There are about 10460 clinical studies being (or have been) conducted in Australia. The country of the clinical trial is determined by the location of where the clinical research is being studied. Most studies are often held in multiple locations & countries.
Electro convulsive therapy (ECT) remains the only established therapy for the large percentage of patients with depression who fail to respond to standard treatments. It is commonly used but has substantial problems including the occurrence of cognitive side effects that are often highly distressing for patients. The development of a new treatment with similar efficacy but which minimises these side effects would have great clinical value. One highly promising possibility is magnetic seizure therapy (MST). MST involves replacing the electrical stimulation used in ECT with a magnetic stimulus. This appears to be able to produce similar clinical effects but without the disabling cognitive side effects related to ECT. However, substantive trials using the newest MST equipment are required. Due to the rarity of the equipment available so far, these are only being undertaken in a handful of places internationally and no research with MST has occurred in Australia. The investigators are fortunate to have been able to obtain one of the very limited number of MST devices available internationally and are proposing a pilot study of this technique. Conduct of a successful pilot study would be strong justification for an application for a large head-to-head MST - ECT comparison trial. Should MST be shown to have similar efficacy to ECT but with reduced side-effects, it is envisioned that it could rapidly replace ECT in clinical practice throughout Australia and indeed internationally with substantial ongoing benefits to patients. These would include enhanced use of it as an outpatient therapy as well as the reduction in side-effects. The study will be an open label trial of MST in 15 patients with treatment resistant depression who have been referred for ECT. All patients will undergo a dose titration procedure to establish seizure threshold, six MST treatment sessions will then be provided at 120% of threshold. If the patients have not achieved a 50% reduction in their depressive symptoms (as measured by the Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale rating scale) patients will receive another 12 sessions. MST will be administered three times a week. Patients will undergo a series of assessments to determine both the efficacy of MST and the cognitive outcomes. The primary outcome measure will be the MADRS measure of depression severity. The investigators will additionally measure patient rated depression severity and cognitive functioning The overall aim of the current project is to, via an open label pilot trial, investigate the clinical response to magnetic seizure therapy in patients with treatment resistant depression who have been referred for electroconvulsive therapy.
Theory of mind (ToM) refers to the ability to infer others mental states. It includes a recognition that other individuals experience thoughts, feelings, intentions, and desires that may be different to our own. ToM is often impaired among individuals with an autism spectrum disorder (such as autism and Asperger's disorder), and may underlie aspects of social dysfunction in this population. Indeed, it has been suggested that impaired ToM is the core deficit of autism and Asperger's disorder. Imaging studies suggest that the bilateral medial prefrontal cortex, the most important brain region in ToM processing, is underactive in autism. The current study examines whether repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to the bilateral medial prefrontal cortex can modulate ToM ability among healthy adults, and improve ToM ability among adults with autism or Asperger's disorder. With the prevalence of autism increasing, there is a clear need to develop appropriate therapeutic interventions to improve social functioning. This study involves a double-blind study using high-frequency rTMS in an attempt to improve ToM among adults with either autism or Asperger's disorder. Theory of mind will be measured using behavioural tasks that require the participant to infer what someone is thinking or feeling by observing their behaviour. These tasks will administered both before and after rTMS to determine whether any change in theory of mind has occurred. Thirty adults with either autism (n = 15) or Asperger's disorder (n = 15) will initially undergo functional and structural MRI to determine the site on the scalp that lies over the medial prefrontal cortex (to which rTMS will be administered). They will then attend our lab each consecutive weekday for a two-week period, during which they will 15 minutes high-frequency (5 Hz) rTMS (either active or sham) to the medial prefrontal cortex. ToM and clinical measures will be collected before the first session, soon after the last session, and one month after the last session. Based on prior imaging data, it is expected that high-frequency rTMS (compared with sham rTMS) to the medial prefrontal cortex will improve ToM ability and reduce social dysfunction among adults with autism or Asperger's disorder. Should these hypotheses be supported, it will indicate the suitability of rTMS as a neurobiological intervention designed to improve ToM and social function among individuals with autism and related disorders.
The purpose of this research study is to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of this investigational drug for the treatment of menopausal symptoms while protecting the endometrium (uterine lining) and preventing postmenopausal osteoporosis. Subject participation will last approximately 14.5 months.
The purposes of this study are: 1. To evaluate the long-term safety of dabigatran etexilate 2. To assess the effect of a knowledge translation intervention on patient outcomes
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of an investigational meningococcal B rLP2086 vaccine in adolescents aged 11 to 18 years old.
This 3 arm study will evaluate the efficacy and safety of adding Avastin versus placebo to a standard chemotherapeutic regimen in patients with advanced or recurrent non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have not received prior chemotherapy. The anticipated time of study treatment is until disease progression, and the target sample size is 500+ individuals.
The trial will be performed to evaluate if BIBF 1120 in combination with standard pemetrexed therapy is more effective than placebo (inactive capsule) plus standard pemetrexed therapy in patients with stage IIIB, IV or recurrent NSCLC. Safety information about BIBF1120/pemetrexed will be obtained.
This study is designed to evaluate the long-term safety and tolerability of the subcutaneous (SC) injection form of N-methylnaltrexone bromide (MOA-728) for the treatment of opioid-induced constipation in participants with nonmalignant pain. The study consists of a 2-week screening period, a 48-week open-label treatment period and a 2 week follow-up period. Participants will need to agree to self-administer SC injections, complete daily diaries, and check-in via a daily telephone call during the study.
Seven-month study in pediatric patients (2-11 years) with moderate to severe AD who were considered to benefit from vaccination to prevent invasive disease caused by Neisseria meningitides serogroup C.
This 7 cohort study will evaluate the efficacy and safety of combination treatment with an HCV nucleoside polymerase inhibitor(RO5024048)and an HCV protease inhibitor(RO5190591/ITMN-191/danoprevir) in patients with chronic hepatitis C, genotype 1.Cohorts A,B,C,D and G will be treatment-naive patients, cohort E will be treatment-experienced excluding null responders, and cohort F will be null responders. Cohorts A and B will evaluate doses of 500mg po bid RO5024048 and 100mg po q8h RO5190591, alone or in combination, for up to 7 or 14 days. Cohort C will evaluate combination treatment with either 1000mg po bid RO5024048 and 100mg q8h RO5190591 or 500mg po bid RO5024048 and 200mg q8h RO5190591 for 14 days. Cohort D will evaluate 1000mg po bid RO5024048 and 200mg q8h RO5190591 for 14 days.Cohort E will evaluate 1000mg RO5024048/600mg RO5190591 po twice daily for 14 days, and Cohorts F and G will evaluate 1000mg RO5024048/900mg RO5190591 po twice daily for 14 days. Cohorts will be tested sequentially or in parallel, if supported by appropriate safety and pharmacokinetic data.Following the last dose of study medication patients have the option of continuing treatment with Standard of care therapies. The anticipated time on study treatment is <3 months, and the target sample size is <100 individuals.