Clinical Research Directory

Healthy for my Baby- RCT of a Lifestyle Intervention for Overweight Women in Preconception

The purpose of this study is to determine whether an intervention combining motivational interviewing and follow-up with a mobile phone application will help overweight women and their partners adopt healthy lifestyle habits in the preconception period. This study will also evaluate the impact of the intervention on the weight, waist circumference, and body fat of women and their partners. Women and their partners will be followed through pregnancy to explore the effects of the intervention on the adequacy of gestational weight gain, rates of pregnancy complications, delivery mode, and infant birth weight.

Mobile Assisted Education on Prenatal Health

This study aims to evaluate the effect of mobile-assisted education on prenatal health literacy, health behaviors, and childbirth outcomes among primigravida women

A Climate Change Education Program for 7th and 8th Grade Students in Istanbul Schools: Does It Improve Climate Knowledge and Health-Protective Behaviors?

Climate is the usual weather pattern of a place over a long time. Climate change means long-term shifts in climate, caused by natural processes and, above all, by human activity. Since the Industrial Revolution, factories and production have released more greenhouse gases into the air, and the planet has become warmer. These changes are a risk to public health. They harm some groups more than others: children, older adults, people with long-term illnesses, and people with fewer resources. This makes health inequalities worse, so fighting climate change is a public health issue as well as an environmental one. Young people today are more aware of climate change, which is a good chance to strengthen programs that protect and improve health. The few studies available show that climate change education for teenagers is mostly given in 7th and 8th grade. However, we do not know enough about whether this education changes behavior or improves health. This study aims to find out how a climate change education program affects teenagers' climate literacy (their understanding of climate change) and their health-protective behaviors. The study is quasi-experimental, with a control group and tests before and after the program. It will take place in two middle schools in Üsküdar, Istanbul, from September 2026 to January 2027. Participants will be 7th and 8th grade students from these schools. The sample size was calculated with the G\*Power 3.1.9.4 program. Allowing for dropouts, we plan to include 154 teenagers: 77 in the education group and 77 in the control group. Data will be collected with three tools: a Descriptive Information Form, the Climate Literacy Scale, and the Climate Change Health-Protective Behaviors Scale - Adolescent.

Rule-Based High-Risk Flu

Previous work by the study team has shown that informing patients of their high risk of flu and flu-related complications increases their likelihood of getting a flu shot (Rosenbaum et al., 2026). In this work, an artificial intelligence (AI)-based algorithm determined which patients were at high risk for flu. This year, the team will test whether risk messages remain effective when a non-algorithmic rule-based additive risk index (McGovern et al., 2024) is used to identify patients at high risk.

Family Health Promoter - an Online Interactive Platform for Parents to Promote Healthy Habits

The goal of this observational study is to test a working prototype of a web-based application, Family Health Promoter (FHP), designed to support parents/guardians in facilitating positive health behavior change within their families. This initial prototype will focus on eating habits. Participants will use the application for two weeks and then complete an interview about their experience. The main questions the study aims to answer are: 1. How easy is the application to use? 2. How do participants use the application? 3. In what ways do participants find the application helpful or valuable? 4. What ideas do participants have for improving the application?

Sugary Drink Labeling Study

This study aims to examine the effects of added sugar warning labels on sugary drinks. Participants will be assigned to view either added sugar warning labels or control labels, applied on sugary drinks in an experimental store. Participants will shop for beverages in the store and take a computer survey at 4 visits spaced approximately 1 week apart.

Consumer Perceptions of Alcoholic Beverages

This study aims to examine the effects of marketing claims on alcoholic beverage packaging on alcohol consumers' perceptions and intentions. Participants will be randomized to view three images of alcoholic beverages (beer, hard seltzer, flavored malt beverage) with one of three marketing claims (or a no claim control), and then queried about their perceptions of the product and intentions to consume the product.

Sleep Better, Live Better Study

The goal of this clinical trial is to determine the effects of a 12-week sleep behavioral program for adults ages 25-65 with poor sleep and elevated cardiometabolic risk. The main questions it aims to answer are: To evaluate the feasibility of recruitment, enrollment, retention, and data collection; program fidelity; and participant engagement with coaching sessions, text messages, and weekly check-ins; and to assess preliminary pre-post program changes in participant self-reported sleep, sleep self-efficacy, action and coping constructs, and Brain Care Score. Participants will: Complete seven structured sleep coaching sessions by telephone; complete a brief weekly check-in questionnaire received by text message; and receive weekly automated one-way text messaging support.

