-
This study aims to understand social decision-making deficits in dementia patients as it pertains to legal complications and connect this with neurodegeneration patterns in brain imaging.
What can you expect?
Computer Tasks
When you participate in a computer study, you will be asked answer questions about how you would make moral and social decisions in certain situations. No computer experience is necessary to perform these tasks and rest breaks are provided frequently.
fMRI
For the Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) study, you will be asked to complete a cognitive task in the MRI.
Questionnaires
A series of questionnaires will be given to the patient and their caregiver. The questionnaires will ask questions pertaining to social and moral decision-making skills and memory assessments.
Eligibility:
- Males and Females
- Age 18 to 85
- Have a diagnosis of Behavioral Variant Frontotemporal Dementia, Alzheimer's, or Mild Cognitive Impairment.
- Also enrolling aging healthy adults, ages 45-85
Exclusion Criteria:
Unstable/untreated medical condition, history of mental illness, hearing/visual impairments; standard MRI exclusion criteria, including: claustrophobia, any trauma or surgery which may have left ferromagnetic material in the body, ferromagnetic implants or pacemakers, inability to lie still.
Participants will be compensated for their time. Travel expenses are reimbursed for participants.
The Principal Investigator for the study is Dr. Ryan Darby, MD
This study is currently enrolling.
For more detailed information on this study please contact:
Talia Kunin, BS
Clinical Translational Research Coordinator I
Phone: (615) 875-8731
Email: Talia.Kunin@VUMC.org
-
The goal of the ALLFTD study is to understand the changes in brain function that occur as a result of disease progression, and how changes differ from normal aging. By tracking changes in clinical features (symptoms, neurologic examination) and biomarkers (neuropsychological tests, blood proteins, MRI, CSF proteins) over several years, the investigators predict to see changes in biomarkers that precede clinical changes by years or even decades.
Study Details
Participants enrolled in ALLFTD are carefully assessed through interviews, physical examinations, cognitive testing and blood and/or CSF testing, and in many cases brain imaging, in order to describe how each person is affected, or not affected, by FTLD. Please see the ALLFTD website for more information about the study.
ALLFTD is currently enrolling participants with the conditions below:
- Behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD)
- Behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia with motor neuron disease (bvFTD-MND)
- Semantic variant of primary progressive aphasia (svPPA)
- Nonfluent variant of primary progressive aphasia (nfvPPA)
- Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP)
- Corticobasal syndrome (CBS)
- Any member of a family with a history that suggests FTLD, including patients with symptoms of any form of FTLD and people who are part of these families but have either no symptoms or questionable symptoms
What can you expect?
ALLFTD currently targets mainly in-person assessment of participants with specific diagnoses in the FTLD spectrum, with the expectation that all patients will come for repeat assessments each year. For those who are unable or unwilling to return for annual evaluations, a more focused assessment of participants is performed. Also, every participant is required to identify an “informant” (usually a close friend or family member) who can provide their perspective on how the participants are doing.
ALLFTD participants have a comprehensive evaluation. This assessment usually takes about two full days to complete, often more, and so participants must return to the center from home multiple times within a couple of weeks or stay overnight nearby in order to complete them. The assessment includes:
- Interview and examination by a physician
- Cognitive testing using traditional “pencil and paper” tests as well as computerized cognitive testing
- Interview of an informant by a nurse or study coordinator
- Brain imaging using MRI
- Blood collection
- Lumbar puncture (often called a spinal tap) optional
- Participants and their informant also fill out questionnaires about various aspects of their life, including habits such as exercising, eating, occupation, hobbies, and use of cigarettes and drugs or alcohol.
The Principal Investigator for the study is Dr. Ryan Darby, MD
This study is currently enrolling select participants. There is a waitlist for the study, so please reach out.
For more detailed information on this study please contact:
Lead: Levi Pettit, BS
Clinical Translational Research Coordinator II
Phone: (615) 421-0569
Email: Levi.f.pettit@vumc.orgCatherine Cerroni, BS, BA
Clinical Translational Research Coordinator II
Phone: (615) 421-4369
Email: Catherine.Cerroni@VUMC.org
-
This is a phase 2, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of FNP-223 in patients with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP).
