Medical College of Wisconsin Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine Clinical Research

As an academic institution, the division of Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine is able to offer opportunities to participate in a variety of clinical trials. MCW faculty are engaged in a variety of clinical research trials conducted in collaboration with research networks and industry sponsored-trials.

Pulmonary Medicine Clinical Trials

What are clinical trials and why do people participate?
Ongoing clinical trials in Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine

What are clinical trials and why do people participate?

Clinical trials are part of clinical research and at the heart of all medical advances. Clinical trials look at new ways to prevent, detect, or treat disease. Treatments might be new drugs or new combinations of drugs, new surgical procedures or devices, or new ways to use existing treatments.

The goal of clinical trials is to determine if a new test or treatment works and is safe. Clinical trials can also look at other aspects of care, such as improving the quality of life for people with chronic illnesses.

People participate in clinical trials for a variety of reasons. Healthy volunteers say they participate to help others and to contribute to moving science forward. Participants with an illness or disease also participate to help others, but also to possibly receive the newest treatment and to have the additional care and attention from the clinical trial staff.

Clinical trials offer hope for many people and an opportunity to help researchers find better treatments for others in the future.

Ongoing clinical trials in Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine

Ongoing clinical and translational research studies in the Division focus on improving outcomes and quality of life in patients with cystic fibrosis, developing new approaches to pulmonary arterial hypertension, and improving the care provided to ICU patients and their families.

Current pharmaceutical trials include the areas of cystic fibrosis, pulmonary hypertension and interstitial lung disease. The cystic fibrosis clinical studies are aimed at improving airway hydration and breathing, reducing infections and inflammation, increasing weight thereby increasing quality of life and perhaps survival time. Our pulmonary arterial hypertension program conducts studies to extend survival and an in-process study for individuals with ILD/IPF looks at a potential medication’s likelihood of becoming standard of care with the same aim. We have also recently completed a study for critically ill patients with direct acute lung injury that aims to improve time to end of assisted breathing and survival time.

Listed below are a few of our enrolling studies. If you do not see a condition that you are interested in please contact us. We may have opportunities that are in the development phase or may consider your inquiry for future studies.

Cystic Fibrosis (CF)

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Step It Up CF

Closed.

Critical Care (CC)

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AVR-CPR

Title
Audiovisual tool use in the ICU, to impact the anxiety level of patients’ surrogates while deciding on Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation.

Study Purpose
To evaluate the impact of an audiovisual CPR tool on surrogate anxiety level using the HAM-A scale.

Primary Investigator: Tirsa M. Ferrer Marrero, MD
Subinvestigators: Jay Patel, MD

iPad Communication During Mechanical Ventilation

Title
Clinical & Translational Institute of Southeastern Wisconsin
A Randomized Controlled Trial of an iPad for Patient Communication during Mechanical Ventilation

Study Purpose
The primary objectives of this study are to evaluate whether use of an iPad improves a patient’s ability to communicate with their care team and family and also reduces feelings of anxiety and agitation.

Primary Investigator: Rahul Nanchal, MD, MS
Subinvestigators: Panna Codner, Terri deRoon Cassini, Jill Guttormson
Status: Open

MOF

Title
Clinical & Translational Science Institute of Southeast Wisconsin
Multiple Organ Failure (MOF) from Sepsis Causes Skeletal Muscle Mitochondrial (MT) Fragmentation and Dysfunction (MOF – MT Fray)

Study Purpose
The primary objective of this study is to characterize mt-fragmentation and mitochondrial function in clinical sepsis.

Primary Investigator: Rahul Nanchal, MD, MS
Subinvestigators: Elizabeth Jacobs, MD; Dominic Lee, MD; John Neilson, MD

SOS II

Title
SOS II
The Impact of Sarcopenic Obesity on Strength, Physical Functioning, and Pain Perception after Critical Illness

Study Purpose
The primary objective of this study is to correlate a novel method if interpreting CT scans of the abdomen with accepted measures of physical strength and pain perception.

Primary Investigator: Jayshil Patel, MD

Interventional Pulmonology

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RheSolve Clinical Study

Title

RheSolve Clinical Study for previous smokers with Chronic Bronchitis

Study Purpose

The RheOx RheSolve Trial is a double-blind, randomized, sham controlled study in COPD patients with moderate to severe chronic bronchitis. The trial is assessing the safety and efficacy of the RheOx System when used to treat the symptoms of chronic bronchitis. The primary efficacy endpoint is the change from baseline to 6 months in the COPD Assessment Test (CAT) score.

A total of 270 patients will be randomized in a 2:1 ratio to treatment or sham procedure at up to 40 US centers and up to 10 international centers. Patients will undergo the minimally invasive procedure in two sessions, approximately one month apart, and will then be followed for 24 months with just 3 in-person follow-up visits required. Patients in the control group will have the option to cross-over after 12 months.

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