Clinical Trials

Volunteers needed for common cold trial

The trial is being conducted by the Adrian Costa Clinical Trials Centre to test a nasal spray, called Nasodine^®, that has been developed by Australian scientists.

The trial is randomised and placebo-controlled, meaning participants have a 50/50 chance of receiving the active nasal spray medicine or a placebo nasal spray.

Trial participants will be eligible to be compensated for their time.

People need to have had cold symptoms for less than 36 hours to join the trial.

They will only need to attend one appointment and will then continue the nasal spray treatment regime at home or at work over 5 days, and complete a total of 14 days of brief electronic reporting of symptoms using a webapp.

Participants will be tested for COVID-19 to ensure they have the common cold and not COVID-19.

People can also pre-register if they are not sick. All information and registration details are at commoncoldstudy.com

 

Healthy Volunteers required for a clinical trial to learn more about COVID-19 variant booster vaccines

Barwon Health is currently looking for volunteers to take part in a clinical trial to compare two booster doses of the current Novavax vaccine with two booster doses of an investigational Novavax vaccine against the omicron strain of coronavirus.

Main Inclusion criteria

• Male and females aged 18-64
• Able and willing to comply with trial requirements (e.g. e-diary completion, regular phone contact/trial site visits)
• In general good health
• Have received primary COVID-19 vaccination with Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech, with both primary doses being of the same vaccine, and the 2^nd dose being administered more than 6 months prior to study participation
• OR
• Have received primary and booster (3^rd dose) COVID-19 vaccination with Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech, with all three doses being of the same vaccine, and the 3^rd dose being administered more than 3 months prior to study participation

Trial participation will include the administration of two booster COVID-19 vaccine doses 3 months apart. Study participation will last approximately 10 months for each participant and will include 10 scheduled visits and regular contacts (e.g. phone calls, emails and text messages).

If you are interested in finding out more, please contact the study coordinator on 03 4215 2880 or [email protected]

This research study has been approved by Monash Health Human Research Ethics Committee.

 

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) vaccine clinical trial

The Barwon Health Clinical Trial Unit is looking for healthy women aged between 16 and 40 years of age to participate in study to evaluate an investigational CMV Vaccine.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is common. CMV infection in children and adults rarely causes symptoms, however CMV infection pregnant mothers can result in infection of babies in their mother's womb or at the time of birth and can result in significant lifelong disability.

Barwon Health Director of Infectious Diseases, Professor Eugene Athan, is conducting the clinical trial.

You may be eligible to participate if you:

• Are between 16 and 40 years of age,
• Are in general good health
• If you are a female, have or anticipate having direct exposure to at least one child 5 years of age or younger, either in the home, socially or occupationally (eg parent or childcare worker). This applies only to female participants 20 years of age or above.

For more information about the study, call the study research nurse Jo Chambers on 03 42152880 or email [email protected]

This clinical trial has been approved by Monash Human Research Ethics Committee

   

Victorian Cancer Trials

To view the cancer trials currently underway at Barwon Health, visit the Victorian Cancer Trials Link website.

Searching this website is easy. All you have to do is type information about you, your cancer or cancer treatment to begin. Once you have begun the search, you can narrow your results by selecting criteria on the left hand side of the page.

Once you have found a trial that you think you can join, speak to your doctor or contact the Barwon Health Cancer Services Trials Unit for more information.

 

New clinical trial to prevent Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs)

Barwon Health is currently looking for participants for a clinical trial to prevent Urinary tract infections (UTIs)

Participants would be required to attend several visits over a 3 year period.

You may be eligible if you are:

• Adults aged ≥ 60 years
• Have a history of UTI in the past 2 years
• In generally good health

For more information please call 03 4215 2877 or email [email protected]alth.org.au

This study has been approved by Monash Human Research Ethics Committee

 

New vaccine trial for staph aureus – soft skin infections

Barwon Health is currently looking for volunteers who have had a recent staph aureus infection to participate in a research study.

The aim of the study is to trial a new vaccine to prevent re-infection of staph aureus

To be eligible you must:

• Be aged 18 - 64
• Have a recent or current soft skin infection caused by staph aureus
• Be generally healthy

If you are interested in finding out more, please contact Anne Welsh, Research Nurse on 0421 063 393 or [email protected]

 

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) Study

This NHMRC study is a joint venture between Deakin University and Barwon Health that aims to improve the understanding of the disorder as well as to look for new treatments for ME/CFS. 

Who can participate?

