ResearchAbility – July 2024

dark purple background image with a photo of a red clipboard sitting on a wooden surface holding white paper with text "Least Restrictive Environment," on the right of the image. The first letter of each word is capitalized and red. Wire-rimmed glasses are set on the left of the clipboard in the photo. Below the photo is a yellow ribbon shape that flows from left to right of the image. On the top right side of the image is a white semi-circluar shape that has Pathfinder's branded graphic on it. On the left of the image is text, "RESEARCH ABILITY," with a graphic of the disability symbol of a person in a wheelchair on its right. Below is a list in yellow and white check bullets that say, "Observation Surveys Interviews Focus Groups Experiments Analysis Mixed Methods."

Research is a key component for making new discoveries and improving the lives of people with disabilities. It can also provide participants insight and support regarding their conditions, especially when there is a gap in services. Here are a few studies that may be of interest.

Speech Movements Study

The Speech Kinematics and Acoustics Lab at Vanderbilt University Medical Center is currently looking for female volunteers to serve as control speakers in research that investigates speech movements.

This project investigates why speech is often difficult to understand in people with neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, Multiple Sclerosis, Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS), and Huntington’s disease. Specifically, we seek to better understand the nature of neurologic speech impairments and how to best treat it in therapeutic interventions.

Participation involves a one-time visit that lasts about 2 hours. Compensation is provided.

A phone screening will be conducted to determine eligibility.

If you are interested in participating please contact mefferdlab@vumc.org for more information.

Diagnostic PET Imaging Study

The Vanderbilt Coordinating Center and Dr. Adam Rosenberg are looking for healthy males and female volunteers to participate in a clinical study for new investigational diagnostic imaging agents. Please review the following information and contact the VCC with any questions. Thank you for your interest in this study.

Participant Criteria:
• Healthy adult
• Age 18+
• BMI >18 and <35 kg/m2
• No history of chronic medical illness or symptoms of active illness
• No Surgery within 8 weeks prior to enrollment or a surgery scheduled during study

Research Study Description:
The study consists of 3 visits. The main study visit lasts 8-9 hours. Total study length is about 28 days. This study is designed to assess the safety of 2 medications used as tracers to measure a type of immune cell in the body that can tell us how someone with cancer may respond to certain treatments. The purpose of this study is to look at the safety of these study drugs and to learn more about the amount of radiation in certain regions in your body after getting these study drugs. Study participation will include several blood draws and urine samples, ECGs of the heart, 3 PET scans after the administration of the 2 study drugs. Compensation

Details: Participants will be compensated up to $550 for their time upon completion of the entire study as follows:

Contact Information:
Email: VCC@vumc.org
Phone Number: 615-343-8010

Parent-Child Play Study for Preschoolers and their Caregivers

Help us learn about how preschoolers and their caregivers play together! Preschoolers (3-5 years old) and their caregiver are invited to participate in play sessions at Vanderbilt involving toys, stories, art, and/or songs.

Participants will be asked to:
• Complete questionnaires about themselves and their child.
• Participate in play, art, and/or music activities with their child.
• Children will be invited to watch movies involving people talking and singing.

Participant Criteria
Preschoolers ages 4-5 years and their parents. Participants must have primarily English language exposure.

Compensation
Up to $25 in gift cards.

Visit Requirements
1 study visit at Vanderbilt

Contact Information
Email: SocialMusicResearch@vumc.org
Call/Text: 615-576-0320

Social Relationships of Teenagers

Research Study Description:
The purpose of this study is to better understand the social relationships of teenagers. We want to understand how teen’s thinking skills, stress, emotions, and coping behaviors are related to the quality of important family and friend relationships. Participating in this study involves children and parents completing an in-person study visit at Vanderbilt University Medical Center that involves surveys, thinking and learning tasks, a videotaped parent-child conversation, and computer tasks while eye movements are recorded. The entire visit takes about 3 to 4 hours.

Compensation Details: Teens will be compensated $70 and parents $50 for completing all assessments.

Interest Form & Eligibility Questions:
Interested parents can complete a brief screening and interest form through Redcap at this link.

Contact Information:
Email: k.watson@vumc.org
Phone: 615-875-0743 Kelly Watson, PhD Assistant Professor of Neurology Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Adolescent Reading Comprehension Study

Looking for:
Children ages 10-12, with or without reading disabilities, who are native English monolingual speakers

Description:
This research is being done to examine how text features like genre interact with brain networks to predict reading comprehension success or failure in adolescents.

The study includes:
· Initial eligibility screening via phone call or REDCap survey
· Assessment of academic and cognitive skills
· A practice MRI scan and 2 real MRI scans of the brain
· Parent surveys about your child’s development, learning, and behavior completed while your child participates in study activities
· Optional: child saliva sample collection

Compensation (via gift cards):
E-gift card for $125 for testing and $75 for each MRI scan

Complete the eligibility screening online by visiting:https://redcap.link/m2wp3y8t

For more information, contact us at: 615-875-5534 or EducationBrain@vanderbilt.edu
Principal Investigator: Laurie Cutting, PhD Education and Brain Sciences Research Laboratory Department of Special Education at Vanderbilt University

Study is sponsored by the National Institute of Child Health & Human Development, National Institutes of Health.

Aging Adults with Depression Study

You can help with this important study examining whether an investigational medication can improve depression and memory problems in older adults with depression.

You may be eligible for this study if you:
• Are 60 years old or older
• Are currently experiencing symptoms of depression
• Feel like you are thinking or moving slowly
• Are not currently taking a medication for the treatment of depression OR are willing to stop taking prescribed depression medications with the guidance of a study doctor
• Do not have a diagnosis of bipolar disorder or manic-depressive illness
• Do not have a history of alcohol or substance abuse in the last year

This study involves 7-8 visits and 4 phone or video calls over a period 8-10 weeks, a psychiatric assessment, a physical assessment, memory testing, gait (walk) testing, one blood draw, brain scans (2 MRIs and 1 PET scan), and study medication.

In appreciation of time spent and participation in the study, participants will receive up to $925.

If you are interested in hearing more about this study and possibly participating, please contact Catherine at (615) 936-0214 or email: catherine.n.conway@vumc.org.