What can you expect?
Enrolled subjects will participate in a 52-week double-blind treatment period. During the year, patients and their study partner will come in to VUMC for 7 in-person clinic visits. Between the in-person visits will be 9 remote phone calls to check for study drug compliance and adverse events
Key Eligibility Criteria
- Age 50 – 80
- Presence of PSP symptoms for less than 3 years
- Able to walk 10 steps with minimal assistance
- No evidence of any clinically significant neurological disorder other than PSP
- 1 brain MRI required for screening
- 1 additional MRI and 2 lumbar punctures are optional
The Principal Investigator for the study is Dr. Ryan Darby, MD
This study is closed for enrollment.
For more detailed information, please contact
Lead: Catherine Cerroni, BS/BA
Clinical Translational Research Coordinator II
(615) 421-4369
catherine.cerroni@vumc.org
-
We are studying the effect of certain Parkinson’s Disease medications on the brain and how they effect moral and social decision making.
What can you expect?
Computer Tasks
When you participate in a computer study, you will be asked answer questions about how you would make moral and social decisions in certain situations. No computer experience is necessary to perform these tasks and rest breaks are provided frequently.
MRI
For the Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study, you will be asked to lie still while being scanned in the magnet for about and hour and fifteen minutes, 20 minutes of which will be spent completing a computer task during the scan. This will take place over 2 sessions.
Questionnaires
You will answer questions about your mood, daily activities, sleepiness, and about your medical history. You will also answer some questions that will test your ability to do math, remember information, and solve puzzles.
Eligibility
- Males and Females
- Have a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease or an active older person who does not have a diagnosis of any neurological condition
Exclusion Criteria:
Under treatment with deep brain stimulation, jejunal levodopa, or subcutaneous apomorphine; standard MRI exclusion criteria, including: claustrophobia, any trauma or surgery which may have left ferromagnetic material in the body, ferromagnetic implants or pacemakers, inability to lie still.
Participants will be compensated for their time. Travel expenses are reimbursed for participants who have to travel more than 15 miles.
The study is closed for enrollment.
-
This is a double blind, placebo-controlled, phase 2 platform trial that will simultaneously test multiple therapies to determine safety, tolerability, and efficacy in patients with Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP).
What Can You Expect?
Enrolled subjects will participate in a 12-month double-blind treatment period. During the year, patients and study partners will come into VUMC for in-person clinic visits. This may be followed by an optional 12-month open-label extension.
Key Eligibility Criteria
- Age 41-86
- Presence of PSP symptoms for less than 5 years
- Able to walk 10 steps with minimal assistance
- No evidence of any clinically significant neurological disorder other than PSP
The Principal Investigator for the study is Dr. Ryan Darby, MD
This study is not yet open to enrollment.
For more detailed information, including how to get on the waitlist, contact
Catherine Cerroni, BS, BA
Clinical Translational Research Coordinator II
(615) 421-4369
catherine.cerroni@vumc.org
-
The goal of this clinical study is to learn about an investigational gene therapy product called AVB-101, which is designed to treat a disease called Frontotemporal Dementia with Progranulin Mutations (FTD-GRN).
What Can You Expect?
This study is enrolling early symptomatic patients who have a GRN mutation. If genetic status is unknown, please contact the coordinator below to discuss available options for genetic testing, insurance information, and counseling. All eligible patients will receive a one-time treatment of AVB-101 delivered directly to the brain, with follow up assessments for 5 years. Follow up assessments include MRIs, lumbar punctures, blood draws, cognitive assessments, questionnaires, and various other clinical procedures.
The Principal Investigator for the study is Dr. Ryan Darby, MD
This study is open to enrollment.
For more detailed information on this study, contact:
Leann Seanez, B.S.
Clinical Translational Research Coordinator II
Phone: (615) 875-7259
l.seanez@vumc.org