Effects of Testicular Self-Examination Training Methods on Students' Behaviors and Health Beliefs

The goal of this cluster randomized controlled trial is to evaluate and compare the effects of different testicular self-examination (TSE) training methods on university students' health beliefs and self-examination behaviors regarding testicular cancer (TC) and TSE. The main questions it aims to answer are: * Does receiving brochure-based education or brochure plus audio recordings of TC patient experiences improve students' health beliefs (perceived susceptibility, seriousness, benefits, self-efficacy, and reduced barriers)? * Which educational method is more effective in increasing the frequency and performance of testicular self-examination behaviors compared to a control group? Researchers will compare three groups: * Intervention Group 1: Receives an educational brochure on TC and TSE. * Intervention Group 2: Receives an educational brochure combined with audio recordings of testicular cancer survivor/patient experiences. * Control Group: Receives no specific educational intervention during the study period. Participants will: * Complete baseline questionnaires regarding demographic information, TC/TSE knowledge, health beliefs, and baseline examination practices. * Receive the assigned educational material/session according to their randomized cluster. * Complete follow-up evaluations at 3 months post-intervention to assess changes in health beliefs, knowledge, and TSE behaviors.

Teen Health Choices & Wellness

The goal of this observational study is to learn more about changes in health, wellness, and substance-use behaviors as teenagers get older. Participants, ages 13 to 16, will be asked to use a smartphone application developed for this research study. Participants will also come to Brown University or meet via video conference to answer questions about specific behaviors, choices, and feelings that may change over time.

Health Surveillance at Constructor University Bremen (CUB)

The aim of Health Surveillance is to analyze and describe the state of health of students at Constructor University, key influencing factors and individual resources by using mixed-method design.

Health Surveillance at University of Applied Science Hamburg (HAW)

The aim of Health Surveillance 2025 is to analyze and describe the state of health of employees at University of Applied Science Hamburg, key influencing factors and individual resources.

Healthy Communities: A Healthy City Preventive Program on Cardiovascular Health and Well-being (HC)

Healthy Communities is a multidisciplinary health-promotion initiative. The objective of the present study is to determine whether such an intervention will be efficacious to improve cardiovascular health compared to the current approach. A quasi-experimental controlled longitudinal community-based intervention study will be carried out comprising approximately 2000 individuals from the age of 12 years from the cities of Cardona (intervention city) and Sallent (control city), in Spain. The core of the intervention will be based on the previous health promotion programs developed and evaluated by the Science, Health and Education (SHE) Foundation: the SI! Program (Salud Integral -Comprehensive Health) for children, and the Fifty-Fifty Program for adults. Coupled to infrastructure development, we will promote the understanding of the benefits of active living to increase awareness on the relevance of healthy lifestyle to improve health and wellbeing in three consecutive phases (Phase 1- full supervised program; Phase 2- transition period, and Phase 3- self-community driven program), which will provide full empowerment to the community. The primary outcome will be measured with the validated composite Fuster-BEWAT (Blood pressure, Exercise/physical activity, body Weight/BMI, Alimentation/diet, and Tobbaco/smoking) score consisting of a 0-15 scale for behaviors/health risk factors. Assessments will be performed at baseline, at 2.5 and 5 years. Follow-up assessments will be conducted to determine the between group differences (intervention vs. control) in the change of the Fuster-BEWAT score at phase 2 and phase 3.

Exercise Engagement in People Over 60 at Risk of Falls

It is a qualitative study, using semi structured interviews to explore patient's experiences of falls and their perceptions on facilitators and barriers to exercise. Aim: To explore reasons for and against engaging with exercises at home in participants over the age of 60 at risk of falls. To explore: 1. Patients' preferences to exercise format and type eg/ leaflet, online, access, such as the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) chair exercises leaflet or individual personalized rehabilitation programme handouts 2. The ability to discuss falls risk with health professionals. 3. If health inequalities exist with people at risk of falls and exercising. 4. Sustainability of exercise, in order to reduce the risk of falls in this population. 5. The need to develop MSK internal and external facing falls management pathways. Suitability: Patients over the age of 60, who have been identified at risk of falls, having been referred to MSK Physiotherapy in Rossendale. 'Risk of falls' is defined as: patient self-reports they are unsteady, had one or more fall in the last 6 months, or clinician identified a slow/unsteady gait pattern on examination. Semi structured interviews on up to ten participants. It is anticipated that this sample size will give adequate data saturation. Approximately 12 months from participant recruitment to analysis of findings.

