We are doing the RARE study to learn more about Cystic Fibrosis (CF). CF is caused by mutations in a gene that produces a protein called the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR). In people with CF, the CFTR does not function correctly. Medications are being developed to help the CFTR function better, but those medications mostly benefit people with common CFTR mutations. There are more than 1,900 mutations of the CF gene. Some of these mutations are rare and found only in a few people. The goal of this research study is to collect specimens (blood, nasal cells, rectal cells) from people with rare CFTR mutations. Another purpose of this study is to create induced pluripotent stem cells or iPS cells. “Pluripotent” stem cells are cells that can be changed into almost any cell type of the body (such as lung or intestine). They can be kept alive and stored indefinitely. There are different kinds of pluripotent stem cells. Inducted pluripotent stem cells can be created from many different kinds of specimens (such as blood, nasal cells, rectal cells). This is different from embryonic stem cells, which can only be derived from embryos. The specimens collected during this study and iPS cells created from them will be stored for use in future research to learn more about CF and study the effect of new medications. This could identify new medications that may help people with rare CFTR mutations.

Dena Johnson - joh20459@umn.edu

The goal of the proposed project is to investigate whether brain abnormalities are present in children to young adults after the recovery from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Monica Bondy - bondy023@umn.edu

A single-center, single-arm, non-interventional natural history study to evaluate the longitudinal clinical course, functional outcome measures, and candidate biomarkers for individuals with DNA repair disorders, including Cockayne syndrome (CS), xeroderma pigmentosum (XP), and trichothiodystrophy (TTD).

Erin Aguero - aguer008@umn.edu

In the first phase of the study, participants will be asked to complete two sets of appointments six months apart. During both sets of appointments, participants will be asked to complete interviews and questionnaires about their life experiences and mental health, and they will have an EEG and fMRI while completing computerized tasks. The second phase of the study is optional. In this phase, participants will test one of two forms of computerized cognitive training, or brain games. They will be asked to complete 10 hours of training over a 3-6 week period. After the training period is over, they will have two sets of follow up visits, one right after the training period and one five months later. At these appointments, participants will complete the same activities done in the first phase of this study, including the interviews, questionnaires, and imaging (fMRI and EEG) combined with computerized tasks. We are recruiting two groups of participants for this study. One group will include individuals who experience hallucinations, delusions, paranoia, or a psychosis disorder (i.e., schizophrenia), and the other group will be individuals who do not have a diagnosis or family history of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or autism spectrum disorder.

STEP Study - stepstudy@umn.edu

Prospective study investigating brain activity associated with markers of suicidal behavior (SB) in adolescents.

Ab Flab Study - abflab@umn.edu

The effect of enzyme replacement therapy on how well your kidneys are responding to enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) is not clear from blood and urine tests alone, but may be more clear in comparisons of kidney biopsies performed before and some time after ERT has been initiated, and this is what we are focusing our study efforts on. The purpose of this study is to obtain your permission to allow us to study the kidney biopsy tissues (collected for medical reasons) after the regular routine studies have been completed. Through our special research measurements and additional study, we hope to be able to see and measure very specific changes in the kidney tissues from Fabry patients taking ERT. We also hope that through these studies of what happens within the kidney before and after starting ERT, we are able to reveal valuable information about the importance of factors like your age that you started ERT, the amount or dosage of ERT, and any differences seen between males and females.

Michael Mauer - mauer002@umn.edu

This is an observational registry database for adult patients diagnosed with degenerative spine disorders, which aims to add information to the understanding of the disease management of this spine diseases. By creating this registry, a more complete picture of degenerative spine disorders - including treatment practices - will be established, by collecting information about the health status of patients across several hospitals in several countries. Research of this kind will help future patients by providing doctors with information about degenerative spine disorders, and about patients' treatment outcomes. Data from this registry may be used to generate descriptive statistics on demographics, and clinical characteristics, including co-morbidities, treatment patterns and adverse outcomes (resulting from treatment or disease), as well as patients' quality of life measurements. Condition: Patients with a degenerative spine disorder Intervention/procedure investigated: No specific treatment required. Study design: Prospective case series

Christopher Martin - mart1865@umn.edu

This is a multi-center, prospective, observational cohort registry study looking at kids and their relatives with Catecholaminergic Polymorphic Ventricular Tachycardia (CPVT).

Brittany Faanes - grego318@umn.edu

The purpose of this research project is to develop a registry and database of families with neurodevelopmental disorders.

Shelby Wren - flana064@umn.edu

The Syner-G regimen research study seeks to evaluate the use of a combination of a medication called miglustat and a ketogenic diet for treatment of the gangliosidoses to learn if this combination will provide improved clinical outcomes compared to what we currently know about the natural course of the disease.

Jeanine Jarnes - utzx0002@umn.edu

This study's primary aims are to define and characterize disease progression for the infantile and juvenile forms of the gangliosidoses, and the late-onset forms of gangliosidosis, including their heterogeneity; and to observe treatment outcomes for any treatments tried. The secondary aims of this study are to understand the neurological involvement in late-onset gangliosidosis; and to collect data on disease progression that can be used for creation of an objective disease stage and severity index.

Jeanine Jarnes - utzx0002@umn.edu