Goal #2: Promote partnerships and collaborations

A landmark pediatric eczema prevention study led by Eric L. Simpson, M.D., MCR at Oregon Health &amp; Science University has been recognized as the JAMA Dermatology Editor's Choice: Clinical Trial of 2025 and was selected among the top 13 clinical trials published across the JAMA Network in 2025.The study, "Emollients to Prevent Pediatric Eczema: A Randomized Clinical Trial," found that daily application of moisturizer beginning in early infancy may reduce the development of atopic dermatitis, a common childhood condition associated with substantial health burden and increased risk of allergic disease. The pragmatic, decentralized trial enrolled 1,247 infant-parent dyads through 25 community-based pediatric and family medicine clinics affiliated with four statewide practice-based research networks.The research highlights the value of long-term partnerships between investigators and CTSA-supported infrastructure. For many years, Dr. Simpson has collaborated with the Oregon Clinical and Translational Research Institute (OCTRI), OHSU's CTSA hub, leveraging its biostatistics, informatics, data coordination, and research design expertise to advance clinically relevant studies. OCTRI's Data Coordinating Center and Biostatistics &amp; Design Program played key roles in the trial, while the Oregon Rural Practice-Based Research Network (ORPRN) helped engage community clinical sites and participants.The NIH-funded study demonstrates how CTSA-supported infrastructure and practice-based research networks can successfully conduct large-scale, community-engaged clinical trials that generate evidence with direct implications for patient care. The national recognition from JAMA underscores both the scientific impact of the findings and the importance of sustained investment in translational research partnerships.

Oregon Clinical and Translational Research Institute

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Oregon Health & Science University

A clinical trial led by Eric L. Simpson, M.D., MCR was selected as JAMA Dermatology's Editor's Choice: Clinical Trial of 2025 and recognized among the top 13 trials published across the JAMA Network. The NIH-funded study, conducted in partnership with OCTRI's Data Coordinating Center, Biostatistics Program, and ORPRN, demonstrated how CTSA-supported infrastructure can enable impactful, community-based research to improve child health.

CTSA-Supported Pediatric Eczema Trial Named JAMA Dermatology Clinical Trial of the Year

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Goal #6: Enhance training programs

By Nicki Apaydin — October 06, 2026Clinical and translational researchers seeking education and training on team science now have additional resources that can assist them. Team science helps researchers from various disciplines come together to more effectively collaborate and solve complex problems. The Southern California Clinical and Translational Science Institute (SC CTSI) has recently launched two courses in the SC CTSI Learning Network. The first course is called Team Science 101 and provides an overview of five team science competencies: cultivating genuine relationships, team communication, collaborative thinking, problem solving, and creativity; team management, and team leadership. Learners watch videos and take a short quiz to check their understanding.“With the launch of these two courses, we are really excited that team science education and resources are more accessible to anyone on a research team,” said Mayla Boguslav, Ph.D., Director of Team Science at SC CTSI.&nbsp; The second course is focused on team science education and resources. Here, teams can find more advanced team science workshops, seminars, and resources. The interactive Zoom workshops throughout the year include topics such as team management, building a shared language and vision, managing change and resolving conflicts, leadership for all team members, and&nbsp;research collaborations with external partners. Recorded monthly seminars introduce newer team science ideas through expert-led sessions, including topics on “Collective Intelligence on Human-AI Teams,” “Initiate to Integrate: How Research Teams Work Together to Succeed,” and “Strategically Planning Your Collaborations.” The resources provided in the course give learners a practical starting place for teams to explore team science topics, such as collaboration planning, leadership, mentorship, project management tools, literature, and on-campus resources.To access the Team Science 101 course,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://courses.sc-ctsi.org/product?catalog=RD-TS101">click here.</a> To access team science education and resources,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://courses.sc-ctsi.org/product?catalog=RD-TSER">click here.</a> To learn more about SC CTSI team science trainings and stay apprised of new events,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://sc-ctsi.org/training-education/team-science-training">click here.</a>

Southern California Clinical and Translational Science Institute

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University of Southern California

Two new courses introduce learners to team science and delve deeper into the field.

