Clinical Research to Improve Patient Care
Our research coordinators screen every new patient. If your child is eligible for a clinical trial or study, we’ll coordinate all appointments and follow-up care.
The Complex Obstructive Sleep Apnea Center is involved in a multi-center trial funded by the National Institutes of Health and led by Christine Heubi, MD, and David Smith, MD, PhD, to evaluate the effect of hypoglossal nerve stimulation on cognition and language in children with Down syndrome and obstructive sleep apnea. Additional studies include:
- The DOSA Study: Raouf Amin, MD, and his colleagues have received a multimillion-dollar grant awarded by the National Institutes of Health to conduct a clinical trial of oxygen to treat obstructive sleep apnea in children with Down syndrome.
- The APAP 21 Study: Neepa Gurbani, DO, Christine Heubi, MD, and colleagues are currently conducting a multicenter NIH-funded study looking at factors affecting adherence to continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) in children with Down syndrome.
- The Osamri Study: Alister Bates, PhD, and colleagues are currently studying how air moves through the airway and interacts with the anatomy. To accomplish this, moving MRI is used to help measure airflow.
The Complex Obstructive Sleep Apnea Center is also involved with a variety of research studies and clinical trials, including:
- Outcomes research for various treatments. This data helps us improve treatment plans and processes for future patients.
- Virtual surgeries with aerospace engineers. Aerospace engineers have expertise in airflow and develop virtual surgeries for OSA. We use these virtual surgeries to help determine if a patient will respond well to treatment.
- Clinical trials for new and existing OSA treatments. This may include using an existing treatment for a different diagnosis or patient population. Some research also looks at existing treatments and their long-term side effects.
- Ways to improve treatment compliance. We study how to help kids and families stick with treatments, such as continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy.
