Brisdelle

Women Veterans are the fastest growing segment of VA users, with most users in midlife. This dramatic growth has created challenges for VA to ensure that appropriate services are available to meet women Veterans' needs, and that they will want and be able to use those services. Furthermore, few VA improvement efforts have focused on women Veterans' health and health care in midlife. The EMPOWER QUERI 3.0 Program is a cluster randomized type 3 hybrid implementation-effectiveness trial testing two strategies designed to support implementation and sustainment of evidence-based practices for women Veterans in at least 18 VA facilities from 4 regions.

The investigators want to test a treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) especially designed for military veterans and service members with mild traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and PTSD. The treatment will include individual psychotherapy sessions to manage PTSD.

Using a 2-arm, RCT approach, the primary goal of the study is to evaluate the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of Inspiratory Muscle Strength Training (IMST) as a non-pharmacologic intervention to reduce cardiovascular and cognitive risks in older adults. Next, we will examine secondary effects of IMST on mood, sleep quality, systemic inflammation, and physical/motor function. Finally, we will assess participant adherence and acceptability ratings of using an 8-week home-based IMST protocol in a diverse older adult sample.

The current study aims to test the feasibility of a new form of group therapy for women who have a history of interpersonal trauma and current suicidal ideation. The Building Empowerment and Resilience (BEAR) Therapeutic group has been adapted for women who have experienced trauma and have current suicidal ideation. It incorporates psychological skills, psychoeducation about trauma and gender-based violence, and physical self-defense training, all within a therapeutic process. It will be implemented with women who have experienced interpersonal trauma (physical, sexual, or emotional abuse/neglect) and experience various mental health difficulties, including suicidal ideation. We aim to assess the feasibility to recruit and implement the BEAR group. Our ultimate aim is to assess whether the program can effect self-efficacy and suicidal ideation.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men in the United States. Many men with prostate cancer are treated with hormone therapy, also called androgen deprivation therapy (ADT). While this treatment is effective, it often causes bothersome side effects such as hot flashes, poor sleep, fatigue, and other physical and emotional symptoms. There is currently no standard treatment to help manage these side effects in men. Acupuncture is a non-drug treatment that has been shown to help reduce hot flashes and related symptoms in women receiving hormone therapy for breast cancer. However, much less is known about whether acupuncture is helpful for men receiving hormone therapy for prostate cancer. This study will test whether an acupuncture program, combined with usual lifestyle education, is feasible and acceptable for men undergoing ADT. The study will also explore whether acupuncture may help reduce hot flashes and improve related symptoms. A total of 24 men with prostate cancer receiving ADT will be randomly assigned to one of two groups: one group will begin acupuncture right away, and the other group will begin acupuncture after a delay, with regular check-ins during the waiting period. All participants will receive standard lifestyle education. Participants will be followed for about five months and will be asked to complete daily hot flash diaries, questionnaires about their symptoms and quality of life, and wear a Fitbit to track sleep. The results of this pilot study will help determine whether a larger study should be conducted to better understand the role of acupuncture in managing hormone therapy side effects in men with prostate cancer.

This pilot study will examine the safety, tolerability, acceptability, and efficacy of combination psilocybin + psychotherapy to decrease PTSD symptoms. Participants will be randomized into two different treatment groups, allowing the investigators to directly compare PE augmented with psilocybin and psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy.

This study is exploring the efficacy of a digital therapeutic app in reducing symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adults.

The goal of this clinical trial is to evaluate whether computer-based brain training can help adults with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Individuals with PTSD often experience difficulties with memory, attention, concentration, and problem-solving, which can significantly affect their daily lives, work performance, and overall quality of life. These cognitive challenges can hinder trauma recovery and reduce the effectiveness of standard PTSD treatments. The main questions this study seeks to address are: Does specialized brain training improve PTSD symptoms compared to regular computer games? Does brain training enhance cognitive functions such as memory, attention, processing speed, and executive functioning? Does brain training improve quality of life and daily functioning? Do participants' self-efficacy and perceived social support influence treatment outcomes? Researchers will compare two approaches: a specialized cognitive training program (HAPPYneuron Pro) with strategy teachings and quality-of-life discussions, versus engaging computer games with quality-of-life discussions, to determine which is more effective for people with PTSD. Study Design Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two groups for an 8-week program: Cognitive remediation training group: Complete computerized cognitive exercises and strategy teachings specifically designed to strengthen memory, attention, and executive functions, combined with quality-of-life discussions. Control group: Complete engaging computer games combined with quality-of-life discussions. Schedule Both groups will follow the same schedule: One online session per week, in small and consistent groups of 6 participants. Each 60-minute session consists of 30 minutes of computer activities followed by 45 minutes of group discussion. One at-home individual homework exercise per week (30 minutes at home). Total time commitment: 1h45 per week for 8 weeks. Assessments All participants will complete three comprehensive assessment sessions: before treatment, immediately after the 8-week program, and 3 months later. Assessments include neuropsychological testing and questionnaires on PTSD symptoms, depression, anxiety, quality of life, satisfaction with life, social support, cognitive failures, and self-efficacy. Significance This research evaluates a new, accessible and remotely deliverable approach for PTSD treatment. Current evidence-based treatments often do not directly target the cognitive impairments experienced by many individuals with PTSD. Compensation Participants will receive $35 for each completed assessment (maximum $105). Control group participants will gain access to the cognitive remediation training program after completing their participation.

