisms of Attentional-motor Integration and Gait Dysfunction in Parkinson Disease (UDALL)

To perform a prospective cohort study with \[(18)F\]fluoroethoxybenzovesamicol (FEOBV) brain PET at baseline and 2-year follow-up in PD subjects at risk of conversion to non-episodic and episodic (falls and FoG) PIGD motor features and cognitive changes at the same time points.

Gait Analysis in Neurological Disease

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether speed-dependent measures of gait (so called gait signatures) can be identified in patients with neurological conditions that affect gait, particularly in subjects with parkinsonian disorders.

Individualized Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Parkinsonian Disorders

This clinical trial aims to evaluate whether individualized targeted repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) can improve motor and non-motor symptoms in patients with parkinsonian disorders. The main question it aims to answer is: * Does individualized targeted rTMS alleviate symptoms of parkinsonian disorders? * Which clinical manifestations of parkinsonian syndromes are responsive to individualized targeted rTMS, and to what degree? Procedures: * Preparation (Screening) Participants will undergo clinical assessments, MRI, and EEG before the treatment. * Treatment (2 Weeks) Participants will receive a 10-day TMS treatment (once daily, Monday-Friday). Each treatment day takes approximately 3-4 hours. Participants need to keep stable medications and rehabilitation routines during this time. * Follow-up (10 Weeks) Participants will undergo follow-up assessments at the end of treatment and 10 weeks after treatment. Assessments include clinical scales, MRI, and EEG.

Neurologic Stem Cell Treatment Study

This is a human clinical study involving the isolation of autologous bone marrow derived stem cells (BMSC) and transfer to the vascular system and inferior 1/3 of the nasal passages in order to determine if such a treatment will provide improvement in neurologic function for patients with certain neurologic conditions. http://mdstemcells.com/nest/

Trial of Parkinson's And Zoledronic Acid

This home-based study is a randomized (1:1) placebo-controlled trial of a single infusion of zoledronic acid-5 mg (ZA) for the prevention of fractures in men and women aged 60 years and older with Parkinson's disease and parkinsonism with at least 2 years of follow-up. A total of 2650 participants will be enrolled and randomized in the United States. Participants, follow-up outcome assessors, and study investigators will be blinded to assigned study treatment. This trial is funded by the National Institute of Aging.

Research of Biomarkers in Parkinson Disease

The main goal of the GENEPARK consortium is to employ innovative haemogenomic approaches to determine gene expression profiles specific for genetic and idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. These gene expression signatures will be utilised clinically as non-invasive diagnostic tests for PD. The sensitivity of the newly developed diagnostic test will be determined by extensive validations on an independent cohort of PD patients, whereas the specificity will be assessed by testing patients with atypical parkinsonisms, including multiple system atrophy, progressive supranuclear palsy and diffuse Lewy body disease. In order to test the specificity of the diagnostic set in other disorders that affect basal ganglia, Huntington's disease and dopa responsive dystonia patients will be analysed. The second objective of the proposal is to determine correlations between gene expression signatures and different stages of PD and thus provide the basis for early diagnosis and monitoring of disease progression. These changes in blood gene expression will be correlated with alterations detected by neuroimaging in the brain of PD patients. Such combinations of molecular and morphological markers of disease may ultimately facilitate the selection and monitoring of neuroprotective therapies for PD. Finally, GENEPARK aims to develop new bioinformatic software tools for selection of genomic biomarkers using microarray data. A set of established computational tools will be applied and novel methods, some of them based on mechanistic modelling of the neurodegenerative diseases, will be developed in order to study the advantages and limitations of the different methodologies. With special emphasis on the careful clinical selection of patients and sufficient power regarding patient numbers, as well as extensive quality control and validation of the data, GENEPARK aims to develop a standardised approach to development and validation of haemogenomic biomarkers of disease.

Biomarkers in Parkinsonian Syndromes

This is a prospective observational study to identify biomarkers in parkinson syndromes. Patients with parkinsonian syndromes at the early stages of disease will be recruited and will be followed up until their established clinical diagnosis or for at least 5 years. In this population, imaging and wet biomarkers as well as clinical data will b systematically collected.

A Molecular Anatomic Imaging Analysis of Tau in Progressive Supranuclear Palsy

This study is designed to learn more about overall tau burden in the brain of patients with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP).

AMX0035 and Progressive Supranuclear Palsy

A35-009 (ORION) is a Phase 2b/3 trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of AMX0035 in participants with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP), consisting of randomized, double blind placebo controlled phases, followed by an optional open-label extension phase.

