Research & Clinical Trials
If you would like to learn more about participating in a research study or clinical trial, you may find our list of frequently asked questions (FAQ) helpful. If you have a question not addressed on our FAQ list, you may email us at research@memorialhermann.org.
 = Open to Enrollment |
Principal Investigator: Brenda Morris, M.D.
This multi-center trial compares aggressive or conservative phototherapy (exposure to light) in randomly selected extremely low birth weight (ELBW) infants. Aggressive phototherapy is started at enrollment, 12 to 36 hours after birth. Conservative phototherapy is started when the total serum bilirubin reaches a designated level dependent on birth weight
Principal Investigator: Nehal Parikh, M.D.
Researchers are evaluating the effects of a seven-day course of low-dose hydrocortisone on total volume of brain tissue in randomly selected extremely low birth weight infants at high risk for bronchopulmonary dysplasia, a serious lung condition that affects infants, and central nervous system impairments. They aim to determine if participants who receive hydrocortisone will demonstrate an increase in total brain tissue in comparison to those who receive a placebo.
|
|
| Principal Investigator: Nehal Parikh, M.D. |
Researchers are evaluating the safety and feasibility of using a novel MRI-compatible neonatal transporter, called Nomag 3.01C, in very preterm infants. They hope to obtain pilot data to help them develop simple bedside tests to diagnose acute brain injury.
Principal Investigator: James Murphy, Ph.D.
This study is designed to improve the way doctors detect infection in newborns by examining cell samples taken from infants on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).
|
|
| Principal Investigator: Kathleen Kennedy, M.D. |
Researchers are evaluating the amplitude-integrated electroencephalogram (aEEG) as a potential tool to study brain injury in extremely premature infants. They hypothesize that aEEG results recorded in infants with birth weights of 1,000 grams or a gestational age of less than 29 weeks can predict death and/or neurodevelopmental impairment at the age of 18 to 22 months. Widely used for monitoring of anesthesia during surgery in adults, the aEEG is a simplified, continuous EEG that provides an overall look at brain activity.
Principal Investigator: Jon Tyson, M.D.
In this study, investigators are looking for the best way to quickly diagnosis Candida (yeast) infections in very premature babies.
Principal Investigator: Jon Tyson, M.D.
This study extends the current National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Neonatal Research Network surveillance system to include the bacteria E. coli and Group B streptococci (GBS). Researchers are studying characteristics of samples gathered and, when possible, linking them to data gathered from patients. This approach could provide the foundation for better preventive care and management of E. coli and GBS early-onset sepsis.
|
|
| Principal Investigator: Nehal Parikh, M.D. |
This pilot study is using a novel advanced MRI technology (diffusion tensor imaging) to determine if abnormalities in water diffusion in a sensitive area of the brain can predict neurodevelopmental problems at 18 to 22 months corrected age in very preterm low birth weight infants. Up to half of all such preterm infants are at risk for developing neurodevelopmental deficits such as cerebral palsy, mental delay, blindness and deafness.
|
|
| Principal Investigator: Nehal Parikh, M.D. |
Can induced hypothermia (cooling of the body) reduce the incidence of death or disability at 18 months of age in infants with moderate to severe signs of birth asphyxia? A condition marked by a severely deficient supply of oxygen, birth asphyxia is also called hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. Researchers are starting cooling between 6 and 24 hours of age and continuing it for 96 hours in infants greater than 36 weeks gestation.
|
|
| Principal Investigator: Kathleen Kennedy, M.D. |
This study is determining the safety and effectiveness of the drug fluconazole for the prevention of yeast infection or thrush, also known as candidiasis, in infants with a birth weight of less than 750 grams.
|
|
| Principal Investigator: M. Terese Verklan, Ph.D., R.N.C. |
This trial is focused on the natural history of how the autonomic nervous system matures. Investigators are documenting heart rate variability in neonates with congenital heart anomalies in the first two weeks after birth.
|
|
| Principal Investigator: Kathleen Kennedy, M.D. |
The researchers propose that critically ill newborn infants are susceptible to a temporary adrenal insufficiency due to hormonal changes that take place during transition to life outside the uterus. They believe that treating the insufficiency with the drug hydrocortisone will result in improvements in blood pressure, improved heart function and better overall long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes.