• Individuals with a diagnosis of ME/CFS
• Individuals with no known disease (healthy controls)
• Male or female, 18-65 years old
• Not currently pregnant
• Not currently enrolled in a clinical trial

Key points for participants

• The study will not involve any costs
• Once enrolled in the study, you will receive a gift voucher up to $40 for any travel costs
• No additional treatment will be provided
• Surveys will be done online at your own pace
• Only ONE appointment needed to take part
• Study involves donating a blood sample

For more information

• https://redcap.link/chromicstudy
• 0352 273 804
• [email protected]

 

Weight loss study seeking night shift workers

Do you work at least four night shifts every fortnight, and want to lose weight?

We are seeking participants for a world-first study (SWIFt), which will compare different types of diets to help with weight loss & improve overall health for shift workers.

WHAT'S INVOLVED?

Over 18 months, you will:

• be given a dietary weight loss program to follow for 24 weeks
• consult with a dietitian regularly and be provided with study foods for 24 weeks
• after this period, be followed up for one year to monitor your progress
• have your body measurements taken throughout the study

HOW WILL I BENEFIT?

By volunteering for this study, you’re helping our researchers find a suitable diet plan that meets the needs of night shift workers.

The outcomes of SWIFt could result in new dietary recommendations that improve the health of night shift workers throughout Australia – and you’ll be playing a key role in helping us get there.

Participants will receive a $100 petrol voucher and be provided some study meals.

To find out more or to enrol now, please visit the SWIFt study website or scan the QR code

This study has been approved by Barwon Health Human Research Ethics Committee.

 

Whipple's Disease Study - healthy volunteers required

Whipple’s Disease is a rare but very serious infection which is due to a very common environmental bacterium. We suspect that many people are exposed to this bacterium but only very few become infected, for reasons not well understood. The bacterium is ingested with food and water and excreted in their faeces. Normal people produce antibodies to it.

We are asking healthy volunteers to:
1. Provide a saliva sample, as the mouth is the route of entry of this bacterium to the body.
2. Provide a faecal sample, as the bacterium is excreted from the body by this route. You will be given an empty container to place in your toilet and into which you will easily be able to collect some faeces. The container will come with a tightly fitting lid for safe transport to the lab.
3. Provide a blood sample, from which we will measure your level of antibodies to the bacterium.

For those who are interested to help out for this study, please contact Dr K.C Liew, Principal Investigator, on 0433 186 662 or [email protected]. Your time and effort for this study will be truly appreciated.

  

Cardiology Unit

The Barwon Health Cardiology Unit is conducting a clinical trial with men (50 years old and older) and women (55 years old and older), who are taking medication to lower their cholesterol and who are at risk of a cardiovascular event, like heart attack and stroke.

The purpose of this research is to find out whether an investigational medication may reduce the risk of cardiovascular events, like heart attack and stroke, in people at high risk for these events.

For more information, please call Donna Soraghan on 4215 1032

The research is being conducted by Associate Prof John Amerena at the University Hospital Geelong

All calls will be treated with the strictest confidence. This research study has been approved by the Monash Health Human Research Ethics Committee.

 

Do you have low mood? Volunteers required for the Moo'd Study

We are conducting a clinical trial comparing the possible effects of conventional versus A2 dairy products on aspects of women’s health and wellbeing. 

You may be eligible if you: 

• Are a woman between the ages of 18-75 years
• Have low mood 
• Consume at least 250ml (approx.one cup) of milk each day 

For more information, please visit foodandmoodcentre.com.au/themoodstudy or contact the study team on (03) 4215 3332 or email  [email protected]

 

Would you like to help research into gut bacteria and weight loss?

 The Food & Mood Centre are conducting The MicroFit Study to assess the possible effects of very-low calorie diets (≤ 900kcal/day) on the number and type of bacteria that live within your gut. We are looking for women in the Geelong region aged between 30-65 years and with a BMI of between 30 – 45 (BMI Calculator) who are willing to commit to a study diet for three weeks. The study will require two visits to Geelong, but will otherwise be conducted online. Food for the duration of the study will be provided free of charge.

For more information click here or contact the trial coordinator:

Email: [email protected]

Call: 0429 691 077

 

Dietary research trial for individuals with irritable bowel syndrome and anxiety and/or depression

The Food & Mood Centre are looking for participants for a dietary research trial for individuals with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) who also have anxiety and/or depression.

Participants will be asked to follow the study diet or their usual diet for 6 weeks.  Those allocated to the intervention group will be provided with 1:1 advice by a dietitian and given a small food hamper. If allocated to the control group, dietary advice and a food hamper will be offered at study completion. This study will be conducted entirely online with a video call at week 1 and week 6, along with weekly support phone calls.

You may be eligible if you:

• Are 18-65 years old
• Have irritable bowel syndrome
• Have current anxiety and/or depressive symptoms
• Are not pregnant or lactating
• Are willing to follow the study diet for 6 weeks

For more information please contact Sophie on (03) 5227 8622 or email [email protected]

This study is a joint venture undertaken by researchers at Deakin University and Barwon Health.