Got Cocaine? Yale Center for Clinical Investigation May Need You

If researchers at the Yale University School of Medicine discover a cure for cocaine addiction, it may be because of people being paid $800 to participate in a clinical research study, after responding to an advertisement in the local Advocate newspapers and a phone call to the “Cocaine Clinic Research Recruitment” line.

The ad asks “Are you currently using cocaine?  Are you NOT CURRENTLY on medication?”  It then goes on to offer payment for those deemed eligible to participate “in a paid cocaine use" study.

No mention of the fact that cocaine remains an illegal drug.  The Drug Policy Alliance indicates that according to government surveys, eight percent of high school seniors reported using cocaine at least once during their lifetime.  In 2010, 23 percent of eighth graders, 32 percent of tenth graders, and 45 percent of twelfth graders reported that crack was “fairly easy” or “very easy” to obtain.

The Yale Cocaine Research Clinic studies the “causes and consequences of cocaine addiction in order to develop improved treatments and, ultimately, to prevent addiction to the drug,” the clinic’s website explains.  Who is eligible?  “Individuals who are now using or have used cocaine.”

The nationally-recognized research includes active studies in  the genetics of addiction, brain imaging (PET, MRI), psychopharmacology, medications development,  and sleep and cognition. The clinic is located at 34 Park Street in New Haven.

Among four pages of studies highlighted on the website of the School of Psychiatry are a handful that relate to cocaine use or cocaine abstinence, and the impact of various medications on the addiction.

One study among the nearly 40 “active addictive behavior clinical trials,” sets out its impetus and objective:

“Opioid and cocaine dependence are major problems among veteran and non-veterans and no effective pharmacotherapy exists for cocaine dependence. Methadone has not shown robust effectiveness in reducing cocaine abuse. Thus, new treatments are needed for the individuals who have developed cocaine dependence. This study is designed to test a new pharmacotherapy for cocaine dependence and is a placebo-controlled trail.”

A separate study outlines detailed eligibility criteria which includes a requirement that individuals “are using cocaine more than once per week in the previous 30 days, provide a cocaine-positive urine specimen at screening, and fulfill criteria for current cocaine dependence.”  Another is an initial investigation for “A Drug Treatment for Cocaine Users Who Are Also on Methadone Maintenance Treatment.”  The “small clinical trial with cocaine users” would, if deemed sufficiently promising,  be followed by a more extensive double-blind, placebo-controlled study.

Yet another current clinical trial tests whether a “learning enhancing medication will help methadone maintained cocaine abusers with their learning and memory.”  Eligible participants – those with current cocaine abuse or dependence – must be willing to commit to 12 weeks of treatment, or a placebo.

Other ongoing clinical research studies within the School of Psychiatry related to addictive behavior include those related to alcohol addiction, smoking addiction, and post traumatic stress disorder.  In addition, there are approximately 30 mental health clinical trials underway, ranging from postpartum depression and domestic abuse to obsessive-compulsive disorder and binge eating.

Beyond those, there are numerous clinical trials for “healthy volunteers.” Chronic conditions like diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and pediatric and geriatric illnesses, are all being studied at Yale. The Yale Center for Clinical Investigation website stresses that “staff members, study doctors, nurses and coordinators are available to answer questions” of individuals considering participation in clinical studies, “so that you can make an informed decision.”  Trial categories include cancer, mental health, heart/cardiovascular, brain, spinal cord & nervous system, women's health and children's health.

At the beginning of 2013, Yale University launched a major effort to recruit thousands of volunteers to participate in clinical trials being conducted at Yale's Schools of Medicine, Nursing, and Public Health. Posters, brochures, newspaper ads, radio spots, transit ads, and community health fairs encourage members of the Greater New Haven community, including students, to enroll in the hundreds of trials that are initiated every year. The campaign is called "Help Us Discover" because without community involvement, lab research cannot be translated into treatments, the campaign kick-off announcement stated.

The Yale Center for Clinical Investigation (YCCI) was launched in January 2006, specifically to support and facilitate clinical and translational research and training. The School of Medicine was the only academic medical center in New England among the 12 institutions across the nation that received Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) funding – a program that has expanded to about 60 academic medical institutions across the country.

With support from the CTSA, the School of Medicine, the University, and the Yale-New Haven Hospital, YCCI has developed into a home for clinical and translational research at Yale. By expanding existing programs, forging collaborations with other NIH-funded centers and establishing new initiatives. As a result of these efforts, almost $200 million per year of Yale’s National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant support is now directly connected to YCCI, the institution’s website explained.