Clinical Research Directory

Pilot Study of a Brain Health Program in Senior Centers

The investigators will evaluate a brain health programs in older adults with subjective cognitive decline. The primary aim of the study is to determine the credibility, expectancy, feasibility, acceptability, appropriateness, fidelity, and satisfaction of the program delivered in the senior centers.

Healthy Eating and Active Living (HEAL), Exploring Feasibility of a Lifestyle Intervention

Lifestyle interventions combining nutrition, physical activity, and behavioral strategies are increasingly recognized for improving metabolic and psychological health, yet their translation into real-world settings remains limited. Key implementation factors such as feasibility, adherence, intervention fidelity, and the integration of complex assessment modalities are often underreported, despite being essential for scaling and clinical application. The Healthy Eating and Active Living (HEAL) study is a prospective, single-arm feasibility trial evaluating a structured, multimodal lifestyle intervention within a university research environment. The 12-week program integrates supervised progressive resistance training and structured nutritional guidance, delivered through existing infrastructure including the Center for Brain and Health, the Public Health Research Center, on-campus fitness facilities, and digital dietary monitoring tools. The exercise component consists of twice-weekly supervised, machine-based resistance training with standardized progression, while the nutritional component includes four weeks of meal provision followed by guided self-management. Participants complete a multimodal assessment battery at baseline, post-intervention, and 12-week follow-up, including body composition, blood biomarkers, gut microbiome analysis, fitness testing, wearable-based activity and sleep monitoring, self-reported measures, and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The primary objective is to assess feasibility, including recruitment, retention, adherence, intervention fidelity, safety, acceptability, and data completeness. Secondary analyses explore pre-post changes in physiological, behavioral, and neuroimaging outcomes to inform future study design. The study is not powered to assess clinical efficacy. Findings will inform the design of larger trials and the application of the HEAL framework in clinical populations.

A Lifestyle Intervention to Reduce Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Individuals With Obsessive-compulsive Disorder

The overall aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of a lifestyle intervention to improve lifestyle habits and reduce cardiometabolic risk factors in individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

Identification and Characterization of At-risk MASLD in Turkish Adults

MASLD is with 25% the most prevalent liver disorder in Western society and is associated with overweight, obesity, metabolic syndrome (MetS), type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and cardiovascular diseases (CVD). MASLD is defined by a hepatic fat accumulation of more than 5% in the absence of classical causes of steatogenesis (e.g. alcohol and steatogenic drugs). It represents a broad spectrum of clinical entities from steatosis to advanced liver disease with hepatic failure. Most of the patients have simple steatosis, however in about 15-30% steatohepatitis (MASH) develops, which leads to an overall increase in morbidity and mortality due to the progression to fibrosis, cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Patients with MASLD have no or few, mainly specific symptoms; and generally there is a silent progression of simple steatosis to NASH and in the end liver-related morbidity and mortality. Despite the clinical importance and the potential impact on healthcare resources, the majority of MASLD patients are currently not detected due to the lack of non-invasive methods to diagnose MASLD. To date, the prevalance of MASLD in Turkey among subjects at risk, and its relation to common comorbidities such as obesity, T2DM and CVD is not clear. Therefore, identification of MASLD patients in this cohort will give information on the prevalence in the group of uncomplicated overweight and obesity and those with concomitant cardiometabolic diseases. By early detecting these patients at risk to develop progressive liver diseases and extrahepatic manifestations, it will be possible to intervene and improve health. Within this context, this study aims to detect prevalence of MASLD among risk groups. Also, the risk factors related to MASLD etiology and progression, such as overweight, obesity, T2DM, CVD, diet and physical activity will be studied to have a better understanding of their presumed causal relationship with MASLD. This study is designed to study the prevalence of and risk factors associated with MASLD in adult populations at-risk of MASLD. Participants will undergo liver assessments via vibration controlled transient elastography. Lifestyle, demographic, and biochemical data will be collected.

Exercise-Targeted Smart Lifestyle Management

To investigate the effects of simple dietary management and diet combined with exercise capacity-targeted intelligent lifestyle management on improving metabolic indicators in patients with overweight/obesity and metabolic syndrome.

MAFF-CRT: Reducing Sedentary Behaviour in Children

Children today spend many hours sitting at school and at home, often in front of screens. Prolonged sitting in childhood increases the risk of future health problems such as diabetes, heart disease and poor mental wellbeing. MAFF is a simple school-to-home programme that teaches short, practical movement breaks in the classroom and encourages families to repeat them together at home through structured weekly challenges. Over 12 weeks, we will compare classes using MAFF with classes continuing as usual to assess whether children sit less, move more and improve their wellbeing. If effective, MAFF will provide schools and communities with an easy-to-implement toolkit to promote healthier and more active families.

Pilot-Testing Real-Time Engagement for Learning to Effectively Control Type 2 Diabetes

The goal of this study is to pilot test features of a new smartphone app and to gather feedback related to wearing a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) and a Fitbit device, as well as to obtain input on health behavior-focused messages delivered through the app. The study will enroll English-speaking participants aged 16-24 years who were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes before age 18. Participants will be asked to fill out surveys about diabetes, physical activity, and diet before and after wearing a CGM for 30 days. At the end of wearing the CGM, participants will complete an interview about their experience.

Lifestyle and Its Association With Maintaining Health

This study is part of the LIFEHEALTH project and will be carried out in five Mediterranean European Union countries: Croatia, Greece, Italy, Slovenia, and Spain. The aim of this study is to assess adults' lifestyle habits and how they relate to their physical and mental health. Respondents in each country will be invited to complete an online questionnaire. The survey will ask about consumption of the Mediterranean diet, physical activity, sleep habits, stress perception, mental health, social relationships, and overall health. Each country will include about 500 participants to ensure a representative sample of adults living in Mediterranean regions.The questionnaire will be translated into local languages and participation is voluntary. Multiple linear or logistic regresion wil be used to assess relation between variables. These analyses will help identify which factors are most strongly linked to health outcomes. The results of this study will help researchers describe current lifestyle patterns in the Mediterranean population. They will also examine how different lifestyle habits are linked to physical and mental health. The findings may support public health initiatives and help plan future research to improve health and well-being.