Just Launched: New Team Science Educational Resources

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Goal #3: Address health needs of populations

A simple change in when people eat may offer a promising new approach for Huntington’s disease, according to research led by Oregon Health &amp; Science University.In a 12-week pilot study, researchers found that people with early-stage <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="externallink" href="https://www.ohsu.edu/brain-institute/other-movement-disorders">Huntington’s disease</a> were able to safely follow a form of intermittent fasting known as time-restricted eating, limiting food consumption to a six-to-eight-hour window each day. Participants avoided unintended weight loss and showed improvements in measures of disease severity; in a blood biomarker linked to nerve cell damage; and in cellular energy production.The findings, <a target="_blank" rel="" class="externallink" href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s42255-026-01612-x" title="">published today</a> in Nature Metabolism, represent the first clinical study to test time-restricted eating in people with Huntington’s disease.“This is the first time this approach has been formally studied in people with Huntington’s disease,” said Russell Wells, a fourth-year OHSU medical student and lead author of the study. “We found that participants were able to follow the eating schedule, maintain their weight and show encouraging improvements in clinical and biological measures that are important in Huntington’s disease. These results suggest time-restricted eating deserves further study in a larger clinical trial.”Huntington’s disease is a rare, inherited neurological disease that gradually damages nerve cells responsible for movement, cognitive and emotional regulation. Wells said it can be compared to having Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and ALS at the same time.The condition affects about 41,000 Americans, while more than 200,000 others are at risk because they have a family history of the disease, according to the Huntington’s Disease Society of America. Each child of a parent with Huntington's disease has a 50% chance of inheriting the gene mutation that causes the disorder. Symptoms typically begin between ages 30 and 50 and worsen over 10 to 25 years.Although researchers have known the genetic cause of the disease for decades, no treatments have been approved that slow or stop its progression.<h2>Intermittent fasting</h2>The idea for the study grew out of earlier research in animal models showing that intermittent fasting can activate cellular pathways that help protect brain cells. Yet researchers were unsure whether the approach would be safe for people with Huntington’s disease because unintended weight loss is already a concern.Those concerns initially gave senior author Amie Hiller, M.D., pause. Hiller is professor of neurology in the OHSU School of Medicine and director of the Portland Veterans Administration Northwest Parkinson's Disease Research, Education and Clinical Center.“When Russell first brought me the idea, I was skeptical,” Hiller said. “Weight loss is a major challenge for many people with Huntington’s disease, so asking them to eat within a limited time window seemed counterintuitive.“What was exciting about this study is that participants were able to maintain their weight while showing signs that the intervention may be positively affecting the disease itself.”The study enrolled 20 adults with early-stage Huntington’s disease. Participants selected an eating window that fit their daily routine, typically between late morning and early evening, and followed it for 12 weeks. Researchers encouraged participants to maintain their normal calorie intake and monitored weight and safety throughout the study.The approach appeared well-tolerated. Participants followed the eating schedule on average more than five days per week; reported few side effects; and maintained both body weight and lean muscle mass. Most adapted to the schedule within the first one to two weeks.Amie Hiller, M.D., left, patient Anna White, and Russell Wells, a fourth-year OHSU medical student, in an exam room at OHSU in Portland, Oregon.&nbsp;Hiller and Wells are researching whether intermittent fasting could improve symptoms associated with Huntington's disease. (OHSU/Christine Torres Hicks)For study participant Anna White of Portland, adapting to the eating schedule turned out to be easier than expected.“When Russell called me a few years ago and asked if I would be interested in this trial, I jumped at the chance,” White said. “I had been interested in intermittent fasting for a while because it is a much friendlier way to initiate autophagy by restricting the time of eating, rather than what you eat.”White, who had previously followed a ketogenic diet in hopes of slowing Huntington's disease progression, said she initially wondered whether the fasting schedule would be difficult to maintain.“I was worried that I would struggle with the fasting part, but it became pretty easy and sort of matches my own hunger window,” she said. “I am never hungry for breakfast anyway, so I could start my eating at 11 a.m. and finish by 5 to 7 p.m. easily.”Participants used a smartphone app to document their first meal of the day with a photo and timestamp. White said she appreciated being able to eat foods she enjoyed while monitoring her weight throughout the study.“I could eat whatever I liked and, because I was weighing myself several times a week, I felt confident that my weight was staying very stable,” she said.