Virtual Reality-Based Health Promotion Education and Healthy Living Behaviors in Pregnant Women

This randomized controlled, open-label trial evaluated the effects of education based on Pender's Health Promotion Model, delivered through virtual reality or printed educational booklets, on healthy lifestyle behaviors in pregnant women. The study was conducted at two family health centers in Istanbul, Turkey, between April 2025 and February 2026. A total of 102 primigravida pregnant women at 12-16 weeks of gestation were randomly assigned in equal numbers to a virtual reality education group, a booklet-based education group, or a routine-care control group. Both intervention groups received three weekly educational sessions followed by five monthly motivational interviewing telephone calls, while the control group received routine prenatal care. Healthy lifestyle behaviors and depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms were assessed at baseline and at 36-38 weeks of gestation. Ninety-five participants completed the study and were included in the analyses.

Dementia Risk Registry Across the Multidimensional Lifespan: A 10-Year Study

Age-related cerebral small-vessel disease (CSVD) is a major cause of dementia, predominantly affecting individuals over 60 years of age, with a prevalence exceeding 70% in the elderly population. However, the correlation between the burden of CSVD and the progression of cognitive impairment in young and middle-aged individuals remains uncertain. DREAM-10 is an observational, prospective study that enrolled individuals aged 30-60 years, who were free from known dementia but exhibited imaging markers related to CSVD. Through prospective registration and follow-up, this study will collect data on patients with CSVD, including clinical information, neuropsychological assessments, multimodal Magnetic Resonance Images (MRI) and retinopathy characterized by Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (OCTA). CSVD related features seen on neuroimaging include recent small subcortical infarcts, lacunes, white matter hyperintensities, perivascular spaces, microbleeds, brain atrophy, cortical superficial siderosis. Utilizing this data, the researchers aim to investigate the potential dementia risk among young and middle-aged individuals with CSVD over the forthcoming decade, along with identifying its predictive factors.

Four Pillars of Defense: A Whole Health Approach to the Military

The overall objectives of this study are to better define the construct of psychological resilience in the military, to identify potential modifiable risk factors and trainable skills of psychological resilience in Soldiers, and provide a scalable, integrated physical and mental optimization training app to be integrated into relevant systems. The proposed work would be a first step in identifying predictive risk factors that can be modified to increase the future resilience of Soldiers. With this crucial information, the investigators aim to gather data that will inform the development of a resilience-focused intervention (e.g., a skills training program) and test the feasibility of that intervention.

Mindful Motivation for Reducing Binge Eating

The aim of this study is to test how acceptable and feasible a new eating intervention is in people with overweight and binge eating. This intervention combines mindful eating with motivational interviewing to target binge eating. The main questions this clinical trial aims to answer are: How well do participants accept the new intervention (acceptability)? Is the intervention practical and easy to implement (feasibility)? In this trial researchers will compare the new eating intervention (motivational interviewing for mindful eating + digital meditation) to an active control (digital meditation) to see if the intervention can help reduce binge eating. Participants will: 1. Take online questionnaires at four different time points 2. Provide body composition and samples to measure glucose levels 3. Meditate for at least 10 minutes a day 4. If assigned to the Mindful Motivation group, 8 weeks of brief counseling

Planetary Health and Loneliness

The aim of this 3-phase study is the evaluation of planetary health behaviors and its cognitive processes in relation to levels of eco-anxiety, general well-being, and levels of loneliness. As climate change progresses at a dangerous rate, it is important to establish and maintain lifestyles that are productive, fulfilling, environmentally conscious, and low in anxiety. Through a better understanding of the interconnected nature of planetary health behaviors with other aspects of healthy living and perception of social isolation, and the effect of an intervention, this research will add to current state of science to help inform the creation of interventions promoting sustainable, healthy, happy living among the general public and specific subgroups.

