Clinical Research Directory

Effect of Nicotine Gingival Fibroblast Intoxication on the Response of Periodontal Treatment

Impact of nicotine gingival intoxication on the clinical outcomes after periodontitis non surgical treatment

Cytisine vs Nicotine Replacement Therapy

Tobacco is the most preventable cause of disease and death in Canada. Although the tobacco use rate has substantially gone down in the general population, significant differences exist between sub-populations in Canada, for example Ottawa's highly vulnerable homeless or at-risk for homelessness population has an almost 100% tobacco smoking rate relative to 9-18% in the rest of the Canadian general population. This stark inequity in tobacco use translates into devastating healthcare outcomes such as a disproportionate amount of cancer, stroke, heart disease and death. Canadians who are homeless or at-risk for homelessness die 25 years earlier than housed Canadians, mostly due to tobacco. In order to tackle this tobacco use related inequity - a novel approach is urgently needed. Despite commonly held dogma that People Who Use Drugs (PWUD) don't want to quit smoking, many studies have demonstrated that in fact they are very interested in quitting. Moreover, the investigators pragmatic peer-led community-based action approach used in their PROMPT project has demonstrated that tobacco dependence strategies can be implemented with great success in this population. The majority of PROMPT participants reduced or quit tobacco use, in addition to reducing or quitting all other drug use. Importantly, the investigators have demonstrated that it is possible to gain the trust and engagement of marginalized populations and that researchers can create a community space that is low-threshold, safe and non-judgmental. The investigators aim to compare two tobacco dependence management strategies in the homeless (or at-risk for homelessness) multi-drug use population in Ottawa and Toronto. They will use the same peer-led approach in PROMPT with community peer researchers with lived experience; with the hope that the cost-effective community based framework derived from this trial will serve as a template for interventions and treatments in community settings for chronic diseases such as obesity and diabetes.

Varenicline for Smoking Reduction in Veterans Not Ready To Quit

In order to reduce the prevalence of cigarette smoking among Veterans, it is vital that healthcare providers offer effective tobacco treatment to all Veterans who smoke, including those not ready to make a quit attempt. Smoking treatments currently available to Veterans who are not ready to quit are only weakly effective. This project will generate new knowledge about the effectiveness of a promising varenicline-based intervention designed to increase quit attempts and long-term abstinence in Veterans who are initially not ready to quit. This project has great potential to engage Veterans not ready to quit smoking in treatment that increases quit attempts and quitting success, thereby reducing morbidity and mortality caused by smoking in Veterans.

Early Withdrawal Exposure and Negative Affect Withdrawal (NAW) Regulation Training for Smoking Cessation

Smoking remains the single most preventable cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States, accounting for approximately half a million deaths every year. The current study will investigate the efficacy and mechanisms of change of a novel smoking cessation intervention. The current study will thus provide essential information regarding a treatment that has the potential to enhance the efficacy of existing smoking cessation interventions, thereby having a beneficial impact on the public health of the United States.

C-Raven, a Virtual Tobacco Cessation Intervention in Residency Clinics

In a residency clinic in Baltimore, the investigators propose to conduct a pilot RCT comparing a) an avatar-delivered computerized intervention (CI) for tobacco cessation augmented with CHW support and navigation to lung cancer screening to b) a waitlist control. With a sample of participants from the residency clinic (N=30), the investigators will collect data on feasibility of recruitment, intervention engagement and completion, and short-term smoking cessation outcomes. Individuals will be assessed at baseline, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months. The investigators will conduct interviews with a subset of pilot participants to collect qualitative data on intervention acceptability.

Harm Reduction for Smokers With Mental Illness

To compare the efficacy of e-cigarette (e-cig) provision with or without behavioral support (SWITCH IT) delivered via telehealth to reduce harm among smokers with MI who cannot quit smoking and are not ready to pursue cessation treatment, and to examine self-regulation (using e-cigs instead of cigarettes to cope with stress/distress and self-efficacy) as a potential mechanism for behavior change from SWITCH IT

Oral Cannabidiol for Tobacco Cessation

Cannabidiol is a compound found in cannabis plants that is well tolerated, has low abuse liability, and might be an effective medication to promote tobacco cessation. This clinical study will use a validated approach for screening tobacco cessation medications to determine if oral cannabidiol increases short-term tobacco abstinence, and evaluate mechanisms that might explain how cannabidiol alters smoking behavior. Results from this study will provide data on the therapeutic potential of cannabidiol for tobacco cessation.

