The Women's Health Clinical Research Center provides infrastructure for investigators across multiple UCSF departments and schools to come together to share project management and administrative services, database development and management support, statistical analysis support, research facilities, and staff training. Most importantly, the Center allows research teams to help each other define and focus research agendas by sharing expertise, ideas, and contacts.
Our research has been funded by multiple National Institutes of Health (NIH) institutes and centers, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), industry partners, non-profit foundations, and philanthropy. Our investigator portfolio includes randomized controlled trials, cohort studies, disease registries, practice-based intervention studies, qualitative focus group and interview studies, and mixed methods research.
Our investigators are also interested in behavioral, complementary, and emerging technology-based treatments that are not only effective but also safe, well-tolerated, and easy to use. We study treatment approaches that are accessible to women across a wide range of backgrounds and take into account women’s individual priorities and preferences about their care.
RESEARCH STUDIES
Study Name: Treatment of Incontinence for Underlying Mental and Physical Health (TRIUMPH)
Purpose: The TRIUMPH Study will compare the effects of two FDA-approved medicines compared to focusing on behavioral ways to control bladder problems. Our goal is to compare how different types of treatments affect not only bladder symptoms but also other areas of your health, like memory, mood, movement, and sleep. What we learn could lead to better treatment of people with bladder problems.
Status: Currently recruiting.
Study Name: Prescription of Letrozole for Uterine Myoma (PLUM)
Purpose: The purpose of the PLUM Study is to evaluate changes in fibroid symptoms and fibroid size among persons taking the medication letrozole. Letrozole is used for many purposes in obstetrics and gynecology including as a treatment to shrink fibroids.
Status: Currently recruiting.
Study Name: Program to Overcome Pelvic Pain Study (POPPY)
Purpose: The goal of this study is to determine whether women with pelvic pain can learn to practice special yoga or physical conditioning exercises through online classes in order to improve their pain.
Status: Recruiting in 2025.
Study Name: Uterine Leiomyoma Treatment With Radiofrequency Ablation (ULTRA)
Purpose: ULTRA is a nationwide study for women who would like to share their experience with radiofrequency ablation (AcessaTM) and myomectomy to treat uterine fibroids. This study is being done to help patients and doctors better understand how radiofrequency ablation (AcessaTM) changes fibroid symptoms, affects fertility and pregnancy, and impacts the need for additional fibroid treatment in the future.
Status: Recruitment complete. Follow-up is ongoing.
Study Name: Mediators of Atherosclerosis in South Asians Living in America (MASALA)
Purpose: The MASALA Study is the first longitudinal study in U.S. South Asians to understand what factors lead to heart disease and guide prevention and treatment of heart disease. South Asians have high rates of heart attacks and stroke that is not explained by widely known risk factors such as high blood pressure, diabetes or smoking. The MASALA study is trying to identify what factors lead to heart disease in South Asians.
Status: Recruiting at Northwestern and New York University. Follow-up is ongoing.
Study Name: Multi-center Trial to Improve Nocturia and Sleep in Older Adults (MINT)
Purpose: The MINT Study is a randomized trial comparing NIP-IT to a health education control program in adults aged > 60 with nocturia and insomnia symptoms to provide rigorous, definitive evidence of the efficacy of the NIP-IT program.
UCSF WHCRC is the Data Coordinating Center for this project.
Status: Recruiting at Emory University/VA Atlanta and UCLA/Greater Los Angeles VAMC.
Study Name: Researching COVID to Enhance Recovery
Purpose: By studying people who did and did not have COVID during pregnancy, we hope to better understand:
- The long-term effects of COVID on parents and their babies, and
- Who is at greatest risk of having long-term effects (“long COVID”).
What we learn may lead to new ways to diagnose and treat long COVID.
Status: Recruitment complete. Follow-up is ongoing.
Study Name: Lessening Incontinence through Low-impact Activity (LILA)
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of two different low-impact physical activity-based programs in women with urinary incontinence: yoga practice and physical conditioning.
Status: Study follow-up is complete. Data analysis is underway.
Study Name: Flushing Reduction Associated with Nitrates (FRAN)
Purpose: The FRAN Study is testing how well a nitrate skin patch works to reduce hot flashes. We are doing this by running a randomized clinical trial of a transdermal nitrate patch compared to placebo women with menopausal hot flash symptoms.
Status: Study follow-up is complete. Data analysis is underway.