Cardiovascular Health and Nursing Interventions in 6th Grade Middle School Children

Interventions that can improve cardiovascular health behaviors in children are of critical importance for reducing the burden of cardiovascular disease in the future. The research will be conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of nursing interventions aimed at improving heart health in children. The study employs a pre-test post-test control group experimental design. The sample of the study consists of a total of 100 students, with 50 in the experimental group and 50 in the control group. The research will be conducted with students from two middle schools selected through simple random sampling method from Mamak district, Ankara province. Socio-demographic Data Collection Form and Cardiovascular Health Behavior Scale for Children will be used during the data collection process. A 5-week educational plan aimed at improving cardiovascular health behaviors will be implemented for the experimental group, while no intervention will be made for the control group. Research data will be analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 25.0 program. Continuous variables will be reported using mean (x̅) and standard deviation (SD), while number (n) and percentage (%) will be used for categorical variables. All tests will consider statistical significance at the level of p \< 0.05. For the study to be conducted, ethical approval will be obtained from the Ankara University Rectorate Ethics Committee, institutional permission will be obtained from the Ankara Provincial Directorate of National Education, and verbal consent from the included students and written consent from their parents will be obtained.

The IGNITE Study on Concentrated Investment in Black Neighborhoods

Black Americans in the US fare worse across nearly every health indicator compared to White individuals. In Philadelphia, the location of this study, these health disparities culminate in a stark longevity gap, with average life expectancies in poor, predominantly Black neighborhoods being 20 years lower than in nearby affluent, predominantly White neighborhoods. The investigators will conduct a cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) of a suite of place-based and financial-wellbeing interventions at the community, organization, and individual/household levels that address the social determinants of racial health disparities. At the community level, the investigators address underinvestment in Black neighborhoods by implementing vacant lot greening, abandoned house remediation, tree planting, and trash cleanup. At the organization level, the investigators partner with community-based financial empowerment providers to develop cross-organizational infrastructure to increase reach and maximize efficiency. At the individual/household levels, the investigators increase access to public benefits, financial counseling and tax preparation services, and emergency cash assistance. The investigators will test this "big push" intervention in 60 Black neighborhood microclusters, with a total of 720 adults. The investigators hypothesize that this "big push" intervention will have significant impact on overall health and wellbeing.

Health Ahead Comparative Effectiveness Study

The Health Ahead Comparative Effectiveness Study is a pragmatic, parallel-arm interventional platform that systematically compares successive changes to preventive health screening on the path toward a fully automated screening system deployable in any environment, including the most isolated and resource-limited communities. Each change is isolated as a single variable against current practice, and every comparison is evaluated with a common set of engagement, behavior-change, experience, cost, and longitudinal outcome measures, so results accumulate on a consistent yardstick across the life of the platform. The first comparison evaluates AI-assisted versus human-only interpretation ("reads") of screening data. Subsequent pre-planned comparisons, added by protocol amendment, evaluate static versus interactive personalized report delivery; mobile community versus fixed laboratory screening; and a hybrid medical-droid-plus-human delivery model versus human-only screening.

Personalized Health Self-Management Training for Colorectal Cancer Survivors

This is a Phase 2 prospective, randomized, controlled, double-arm study to assess personalized self-management training (PSMT) intervention efficacy and patient experiences compared to standardized self-management training (SSMT). A total of 120 gastrointestinal (GI) cancer patients will be enrolled and randomized 1:1 to complete a 6-week self-management training program (either PSMT or SSMT) to be carried out by licensed occupational therapists with doctoral training. This study aims to examine whether PSMT is more effective in increasing adherence to healthy behavior recommendations compared to SSMT in GI cancer patients.

Digitally Enhanced Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

Adolescent depression is a major public health problem. Depression affects adolescents' emotional well-being now and in the future, and it also affects their physical health, especially the risk for heart disease and other cardiovascular and metabolic health problems. In adolescents with depression and obesity, evidence-based programs for depression, like cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), might improve physical health, in part by supporting healthy behaviors such as physical activity, nutritious eating, and getting enough sleep. Our preliminary studies provide support for this overarching hypothesis. If adolescents have access to a digital app to support practicing CBT skills in between program sessions, it might especially help them to learn skills that help to feel better and be healthier in their day-to-day lives. We are tailoring a digital app for this purpose and we will make changes to the app based on feedback from adolescents, their parents, and their doctors. Once the app is well-liked and helpful, and works well as a support for taking part in CBT, we will randomly assign 60 adolescents with depression and overweight/obesity to either "CBT+" - a CBT group program plus the app, or "CBT-only" - the CBT group program only. We will pilot test whether this research is feasible, likeable, and credible, learning information that will inform a larger study to test of CBT+ can support emotional well-being, health behavior, and cardiovascular and metabolic health in adolescents.