|
|
| Principal Investigator: Helen Mintz-Hittner, M.D. |
Researchers are comparing two standard-of-care treatments, bevacizumab (Avastin) injections into the vitreous of the eye versus laser therapy, in an effort to prevent blindness due to retinopathy of prematurity (ROP).
|
|
| Principal Investigator: Jon Tyson, M.D. |
This study is a long-term follow-up program for all infants weighing between 401 and 1,000 grams at birth who are admitted to the NICU of participating centers after January 1, 1993, and who are part of the Generic Database. An assessment, which includes all aspects of growth and development, will be undertaken for all infants at 18+4 months corrected age based on best estimates by the mothers’ obstetricians.
Principal Investigator: Charles Cox, M.D.
Researchers are completing a retrospective chart review of 3 infants treated at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital, all of whom were diagnosed with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (perinatal asphyxia caused by severe lack of oxygen). The infants being studied received hypothermia (cooling of the body) treatment and subsequently required ECMO.
Principal Investigator: Nehal Parikh, M.D.
|
|
| Principal Investigator: Nathan Bryan, Ph.D. |
This study is measuring the levels of nitrite and nitrate in human breast milk and colostrum, which is produced in late pregnancy and delivers its nutrients in a very concentrated, low-volume form. Researchers believe that breast milk contains higher amounts of nitric oxide metabolites (a substance essential to metabolism) and that these metabolites provide benefit to infants that baby formulas lack. Through this trial, they hope to understand the benefits of breast milk over formula as it relates to infant development.
Principal Investigator: Cody Arnold, M.D.
A quality improvement project, this retrospective chart review is designed to determine if using nutritional interventions differently will improve the nutrition and growth of very low birth weight (VLBW) infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).
|
|
| Principal Investigator: Patricia Evans, M.D. |
In this randomized, controlled trial, researchers are assessing if paying for parking or transportation for parents of extremely low birth weight infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) will reduce the length of hospitalization.
Principal Investigator: Patricia Evans, M.D.
Assessing the prevalence of depression among mothers of infants in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit is the focus of this observational study. Researchers are also evaluating the effect of the mother’s depression on the infant’s neurological development.
|
|
| Principal Investigator: Angela Stotts, Ph.D. |
Participants in this study will be asked to complete a verbal interview with a research assistant, fill out a questionnaire and allow a breath sample to be taken to measure carbon monoxide levels in their body. They will be randomly selected to participate in one of three groups: an “intervention” group will meet with a trained counselor while visiting the NICU twice over a two-week period regarding their household smoking practices; a “usual care” group will receive written information on secondary smoke and infant health; and another “usual care” group will receive the same information but be measured less often. Participants in groups 2 and 3 will also be invited to participate in follow-up meetings scheduled in their homes at their convenience at one, three and six months after discharge from the NICU.
Principal Investigator: Nehal Parikh, M.D.
Researchers are following 100 ELBW infants at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital from birth until their two-year follow-up neurodevelopmental evaluation. They hypothesize that among ELBW infants, a reduced combined volume of the brain’s subcortical gray matter and cortical white matter assessed near or at term predicts neurosensory impairment at 8 months or older adjusted age.
Principal Investigator: Eric Thomas, M.D., M.P.H.
Researchers are adapting the aviation model of teamwork and error to NICU teams by conducting focus groups with NICU personnel and analyzing videotapes of preterm infants recorded during two critical periods of life. They are using the data gathered from this information to improve care.
Principal Investigator: Charles Friedman, M.D.
Researchers are determining if a relationship exists between docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) concentrations in cord serum and red blood cells and neonatal outcomes of intraventricular hemorrhage (IVL), periventricular leukomalacia (PVL) and diffuse white matter disease of the brain.
Principal Investigator: Kathleen Kennedy, M.D.
Investigators in the SUPPORT trial are testing the hypothesis that putting infants on ventilators with oxygen support does not cause an increase in rates of death or brain injury, or in periventricular leukomalacia, at the fetal age of 35 to 42 weeks.