The INSIGHT study is a multi-site clinical research program designed to examine how insomnia and symptoms of sympathetic hyperactivity impair sleep, cognition, and physiological restoration in warfighters, and to evaluate whether a wearable therapeutic device can improve these outcomes. Warfighters with a history of traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, or chronic operational stress commonly report disrupted sleep accompanied by manifestations of nocturnal sympathetic activation such as diaphoresis, palpitations, hyperarousal, and nightmares. These symptoms erode sleep quality, reduce cognitive performance, and undermine psychological resilience and operational readiness. Insomnia is two to three times more common in military populations than in civilians, and both TBI and PTSD independently elevate the risk for dysregulated autonomic tone. Excessive sympathetic activity during REM sleep disrupts the normally quiescent locus coeruleus state required for adaptive emotional processing and may contribute to the genesis of nightmares. Excessive sympathetic tone may also interfere with deep NREM-dependent glymphatic clearance, a recently discovered mechanism that supports cognitive restoration and metabolic waste removal. Yet, no study has comprehensively linked these physiological processes in warfighters or evaluated whether wearable-derived autonomic measures can meaningfully stratify insomnia phenotypes. The INSIGHT protocol addresses this gap through a two-phase design integrating multimodal biomarker collection, wearable technology validation, advanced imaging, and a randomized controlled intervention. Phase 1 enrolls 250 participants (50 healthy controls and 200 poor sleepers with or without PTSD and TBI) who undergo structured screening, cognitive testing, and detailed baseline assessments before completing a 2-week at-home data collection period. During this period, participants wear a suite of devices, including EEG headbands, ECG patches, PPG-based sensors, accelerometry rings, blood pressure devices, temperature sensors, and smartwatches, to capture autonomic activity, sleep architecture, cardiovascular and respiratory variability, movement, sudomotor activity, and circadian body temperature patterns. Ecological momentary assessments administered three times daily track fluctuations in sleep quality, mood, PTSD symptoms, and daytime functioning, while urine samples collected on the final three days allow for biochemical analysis of hormonal and sympathetic biomarkers. After the at-home period, all participants complete an overnight in-lab polysomnogram combined with fNIRS to measure sleep stages, autonomic dynamics, cerebral hemodynamics, and glymphatic signatures. A subset of participants also completes an optional overnight MRI with simultaneous EEG following controlled sleep deprivation, enabling state-of-the-art imaging of human glymphatic activity using the MAGNUS MRI platform. This optional visit provides unprecedented insight into how TBI, PTSD, and insomnia alter the physiology of sleep-dependent brain fluid dynamics. In Phase 2, all poor sleepers enter a double-blind, sham-controlled, 30-day randomized trial testing the therapeutic potential of the NightWare smartwatch. NightWare detects sympathetic surges during sleep through heart rate elevations and movement patterns and delivers brief haptic vibrations aimed at interrupting escalating autonomic arousal. Although originally cleared for nightmare treatment, its mechanism is well suited for SNH-related insomnia more broadly. Participants use the device daily while continuing EMA surveys, wearable monitoring, and cognitive assessments, generating rich physiological and behavioral data throughout the intervention. The primary goal is to determine whether reducing nocturnal sympathetic spikes leads to measurable improvements in sleep quality, autonomic stability, daytime functioning, and symptom burden. In parallel, Phase 2 data enable development of the Multi-Organ Autonomic Index of Sleep, an integrated biomarker model that combines neurological, cardiovascular, respiratory, and dermal signals to predict treatment response and classify insomnia subtypes. The INSIGHT study will produce the most comprehensive dataset to date linking autonomic physiology, glymphatic function, sleep architecture, wearable-derived biomarkers, cognition, and clinical outcomes in warfighters. By identifying physiological signatures of sympathetic hyperarousal and determining whether a non-pharmacological wearable intervention can meaningfully improve sleep, INSIGHT directly supports Department of Defense priorities to enhance readiness, resilience, and long-term neurological health in service members. Wearable tools capable of monitoring and improving sleep outside the laboratory have the potential to transform both clinical care and operational performance, offering scalable and accessible approaches to restoring sleep and optimizing recovery.

The goal of this clinical trial is to investigate the efficacy of 3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine hydrochloride (MDMA) combined with Massed Prolonged Exposure (PE) therapy for the treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in adult participants diagnosed with PTSD. This randomized, placebo-controlled trial will enroll 95 participants. The main questions it aims to answer are: * Does the combination of PE + MDMA lead to greater reduction in PTSD symptom severity from pre-treatment to one-month follow-up compared to PE + placebo? * Does PE + MDMA improve response efficiency and durability of PTSD symptom improvement compared to PE + placebo? * Does MDMA + PE enhance extinction retention and reduce amygdala threat reactivity, and are these changes associated with improved PTSD outcomes? Participants will: * Receive 10 sessions of Massed Prolonged Exposure therapy over two weeks * Be administered either 100 mg of MDMA or a placebo at Visit 2 * Undergo blinded independent evaluator assessments using the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5-R (CAPS-5-R) at the one-month posttreatment follow-up

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if ACP-211 can help treat adults with major depressive disorder (MDD) who have not improved with antidepressant therapy (ADT), including those with treatment resistant depression (TRD). The main questions the study aims to answer are: * Does ACP-211 work better than a placebo (a look-alike capsule with no medicine) to reduce symptoms of depression? * What adverse events do participants have when taking ACP-211?

This research will help identify if a PTSD treatment group, called Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), that is used in community settings is helpful in reducing PTSD symptoms among people who are incarcerated. The goal of CPT is to create a space for people to modify unhelpful beliefs related to trauma. A total of 692 participants will be enrolled from 6 locations and can expects to be on study for up to 24 weeks.