Clinical trials

Through participation in various clinical trials, the physicians and scientists at Shady Grove Fertility continually strive to stay at the forefront of research and technology—to advance medical knowledge and improve patient care. Clinical trials are research studies that investigate whether a medical strategy or treatment approach is safe and effective. They also provide invaluable insights into which strategies and treatments work best. At Shady Grove Fertility, we follow strict scientific protocols to ensure patient safety and help produce reliable study results.

We encourage our patients to learn more about our ongoing trials, as they offer unique advantages, including, in some cases, free or discounted access to new treatments before they’re widely available. If you choose to participate in a clinical trial, you may receive the new approach being tested. At Shady Grove Fertility, as always, you will have the support of your physician and health care team.

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Active clinical trials and research studies 

Multi-center, parallel-group, randomized controlled trial of modified natural verses programmed cycles for frozen embryo transfers and their association with preeclampsia and live births. Shady Grove Fertility is currently seeking patients to participate in a fertility research study designed to compare two protocols commonly used for frozen embryo transfer. The two protocols are called “modified natural cycle” and “programmed cycle”. The study will examine whether or not there is a difference in occurrence of high blood pressure during pregnancy.

You may be eligible for the study if you:

  • Age 18-41 years at the time of randomization
  • Have a Body Mass Index (BMI) ≤ 40
  • Have a regular menstrual cycle of 24 to 35 days

Participants will be compensated for their time and effort up to $1415 if they complete all visits and participate in the research study.

Please contact your physician, nurse or our clinical research team to determine if you are eligible to participate at 301-545-1423 or [email protected].

New research study recruiting participants who have endometriosis and are seeking IVF care.

Contact information:
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 303-724-5276

Shady Grove Fertility is partnering with the University of California San Francisco to conduct the UCSF ASPIRE research study. This study looks at the implications of COVID-19 exposure during pregnancy and to promote the health and safety of pregnant women and their babies everywhere. UCSF ASPIRE seeks to collect data on pregnancies during this unprecedented pandemic, starting from the earliest stages of fetal development. Any pregnant women between 4-10 weeks gestation is eligible to enroll in the UCSF ASPIRE study.

To participate or learn more, please visit https://aspire.ucsf.edu or email your contact information to [email protected], and a study coordinator will be in touch regarding enrollment for the UCSF ASPIRE study.

Are you female between the ages of 18 to 40? Have you had a cancer diagnosis and cancer treatment? If so, the Reproductive Window Study needs you! The research team at Shady Grove Fertility, in collaboration with the researchers at UC San Diego, want to know how cancer treatment affects the reproductive health of young adult female cancer survivors. Participants will be followed for 18 months and asked to complete study activities at FOUR specific time points. Participants will receive a $10 gift card after completing each study activity.

If you are interested in learning more about this study, please visit www.youngcancersurvivor.com or contact us at 858-822-0768 or [email protected].

HEART-IVF (Vascular HEAlth afteR In Virto Fertilization)
We are inviting women to participate in a research study trying to understand why women may go on to develop high blood pressure after a pregnancy with IVF.
 
ELIGIBILITY

  • Age 18 – 45 years
  • Prior pregnancy within past 1 – 5 years, conceived through IVF
  • Not currently taking medications to treat high blood pressure or cholesterol
  • Not currently pregnant or wishing to become pregnant in the next 3 months

 
If interested, complete the optional eligibility survey: https://redcap.link/vfd7htql
Compensation provided

Development of a non-invasive, artificial intelligence-based image analysis software for the prediction of oocyte developmental competency during in vitro fertilization.

The purpose of the proposed research study is to determine if a software algorithm can be developed to analyze images of oocytes during IVF. The proposed algorithm will use artificial intelligence to identify which oocytes are more likely to develop into a good quality embryo. The ability to turn into a good quality embryo is called developmental competence.

Participants in this study will be women who undergo IVF procedures including in vitro fertilization of oocytes. This is a non-interventional study, meaning the algorithm will not be used during your participation in the study, and it will not have any impact on your treatment. Your participation will just involve collecting information about what happens to your oocytes during your IVF procedures.

Eligibility

  • You must be at least 18 years of age and have decided to undergo IVF procedures.
  • You can either:
    • Undergo oocyte harvest and fertilization using fresh oocytes, or
    • Use oocytes that you had previously frozen, or
    • Use donor oocytes that had previously been frozen.
  • If you are undergoing oocyte harvest and fertilization using fresh oocytes, you must be planning to use intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) for fertilization. This is a process where oocytes are individually injected with sperm. ICSI is performed on all oocytes that have previously been frozen.
  • If you are undergoing oocyte harvest, you must not be planning to freeze your oocytes for a long time for fertilization at a later date (this is called ‘fertility preservation’).

Please contact your physician, nurse or our clinical research team to determine if you are eligible to participate at 301-545-1423 or [email protected].

More information about Life Whisperer is available here: www.lifewhisperer.com

Shady Grove Fertility is currently seeking patients to participate in a study to determine
if a medication can improve pain control after undergoing egg retrieval. This medication
is the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), Ketorolac (Toradol). This study will
examine whether or not there is a difference in pain control following egg retrieval when
given this medication.

Eligibility:

  • Female age over 18 years old
  • Planning to undergo first oocyte retrieval and fresh embryo transfer
  • BMI < 40 kg/m2

Please contact your physician, nurse, or our clinical research team to determine if you
are eligible to participate at (301) 545-1423 or
[email protected]

ADAM is a trial investigating the efficacy and safety of treatment with FE 999049 in men with Idiopathic Infertility to assess the chance of improved spontaneous pregnancy in their current female partner. 

Key participation requirements: 

  • Male participant must be aged 18-50 years old; Current female partner must be aged 18-35 years old 
  • Commitment: Male participant will visit the trial site 8 times for tests and procedures 
  • Male participant must have documented infertility for 12-60 months with current female partner 
  • Male participant & current female partner cannot obtain infertility treatment outside of this trial for 9 months from enrollment 
  • Male participant must not have a Body Mass Index >35 kg/m2 
  • Male participant must not have history of drug abuse within 12 months prior to screening 

If you are interested in learning more, please contact Pam or Maryanne for more information.  

Email: [email protected], Call: 832-342-9129

Email: [email protected], Call: 281-557-3082 

To learn more about the ADAM Idiopathic Infertility Trial, visit clinicaltrials.gov here. 

Shady Grove Fertility is conducting the ARIAS Research study to evaluate whether sperm DNA fragmentation is associated with IVF-ICSI outcomes. DNA fragmentation testing of sperm will be provided to participants free of charge.

You may qualify to participate if you and your partner meet the following eligibility criteria:

  • Planning to use fresh (not previously frozen) sperm
  • Have never been told your partner has no sperm on semen analysis
  • No history of chromosomal abnormalities in yourself or your partner
  • No history of a varicocele in your partner
  • No current tobacco use by you or your partner

Please contact your physician, nurse or our clinical research team to determine if you are eligible to participate at 301-545-1423 or [email protected].

How to get started

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