The Swedish BioFINDER 2 Study

The Swedish BioFINDER 2 study is a new study that will launch in 2017 and extends the previous cohorts of BioFINDER 1 study (www.biofinder.se). BioFINDER 1 is used e.g. to characterize the role of beta-amyloid pathology in early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) using amyloid-PET (18F-Flutemetamol) and Aβ analysis in cerebrospinal fluid samples. The BioFINDER 1 study has resulted in more than 40 publications during the last three years, many in high impact journals, and some the of the results have already had important implications for the diagnostic work-up patients with AD in the clinical routine practice. The original BioFINDER 1 cohort started to include participants in 2008. Since then there has been a rapid development of biochemical and neuroimaging technologies which enable novel ways to the study biological processes involved in Alzheimer's disease in living people. There has also been a growing interest in the earliest stages of AD and other neurodegenerative diseases. With the advent of new tau-PET tracers there is now an opportunity to elucidate the role of tau pathology in the pathogenesis of AD and other tauopathies. The Swedish BioFINDER 2 study has been designed to complement the BioFINDER 1 study and to e.g. address issues regarding the role of tau pathology in different dementias and in preclinical stages of different dementia diseases. Further, the clinical assessments and MRI methods have been further optimized compared to BioFINDER 1. Detailed assessments of motor aspects and dual task performance, which is part of a sub-study named Motor-ACT: "Motor aspects and activities in relation to cognitive decline and brain pathologies, has been added to further optimize assessment of motor function.

Community Outreach for Palliative Engagement -- Parkinson Disease

The purpose of this study is to learn more about the effectiveness of palliative care training for community physicians and telemedicine support services for patients and carepartners with Parkinson's disease and Lewy Body Dementia (LBD) or related conditions and their care partners. Palliative care is a treatment approach focused on improving quality of life by relieving suffering in the areas of physical symptoms such as pain, psychiatric symptoms such as depression, psychosocial issues and spiritual needs. Telemedicine is the use of technology that allows participants to interact with a health care provider without being physically near the provider.

Facilitating Diagnostics and Prognostics of Parkinsonian Syndromes Using Neuroimaging

The goals of this study are: 1) to identify biomarkers using neuroimaging that are associated with progression rate using statistical methods, and 2) to identify biomarkers that are associated with the differential diagnosis of Parkinson's disease and atypical parkinsonism.

Art Therapy in Progressive Supranuclear Palsy

Our aim is to study the effect of art therapy for people with PSP, with a focus on alleviating the symptoms associated with PSP, enhancing the overall quality of life for patients, and reducing caregiver stress. Overall, through our collaborative efforts on this study, we hope to unlock the benefits of art therapy for this vulnerable patient population, ultimately improving their overall well-being and enhancing their quality of life.

A Multi-Modal Remote Monitoring Platform for Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration (FTLD) Syndromes

The primary objective of this study is to enroll an observational cohort of approximately 60 patients with PSP over the course of 24 months using a multicenter study design and to follow each of them for 12 months. The secondary objective of this study is to develop a robust solution for multi-modal remote monitoring of motor symptoms and function in PSP that can be applied to other Frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) syndromes.

The CurePSP Genetics Program

This study is an observational, prospective genetic study. It aims to obtain DNA for research and testing from patients with PSP, CBS, MSA, and related neurological conditions and their families. Up to 1,000 adults who have been clinically diagnosed with PSP, CBS, MSA, or related neurological conditions will be enrolled. The study intervention involves sequencing of participant blood samples using non-CLIA-approved whole genome sequencing at the National Institutes of Health. Pathogenic variants that are deemed possibly related to these conditions will be confirmed using CLIA-approved testing. The study involves minimal risk to participants.

tDCS as Treatment for Motor Function

Previous preliminary results are sufficiently impressive to suggest that tDCS stimulation does have the potential to improve motor function when that ability is trained during stimulation. In the proposed study, the investigation will assess whether walking sessions combined with tDCS lead to improvements in motor function: gait, articulation, eye gaze, and motor dexterity. In addition, the investigators wish to examine if such results can be replicated in people with other conditions, such as cortical basal syndrome, and Parkinson's disease.

Improving Prognostic Confidence in Neurodegenerative Diseases Causing Dementia Using Peripheral Biomarkers and Integrative Modeling

To develop a model to predict disease progression in a large cohort of patients across a variety of neurodegenerative diseases, including Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and dementia due to any neurodegenerative disease, including Alzheimer's Disease (AD), Lewy Body Disease (LBD), Vascular Disease (VaD) and Frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD).

A Study to Assess the Efficacy, Safety, and Pharmacokinetics of FNP-223 to Slow Progression of Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP)

PROSPER trial is a trial to assess the efficacy of FNP-223 in slowing disease progression in participants with PSP as measured by the PSP Rating Scale (PSPRS) over 52 weeks and to assess the safety and tolerability of FNP-223 for 52 weeks in participants with PSP.

Systematic Assessment of Laryngopharyngeal Function in Patients With Neurodegenerative Diseases

This is a non-interventional observational study designed to systematically record the results of routine laryngeal examinations and specific characteristics of dysphagia in patients with neurodegenerative disorders. The results of a fiberoptic / flexible endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES) while performing a structured task protocol will be recorded. If available, laryngeal electromyography (EMG) results will also be recorded. In addition to the examination results, demographic and disease-specific data are collected, and two questionnaires, the Swallowing Disturbance Questionnaire for Parkinson's Disease (SDQ-PD) and the swallowing specific Quality Of Life Questionnaire (SWALQOL), are administered.

Diagnosing Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration

To establish diagnostic tools to make an accurate clinical and pathological diagnosis of patients with clinical FTLD syndromes