The U.S. Deaf community - a group of more than one million Americans who communicate using American Sign Language (ASL) - experiences nearly triple the rate of lifetime problem drinking and twice the rate of trauma exposure compared to the general population. Although there are several treatments for alcohol use disorder (AUD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in hearing populations, none have been developed for or tested with Deaf clients. To address these barriers, the study team developed Signs of Safety, a Deaf-accessible therapy toolkit for treating AUD and PTSD. Their aims are to conduct a nationwide, virtual clinical trial to compare (1) Signs of Safety with (2) treatment as usual and (3) a no treatment control, to collect data on clinical outcomes, and to explore potential mediators and moderators of outcome.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Dec 2024

open study

This study is a large, multi-site clinical trial testing whether Stanford Accelerated Intelligent Neuromodulation Therapy (SAINT), a fast-acting form of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), can more effectively reduce symptoms of postpartum depression (PPD) compared to a sham treatment. It will enroll 192 women within 12 months postpartum who are experiencing depression that has not improved with standard care, and will track their progress for up to 12 months. The trial's main goal is to see if SAINT leads to reduction in depression severity in women with postpartum depression.

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Nov 2025

open study

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn whether a novel digital avatar (virtual coach) support program can help emerging adults ages 18-29 who present to the emergency department with suicidal thoughts and alcohol misuse (EA-Avatar). The study also aims to learn whether people find the program easy to use and whether daily surveys and the study design are able to be completed by the majority of emerging adult participants. The main questions this study aims to answer are: - Do participants use the digital program and find it helpful? - Is it possible for participants to complete daily surveys for twenty-eight days and follow-up surveys over twelve weeks? - Are there early signs that the program may help lower alcohol use and suicidal thoughts? Researchers will compare participants who receive the new digital avatar program plus supportive text messages to participants who receive a freely available suicide safety planning app to see if there are differences in use, engagement, and early signs of benefit. Participants will: - Receive standard care from the emergency department - Be randomly put into one of two groups (EA-Avatar or a free suicide prevention app) - Depending on their group, use a new avatar-guided digital support program with text message reminders OR use a free suicide safety planning app - Complete surveys at the start of the study and again at four, eight, and twelve weeks - Complete short daily surveys for twenty-eight days

Type: Interventional

Start Date: Jun 2026

open study