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Hello current and future volunteers! We hope the “Participating in NIH Research” newsletter will be interesting and helpful for all of you. This issue provides insight into the world of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), offers lots of good medical information, and also profiles some of the studies that are currently enrolling patients.
The “Participating in NIH Research” newsletter includes information about both healthy volunteer and patient studies. No matter if you have a pre-existing health condition or if you are interested in becoming a healthy volunteer, this newsletter is for you!
Study for Healthy Children
Study Number: 06-CH-0141
Is your child a healthy 7–11 year old? Are you interested in how active they are and how much energy they use? If you answered yes to these questions, your child may be eligible to participate in a National Institutes of Health (NIH) research study. This study seeks normal weight and overweight boys and girls. This study will test how non-exercise activity thermogenesis (fidgeting) can affect energy balance in lean and overweight children. Children and a parent will be asked to stay overnight for studies.
Ovarian Function Study
Study Number: 00-CH-0189
Are you a healthy female ages 18–25? If so, please consider participating in a National Institutes of Health research study. This is a study about how the ovaries function. It is hoped that this information will be used to develop a test that will help physicians discover ovarian dysfunction early in a woman’s life. Women who are non-smokers and not currently using birth control, which includes the pill, patch, or injection, may be eligible to participate.
Weight Loss Study
Study Number: 06-DK-0183
Researchers are seeking healthy individuals to participate in a weight loss study. The study will examine the release of inflammatory products and the activation of genes in overweight subjects compared to non-overweight subjects, thus contributing to a more basic understanding of fat tissue metabolism. Research participants may be non-overweight or overweight adults ages 25–45, who are physically healthy and committed to weight loss by participating in a dietary program.
Genetic and Brain Function Study
Study Number: 95-M-0150
Are you 18–55 years old? Consider participating in a research study examining genes and brain function. The National Institute of Mental Health seeks healthy volunteers to participate in a study examining genes and brain function. Participation involves a blood draw and non-invasive neuroimaging, interviews, and cognitive testing. No overnight stays or medications are involved.
Sickle Cell Anemia Study
Study Number: 05-CC-0154
Doctors at the NIH are trying to find out more about heart disease in sickle cell anemia (SCA) and especially why people with SCA die suddenly. This will be done by examining the participants, performing laboratory tests on their blood and by looking at the stiffness of the heart. The tests in this study should help us find out what happens to the heart in SCA. All study-related tests are provided at no cost to the participant. All test results will be given to the participant. Compensation is provided to participants.
Osteoarthritis Study for Men
Study Number: 04-AT-0239
Researchers at the NIH are investigating the effects of chronic pain due to osteoarthritis and the effects of opioid and placebo medications on stress and sex hormones in men. Participants will come to the NIH Clinical Center for two overnight visits and two same-day visits. If you are a male who is 30 to 65 years of age, have pain 5 to 7 days a week in a major joint or in the spine for at least 3 months, and are not allergic to morphine, please consider participating in this study. All study related tests and medications are provided at no cost. Compensation is provided.
Sleep and Weight Study
Study Number: 06-DK-0036
The goal of this study is to understand the relationship between chronic sleep deprivation and health, including body weight and hormones. If you are obese with a body mass index between 30 and 50, a man or a woman, ages 22–50, and you usually sleep less than 6 hours per night, but do not have chronic insomnia, you may consider participating in this 12 month study. Compensation is provided.
Allergy Clinic for Children
Study Number: 05-I-0084
Physicians at the NIH are conducting a research study to learn more about allergies. This study will evaluate children with different allergies in order to learn more about their diseases and to gain information that may be useful in developing new treatments. Standard care for allergic diseases will be provided at no cost to the patient. Children 6 months to 18 years of age who have a diagnosis of asthma, allergic rhinitis, food, drug or bee venom allergy, hives, or atopic dermatitis may participate. A physician referral is required. After the initial visit, follow up visits will range from every month to every 3 to 6 months. There is no charge for study related tests or treatment.
Search for more clinical trials at http://clinicalstudies.info.nih.gov. If you are looking for a specific type of clinical trial, type the diagnosis or disease name into the search box. If you are looking for Healthy Volunteer opportunities, please type the word “Healthy.”
All NIH studies are conducted in Bethesda, MD just 9 miles north of Washington DC and conveniently located on the metro’s red line. Compensation is provided for the healthy volunteer studies featured above.