<h2>Signs of progress</h2>Researchers found encouraging signals that the dietary intervention could influence disease progression.Participants experienced an average improvement of 0.5 points on a widely used Huntington’s disease severity scale known as the composite Unified Huntington’s Disease Rating Scale, or cUHDRS. The score typically declines by about one point annually in people with early-stage disease.In addition, blood levels of neurofilament light, a biomarker released when nerve cells are damaged, fell by an average of 13%. In Huntington’s disease, those levels usually increase over time as the disease progresses.“We saw a reversal of the trend we would normally expect,” Wells said. “Neurofilament light typically rises as neurodegeneration continues, but after three months we observed a significant decrease. For a pilot study, that was a remarkable finding.”White has continued practicing time-restricted eating since the study ended and believes it has helped her maintain cognitive function.“Many people have told me that for a 52-year-old woman with as much movement as I have, I am still self-aware and sharp,” White said. “I try to finish The New York Times crossword puzzle every day, and I think the time-restricted eating has helped.”The research team also examined mitochondrial function in participants’ blood cells. Mitochondria generate energy for cells, and impaired energy production is a hallmark of Huntington’s disease.Researchers found improvements in several measures of mitochondrial activity after the intervention.“One theory is that fasting acts as a mild stressor that prompts cells to become more efficient,” Wells said. “If cells, including brain cells, become better at producing energy and handling stress, they may be more resilient to the disease process.”Because the study was small and did not include a comparison group, researchers caution that the findings should not be considered proof that time-restricted eating slows Huntington’s disease. Larger, randomized controlled trials will be needed to determine whether the benefits are real and sustained over time.Still, researchers say the results are especially promising because the intervention is relatively simple and could be accessible to many people.“We do not currently have any disease-modifying treatments for Huntington’s disease,” Hiller said. “If future studies confirm these findings, this could become an approach available to people regardless of where they live or their financial resources. That makes it particularly exciting.”The team is currently pursuing funding for a larger, randomized clinical trial that would compare time-restricted eating with standard dietary habits.For Wells, the study represents an important step toward finding practical strategies that could help people before symptoms become severe and debilitating.“One of the unique aspects of Huntington’s disease is that some people know years in advance that they carry the genetic mutation,” Wells said. “That creates a window of opportunity to explore interventions that might delay onset or slow progression. Lifestyle approaches such as time-restricted eating could someday become an important part of that strategy.”In addition to Wells and Hiller, OHSU co-authors on the study include Andrew McHill, Ph.D., Nora Gray, Ph.D., and Joseph Quinn, M.D., as well as Lee Neilson, M.D., with the University of Iowa and VA Iowa City Healthcare System.The researchers acknowledge the help of the OHSU Oregon Clinical and Translational Research Institute for input on the trial design and OHSU Biostatistics and Design Program for data analysis expertise.This research was supported by an OHSU Parkinson Center of Oregon pilot award, Department of Veterans Affairs Clinical Science Research and Development Career Development Award-2 (CDA-2) grant CX00253, the Parkinson’s Disease Research, Education, Clinical Center at the VA Portland Health Care System, and by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, through award numbers TL1TR002371 and UL1TR002369. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the NIH or other funders.

Russell documents a patient's progress as she points to different colors on a sheet of paper and says what they are at an OHSU exam room.

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An OHSU-led pilot study suggests that time-restricted eating, a form of intermittent fasting, may offer a promising new approach for slowing progression of Huntington’s disease. Published in Nature Metabolism, the 12-week study enrolled 20 adults with early-stage Huntington’s disease and found that participants were able to safely limit eating to a six-to-eight-hour daily window while maintaining weight and lean muscle mass. Researchers observed improvements in disease severity measures, a 13% reduction in neurofilament light, a blood biomarker associated with nerve cell damage, and enhanced cellular energy production. The study was led by Russell Wells, with support from OHSU’s Oregon Clinical and Translational Research Institute (OCTRI), the institution’s CTSA hub. While larger randomized trials are needed, the findings highlight the potential of a low-cost, accessible lifestyle intervention to improve outcomes for people living with this progressive neurodegenerative disease.

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CTSA-Supported Pediatric Eczema Trial Named JAMA Dermatology Clinical Trial of the Year

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