Effect of Yoga on Reducing Craving in Tobacco Dependent Individuals

Yoga is a culturally acceptable practice that can reduce craving and help people quit tobacco. There is a need to evaluate the feasibility of implementation of a well- designed yoga protocol to address craving in individuals who use tobacco in India.

Extended Intervention for Tobacco Use (EXIT) for People Experiencing Homelessness

This study is investigating tobacco use and providing tobacco treatment among people experiencing homelessness in California, in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Assessment of Biomarkers in Children to Help Parents Quit Tobacco

This randomized controlled trial will test whether adding biomarker measurement and informed outreach for tobacco smoke exposure as part of routine practice increases identification and improves treatment, effectiveness, and sustainability of a parental tobacco control intervention that will be integrated into pediatric practice.

Use of Nicotine Pouches Among Daily Smokers

The purpose of this clinical trial is to understand the health effects of a new oral nicotine pouch, and also to understand if this product can help reduce traditional cigarette smoking. The main aims are: 1. Understand the impact of nicotine pouch use on toxicant exposure biomarkers, and indicators of potential harms to health. 2. Examine the influence of nicotine pouch use on conventional tobacco product use (cigarettes). Participants will be randomized to one of six nicotine pouch groups (3 nicotine strengths, each with 2 potential flavors) to use over 16 weeks and asked to reduce their cigarette smoking over that time by at least 75% by substituting with the use of the nicotine pouches. Researchers will compare the outcomes of the different nicotine pouch strengths and flavors to each other. Participants will be asked to complete study questionnaires and provide urine, exhaled carbon monoxide, and mouth cell samples, and other health measurements.

Semaglutide for Smoking Cessation in Patients With Diabetes

To assess the feasibility of conducting a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to determine the effectiveness of semaglutide as an adjunct to combination NRT in supporting smoking cessation for patients with diabetes.

FRESH Delivers: An Innovative Approach to Reducing Tobacco Use Among Rural Smokers

The long-term goal of FRESH Delivers is to fill a critical gap in knowledge on the role of a home-based food delivery social intervention in the elimination of tobacco-caused cancer health burdens. The central hypothesis is that smokers who receive real-time video-based motivational counseling and home-based food deliveries will have greater cotinine-verified 7-day point prevalence abstinence than those who receive real-time video-based motivational counseling alone or home food delivery alone. The rationale for this approach is that studies show increased odds of smoking cessation with increasing food security.

Chatbot for Online Support Groups to Treat Tobacco Addiction

Investigators will conduct a pilot RCT to test the efficacy of an intelligent chatbot to aid small, private, quit-smoking peer support groups. Participants will be randomized to an intervention arm (chatbot-enhanced support group), or a control arm (support group only). In the intervention arm (N=60), each support group will be connected to an intelligent chatbot running on a secure local server as a trained LLM (large language model). The intelligent chatbot will function as an additional member of the GroupMe support group, but a member that only responds if no human does so. In the control arm (N=60), the support groups will be connected to an automated message-posting bot running on a secure local server. This automated message-posting bot will lack the response capabilities of the intelligent chatbot. But both the intelligent chatbot and the automated message-posting bot will post a pre-written daily discussion topic to encourage participants to discuss issues known to facilitate tobacco cessation or group bonding.

Reach Through Equitable Implementation in Utah

The goal of this pragmatic, multilevel Type III Hybrid Effectiveness-Implementation trial is to increase the reach of existing evidence-based interventions (EBIs) for tobacco cessation and to mitigate the impact of adverse Social Drivers of Health (SDOH) among safety-net healthcare system patients who live in persistent poverty (PP) census tracts. Aim 1: Test the ability of patient-level Conversational Agents (CA) \& Patient Navigation (PN) dissemination strategies to increase the Reach (primary outcome) of evidence-based tobacco cessation treatment delivered via the Utah Tobacco and Nicotine Quit Services (Quit Services) among Community Health Center (CHC) patients who use tobacco and live in persistent poverty census tracts. Secondary analyses will examine the outcome of Reach of services for SDOH among these patients and will evaluate both 1) patient-level CA and PN dissemination strategies and 2) a clinic-level implementation strategy using a pre-post design. Aim 2: Explore contextual factors (e.g., clinic size, patient composition, rurality, patient demographics) related to the Reach, Adoption, Implementation, and potential Maintenance of strategies. Aim 3: Determine the cost-effectiveness of clinic and patient-level strategies based on Quit Services enrollment and service receipt for SDOH. This trial implements a clinic-level implementation strategy, Ask-Advise-Connect (AAC), to address tobacco cessation and needs around social drivers of health for patients in all participating clinics. Eligible patients who are not enrolled in Quit Services four weeks after the clinical encounter, will receive text messages from a chatbot offering information and connections to the Quit Services and patient navigation support from a Community Health Worker.