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 Dr. Lynnette Nieman is a Senior Investigator, Associate Director of the Inter-Institute Endocrinology Training Program, NICHD-NIDDK and Chief of the Endocrinology Consultation Service at the Clinical Center. Dr. Nieman graduated cum laude in 1974 from Smith College and earned her M.D. degree at the State University of New York at Buffalo Medical School in 1978. She stayed on at the SUNYAB affiliated hospitals to complete her internship, residency, and a chief residency position in internal medicine. She also spent a year as an endocrine fellow before joining NICHD as a medical staff fellow in 1982. From 1991 to 2001 Dr. Nieman served as the NICHD Clinical Director, overseeing the clinical care of the institute’s patients and ensuring compliance with regulations regarding human subject research. Dr. Nieman is also an active clinical investigator, with special expertise in disorders of hypercortisolism and the development of antiprogestins as therapeutic agents. She is the author or co-author of more than 190 publications and has sponsored three investigational new drug applications to the FDA.
Q: What is the primary focus of your research?
A: My work focuses primarily on studying fibroids, female reproductive disorders, and also Cushing’s syndrome and other problems with the hormone cortisol. Cushing's syndrome is a disorder caused by prolonged exposure of the body's tissues to high levels of cortisol. Not only am I studying how to diagnose and cure this disease, but also how to improve the quality of life of those who have suffered from Cushing’s in the past.
Q: Do you work mostly with adults or kids?
A: Even though my research is done through the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, I work mostly with adults. My patients are usually from 18–70 years old.
Q: How long have you been working with healthy volunteers in your studies? How many each year?
A: I began working with healthy volunteers in 1983 and have seen up to 60 healthy volunteers every year. I think that it’s so important to work with healthy volunteers because unless you look at how something affects a healthy person, you have no idea how accurate your diagnostic tests or other research results really are.
Q: What is your motivation regarding research?
A: I am motivated simply by being able to help the patients. When someone comes to me with a problem and I am able to determine their condition or identify their tumor, as a result of our research, it is very rewarding. Those are the kind of things that really keep me going.
Q: What is something that you enjoy about working here at the NIH?
A: What I love about the NIH is that it is a unique entity found nowhere else in the world. As a center of excellence and the nation’s largest research hospital, you can study healthy people as well as diseases in a way that wouldn’t be possible anywhere else in the world, and you can also study patients for an extended period of time.
Q: What is the most important lesson that your patients have taught you?
A: To pay attention to them and to really listen. Patients can provide a lot of information that can help investigators make major breakthroughs in their research. By learning to listen, I have been able to modify misconceptions and change the way I look at my research.
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The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the federal government’s biomedical research agency and one of the world’s leading medical research organizations. The NIH Clinical Center is the research hospital located on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland. Currently, there are about 1000 studies being conducted on common and rare diseases. The Patient Recruitment and Public Liaison Office (PRPL) is part of the NIH Clinical Center. PRPL staff members assist patients, their families, and physicians by providing information about participating in research studies being conducted at the Clinical Center.
For More Information About Participating in Clinical Research at the NIH Clinical Center
Phone: 1-866-444-6676
TTY: 1-866-411-1010 (toll free)
E-mail: prpl@mail.cc.nih.gov
Web: clinicalstudies.info.nih.gov
Se habla español
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| The NIH’s First Encounter with the AIDS Virus |
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What does a new and deadly epidemic look like? The first two AIDS patients admitted to the NIH research hospital arrived six months apart – in June 1981 and in January 1982 – but many more filled beds soon thereafter. In the early years, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases recalls, it “was like living in an intensive care unit all day long.” The patients were very sick, and despite the best efforts of NIH’s dedicated doctors and nurses, most patients eventually died. There was much to learn about the new disease and much to learn about the community hard-hit by the first wave of the epidemic, gay men.
NIH physician-scientists, intellectually and emotionally challenged by this disease that ravaged the immune system, spent long hours conducting studies to better understand the illness and devise ways to treat it. Nurses took on new roles, gathering data for the studies and educating their colleagues nationwide. Everyone agreed that the best way to protect themselves against the unknown disease was by sharing information as soon as it became available. The NIH health care team wanted to make a difference in the lives of their patients and, through their research, to all AIDS patients worldwide. For more information about NIH’s AIDS research today, please visit http://www.aidsinfo.nih.gov/.
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