Are You or Someone You Know a Retired Contact Sport or Non-Contact Sport Athlete?  Join our study!Why is this study being done?Researchers at Indiana University and University of Alabama are looking for women to take part in a study that will be examining the relationship between lifetime exposure to sports-related head impacts and midlife brain health in retired, female athletes.Who can take part?Females (sex at birth), ages 45-60, who have at least 10 years of organized contact sport experience OR at least 10 years of organized non-contact sport experience.

Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) is the most reported bacterial sexually transmitted infection (STI) in the United States. Untreated chlamydia infection in women can result in pelvic inflammatory disease, infertility, and/or ectopic pregnancy. Although chlamydia rates are at an all-time high, no vaccine is available because we don't yet understand how immunity to chlamydia develops. The IMPACT study is a case-control study of women who are either chlamydia-naive (control group) or chlamydia-exposed (case group). The overall goal of the study is to understand how immunity develops to chlamydia so we can design a vaccine to protect women from infertility, pelvic inflammatory disease, and ectopic pregnancies. We are recruiting healthy women aged 18-40 who have never had chlamydia before to be part of the control group. You will not be exposed to chlamydia or given any vaccine; we are simply collecting blood, swabs, and genital specimens as part of the control group.This study has the potential to inform whether we should or should not be screening for gastrointestinal CT infections in women who have no symptoms, and also determine if an oral CT vaccine may be feasible in the future. 

Why is this study being done?The goal of this study is to better understand how preferences for sweet flavors affect dietary habits, heart and metabolic health. Who can take part?We are looking for Black/African American and Latine adolescents (ages 12-18) who consume sugary sodas and their families (only one parent/guardian can participate). Participants must also be able to attend study visits at the Nutrition Research Center on either IU Indianapolis or IU Bloomington campus or Purdue University (West Lafayette).

DID YOU KNOW?... Colorectal cancer(CRC) is the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States. CRC is a serious health problem in the U.S., and African American/Black individuals are affected more than others.  What is this study about?This study will look at a nutrient called cysteine. We think that factors like a person’s diet and stress levels can affect how cysteine breaks down in the gut. We want to see how this can impact a person’s risk of CRC. To find out, we will study the foods people eat and their stress levels.  Who can take part?Adults aged 45-75 who are considered to be at high risk of developing colorectal cancer (have a history of polyps) and have no food allergies, dietary restrictions, or therapeutic diets. 

Help us understand how pain is processed in the brain.  Many things can affect whether someone’s pain becomes a chronic issue, including physical activity, psychological factors, and biological differences.  Researchers in the Cognitive Control Lab at Indiana University are conducting an MRI study to better understand how we process painful stimuli. We will compare pain responses in people who have chronic back and neck pain to people who do not have any chronic pain conditions to learn more about why people process pain differently.Who can take part?Adults, 18 years of age or older, who are generally healthy and either:1) have chronic neck/back pain or 2) have no chronic pain