Clinicians in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at St. Luke’s and Roosevelt Hospitals are actively engaged in a variety of clinical research projects targeting mental health, substance abuse, and other behavioral health problems in both adults and children.  Many of these research studies are funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), other federal agencies, pharmaceutical company and foundation grants and thus are able to offer patients free or limited fee care for specific problems in exchange for their research participation.  Because research projects are time-limited, available studies will vary depending on when a patient wants to participate.  Also, as each study has specific rules about who can or cannot participate, even patients who may want to enroll may not be able to participate.  Therefore, it is important for patients to check the website to determine if any studies they are interested in and likely would qualify for are either active or soon will begin. 

Treatment
As most of our research studies are ‘clinical’ studies, treatment is often available to patients who choose to enroll.  This includes new or state-of-the-art interventions that are still being tested as well as established treatments that are tried in new populations.  Before a patient enrolls in a research project, a staff member will review the study’s goals, the pros and cons of participating, and the burden associated with being a participant (such as time commitment).   All participants must sign an “informed consent form” prior to beginning the study.  It is important to recognize that participation in a research study is strictly voluntary and failure to participate will not affect a patient’s routine medical care; however, some treatments may not be available other than through the research study.

Because the treatments are being delivered within the context of research projects, patients may be “randomly assigned” to various treatment options.  This means they may or may not get the treatment of their choice.  In addition, participants in clinical trials often are required to provide information to the researchers on a regular basis by completing questionnaires or giving blood or urine samples.  Patients may or may not be compensated for the time they spend completing research measures and providing samples.

The Research Team
Depending on the study selected, the research team will vary.  However, all research projects have a Principal Investigator (PI) who is responsible for the project and many also have a research coordinator, research assistant, study physician, study nurse, and/or study therapists.  Treatment personnel are licensed medical and mental health professionals who have special training in the research treatments and advanced trainees who are working alongside and are supervised by the research faculty.   

Program Location and Hours of Operation
While the various research projects are located throughout St. Luke’s and Roosevelt Hospitals as well as in the community, the administrative offices of the Division of Clinical Research are located at St. Luke’s Hospital in the Behavioral Science Research Unit (BSRU).  A Research Administrative Assistant is available to take calls, answer questions, and direct patients to studies from 9 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday.  Please contact us at (212) 523-5232.

Current Research Projects as 6/4/2010
Research_CTN0037.html

TITLE	FUNDING SOURCE	PI
Adolescent Screening, Assessment, and Treatment (ASAT)	Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT)/Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)	Philip Clemmey, MD
PRO-806 A Randomized, Placebo and Active-Controlled, Multi-Center Study of Probuphine® in Patients with Opioid Dependence	Titan Pharmaceuticals, Inc.	Richard N. Rosenthal, MD
Biological Prediction of Psychosis Susceptibility Among Adolescent Cannabis Users	National Institute of Health (NIH)	Richard N Rosenthal, MD
Female Focused Treatment for Domestic Violence and Alcohol Abuse	Donaghue Medical Research Foundation	Peggilee Wupperman, Ph.D
Healing Emotions and Achieving Resilience to Traumatic Stress	Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA)/Beth Israel Medical Center (subcontract)	Dominique Morisano, Ph.D
MRI of Infants Exposed Prenatally to Drugs of Abuse (Babies Study)	National Institute of Drug Abuse	Deborah Haller, PhD
CTN0037;U10 DA 13035-08: “Stimulant Reduction Intervention Using Dosed Exercise (STRIDE)”	National Institute of Drug Abuse, Clinical Trails Network/RFMH (subcontract)	Deborah Haller, Ph.D Paul Rinaldi, Ph.D
Clinical and Biomarker Assessment of Efficacy of Cognitive Remediation in Patients with Schizophrenia Stabilized on Lurasidone	Sepracor Inc.	Zafar Sharif, MD