Smoke-free Home Study in Subsidized Housing

Comprehensive smoke-free policies have the potential to substantially reduce tobacco-related disparities among populations in subsidized housing. This study fills this gap by identifying approaches to increase the implementation of smoke-free policies in all types of subsidized housing by increasing the voluntary adoption of smoke-free homes and promoting access to smoking cessation services.

Cannabidiol for Reducing Cigarette Use

The goal of this research is to evaluate the efficacy of cannabidiol (CBD) in reducing cigarette smoking. Although there are safe and effective treatments for smoking cessation, not everyone who attempts smoking cessation is successful, even with these treatments. Relapse rates are high, leaving a need for new approaches. Despite justification to evaluate CBD for this indication, human research on the topic is scant. Larger, more extended studies are warranted and essential. The investigators will recruit participants from CRI-Help, Inc., a substance abuse treatment program in North Hollywood, where residents who indicate the desire to stop smoking are prohibited from using other cannabis products which would affect recruitment. The aims of this study are: 1. Evaluate the effects of CBD on changes in cigarette use throughout and following the trial. 2. Exploratory Aims. Measure plasma concentrations of CBD, N-arachidonoyl-ethanolamine (anandamide) and 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG) throughout the trial. Participants who meet eligibility criteria will take part in a 56-day treatment phase during which they receive the study medication under supervision (CBD or placebo twice daily) and complete questionnaires on side effects, withdrawal, craving and mood symptoms. Blood, breath, and urine tests will also be performed throughout the study. Participants who complete the treatment will also be assessed at 1-month and 3-month follow up visits.

Smoking Cessation Intervention Including Health Navigators to Address Unmet Social Needs of Parents Who Smoke

Background: The goal of this study is to address parental smoking and social adversity, which can present an obstacle for smoking cessation, in order to decrease childhood exposure to second-hand cigarette smoke. To address these factors, this study includes a smoking cessation intervention for parents and legal guardians recruited in pediatric clinics (CanCEASE), as well as the support of a Health Navigator (HN) to work with the participant towards the resolution or mitigation of unmet social needs. Participants: The research team will recruit one thousand participants from pediatric outpatient clinics within two healthcare centres in and around the city of Montreal, Canada, over the course of 2.5 years. Eligible persons are parents and legal guardians, of any sex and gender, accompanying children under 18 to their scheduled medical appointments, and who report at least one social risk in selected areas (i.e., employment, housing stability, ability to pay for utilities, financial resource strain, food security, transportation, childcare, parent education and health literacy). Participants must also be 18 years old or older with sufficient proficiency in French or English to complete the interviews and questionnaires. In households in which both parents smoke, only one will be eligible to participate, but smoking cessation information will be offered to both. Families presenting at the clinic for an urgent medical issue are not eligible to participate. Intervention: Participants will be divided into control group (care as usual with CanCEASE at the end of the study period) and intervention (CanCEASE + Health navigator). All participants will complete questionnaires at Baseline, 6 and 12 months. The intervention group will receive CanCEASE at the end of each questionnaire. Controls will receive CanCEASE at 12 months. The intervention group will have the possibility to meet with the HNs and will be invited to commit to at least two sessions (i.e.: evaluation and a follow up), with the option to book more time as needed. Aims and hypotheses: Examining how effective the combination of CanCEASE with HN support is in helping parents with unmet social needs quit smoking. Investigators will also examine the effects of the intervention on status of unmet social needs, if the intervention was implemented as planned and well accepted by clinics and participants, and what is the cost of the intervention for each person who quits smoking.

Adapting and Evaluating a Tobacco Use Cessation Program for People Living With HIV in Uganda and Zambia

This proposal tests the efficacy of a phone-based tobacco cessation intervention for people living with HIV (PLWH) in comparison to the standard of care (brief advice to quit) and nicotine replacement therapy (nicotine patches) in Uganda and Zambia. This study will provide insight into the efficacy, feasibility, applicability, and affordability of delivering tobacco cessation interventions through health care professionals at HIV treatment centers in two countries with different tobacco use patterns, policy environments, and health care resources. The previously tested SMS-platform to be used in this study is uniquely positioned to be scaled in low- and middle-income countries worldwide, in which case rigorous research showing even modest success in reducing the prevalence of tobacco consumption among PLWH could confer substantial health and economic benefits.