National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Clinical Trials Methodology Course: Summary and Accomplishments 2014-2023.

The Clinical Trials Methodology Course (CTMC), given from 2014 to 2023, was conducted to educate early-career clinical investigators from various backgrounds in neurosciences in the design of clinical trials and to provide mentorship to enhance academic careers and retention plus improve research productivity and the likelihood of successful grant applications. This summary describes the rationale, history, structure, and trainee outcomes of the CTMC. The course used small groups, consisting of 1-2 clinical faculty advisor(s), 1 faculty biostatistician, and 2-4 trainees who met remotely approximately weekly over 12 weeks.

Staged Screening Identifies People with Biomarkers Related to Neuronal Alpha-Synuclein Disease.

Objective: Remote identification of individuals with severe hyposmia may enable scalable recruitment of participants with underlying alpha-synuclein aggregation. We evaluated the performance of a staged screening paradigm using remote smell testing to enrich for abnormal dopamine transporter single-photon emission computed tomography imaging (DAT-SPECT) and alpha-synuclein aggregation.

Methods: The Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) recruited participants for the prodromal cohort who were 60-years and older without a Parkinson's disease diagnosis.

Impact of dopamine deficiency and REM sleep behavior disorder on cognition in early neuronal synuclein disease with hyposmia.

Objectives: To determine the impact of dopamine deficiency and isolated REM sleep behavior disorder (iRBD) on cognitive performance in early neuronal alpha-synuclein disease (NSD) with hyposmia.

Methods: Using Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative baseline data, cognitive performance was assessed with a cognitive summary score (CSS) developed by applying regression-based internal norms derived from a robust healthy control (HC) group. Performance was examined for participants with hyposmia classified as NSD-Integrated Staging System (NSD-ISS) Stage 2, either Stage 2A (CSF alpha-synuclein seed amplification assay [SAA]+, SPECT dopamine transporter scan [DaTscan]-) or 2B (SAA+, DaTscan+).

Virtual Home Care for Patients With Acute Illness.

Importance: Recent evolutions in clinical care and remote monitoring suggest that some acute illnesses no longer require intravenous therapy and inpatient hospitalization.

Objective: To describe outcomes of patients receiving care in a new, outpatient, virtual, home-based acute care model called Safer@Home.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This retrospective cohort analysis, conducted from September 1, 2022, through August 31, 2023, included 2466 patients treated at a safety net hospital in Los Angeles County for 10 core illnesses and 24 other acute illnesses for which patients are commonly hospitalized.

Clinicopathologic Features of Oral Verrucous Carcinoma: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Objective: To further characterize the clinicopathologic features of oral verrucous carcinoma.

Methods: In accordance with PRISMA guidelines, a systematic review of the Medline, Web of Science, Embase, and Cochrane databases was performed in search of articles evaluating clinicopathologic features of oral verrucous carcinoma. Primary outcomes of interest included tumor subsites, T-staging, rates of cervical lymph node metastases, rates of distant metastases, 5-year survival (overall, disease-free, or disease-specific), and recurrence rates.