Gastroenterology – Clinical Research

There are over 20 active clinical research projects in the Division of Gastroenterology. Almost all the projects involve trainees, including GI fellows, medical residents, and medical students. Research is facilitated by a full-time clinical research supervisor, who is available to assist with protocol design and regulatory processes, such as IRB submission, compliance, and financial management.

Current projects include:

• IBD

  • OSCCAR: Ocean State Crohn’s and Colitis Area Registry (J. Shapiro)
  • Dysplasia Screening in IBD Patients >75 years: Should we pursue it or not? (S. Fine)
  • Low Molecular Weight Heparin VS Unfractionated Heparin for VTE Prophylaxis in Hospitalized IBD patients (S. Fine)
  • Determining the Utility of a Basic and Extended Stool Pathogen Testing Panel for Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (A. Rupawala)
  • Suicide Rates and Risk Factors in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Diseases: A Nationwide Retrospective Analysis (S. Shah)

• Hepatology

  • A Multicenter, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Phase III Study to Evaluate the Efficacy and Safety of Elafibranor in Patients with Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH) and fibrosis (K. Promrat)
  • Determining the clinical significance of liver nodularity noted incidentally on lung CT screening (K. Promrat)
  • A Novel Assay to Screen for Patients at Risk with NASH (Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis) (J. Wands)
  • Biomarker for the Early Diagnosis, prediction of reoccurrence of Pancreatic Cancer, and Hepatocellular Cancer (J. Wands)
  • Biomarker for the Early Diagnosis of Pancreatic and Colorectal Cancer and Potential monitor for Response to Therapy (J. Wands)

• Endoscopy

  • Metoclopramide, Azithromycin, or Nondrug Pretreatment for Upper Gastrointestinal Bleeding to Reduce Second Endoscopy (S. Fine)
  • Spray Cryotherapy Patient Registry (F. Habr)
  • Clinical psychiatric characteristics of patients undergoing moderate sedation and anesthesia assisted deep sedation for gastrointestinal procedures (H. Rich)
  • Human-Assisted Deep Learning for Capsule Endoscopy (H. Rich)
  • Quality Improvement of Endoscopic Ultrasound at Rhode Island Hospital (S. Hyder)

• C. difficile

  • PRISM 3: A Multicenter, Double-Blind, Parallel-Arm, Placebo-Controlled, Phase 2 Study of the Efficacy, Safety, and Tolerability of Oral Full-Spectrum Microbiota™ (CP101) in Subjects with Recurrence of Clostridium difficile Infection (C. Kelly)
  • PRISM-EXT: An Open-Label Extension of CP101 Trials Evaluating Oral Full-Spectrum Microbiota™ (CP101) in Subjects with Recurrence of Clostridium difficile Infection (C. Kelly)
  • The ICON Study: Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Recurrent Clostridium difficile Infection: Outcomes after Fecal Microbiota Transplantation (C. Kelly)
  • A Randomized Controlled Trial to compare the effectiveness of Fecal Microbiota Transplantation (FMT) in combination with Bezlotoxumab compared to FMT and placebo for the prevention of CDI recurrence in patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Recurrent Clostridium difficile Infection (C. Kelly)

• Other

  • Etiology and Outcomes of Obstructive Jaundice in Zambia, Southern Africa: A multi-center prospective cohort study (A. Asombang)
  • Molecular Diagnostic Testing For Antibiotic Resistance In H. pylori Infection (S. Moss)
  • Demographics and Diversity of Graduate Medical Education Leadership and Trainees (S. Moss)
  • Determining the clinical significance of esophageal thickening noted incidentally on lung CT screening (S. Moss)