CFS/ME Research Collaborative Conference

The UK CFS/ME Research Collaborative Conference (aka CMRC Conference) is a annual conference sponsored by the UK CFS/ME Research Collaborative.

1st Annual Conference - 2014

• CFS/ME Research Collaborative Inaugural Conference Report 2014 64-page overview of all the presentations and workshops

2014 Speakers

• Prof Stephen Holgate - Welcome and Taking collaboration forward: next steps
• Prof Robert Dantzer - Anne Faulkner Lecture: The neuroimmune basis of fatigue
• Dr Neil Harrison - Interferon-alpha rapidly changes brain microstructure
• Alice Russell - Interferon-alpha induced persistent fatigue
• Dr Lisa Blundell - Blood cytokine concentrations in CFS: a systematic review
• Kate Earl - Resveratrol treatment on TNF-α-induced cytokine release
• Dr Stuart Watson - Understanding the pathogenesis of autonomic dysfunction in CFS and its relationship with cognitive impairment
• Prof Wan-Fai Ng - Biological fingerprints of fatigue
• Prof Carmine Pariante - Inflammation and fatigue: is it different from depression?
• Dr Sue Wilson - Sleep and CFS/ME
• Prof Anne McArdle - Mitochondrial function and cytokine production in skeletal muscle of patients with CFS/ME
• Dr Esther Crawley - The epidemiology of CFS/ME in adolescence
• Prof Peter White - PACE: A trial & tribulations
• Prof Andrew Lloyd - Acute infection & post-infective fatigue as a model for CFS
• Prof Ian Lipkin - Microbiology & immunology of CFS/ME and other challenging disorders
• Prof Maria Fitzgerald - Understanding pain mechanism in children and adolescents
• Prof Jon Tobias - The epidemiology of adolescent CFS and chronic widespread pain
• Dr Roberto Nuevo - Recovery and persistence from CFS/ME in adolescents
• Prof Hugh Perry - End of conference summary

2nd Annual Conference - 2015

The 2015 UK CFS/ME Research Collaborative was held 13-14 Oct 2015. Link to the full 44 page conference report.

• UK CFS/M.E. Research Collaborative Science Conference Day 1, Part 1/3
• UK CFS/M.E. Research Collaborative Science Conference Day 1, Part 2/3
• UK CFS/M.E. Research Collaborative science conference Day 1 Part 3/3
• UK CFS/M.E. Research Collaborative science conference Day 2 Part 1
• UK CFS/M.E. Research Collaborative science conference Day 2 Part 2
• UK CFS/M.E. Research Collaborative science conference Day 2 Part 3

3rd Annual Conference - 2016

The 2016 conference was held at the Novotel Hotel, Newcastle upon Tyne, England on Wednesday 28 and Thursday 29 September 2016.

2016 Speakers

• Professor Stephen Holgate - Welcome and Closing
• Professor David Ford, Swansea University - SAIL Database: routinely collected data for research
• Dr Zaher Nahle, representing Solve ME/CFS Initiative - All In at the Solve ME/CFS Initiative
• Dr Nadia Howard-Tripp, NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow in Rheumatology, on behalf of Prof Fai Ng - Identifying the biological fingerprints of fatigue
• Professor Julia Newton, Director of Newcastle Academic Health Partners and Clinical Professor of Ageing and Medicine, Newcastle University - Understanding the pathogenesis of autonomic dysfunction in CFS and its relationship with cognitive impairment and Cardiac iodine-123-meta-iodo-benzylguanidine uptake in CFS associates with autonomic function and fatigue severity and Reduced cardiac volumes in CFS associated with plasma volume but not length of disease
• Alice Russell, King’s College London, on behalf of Prof Carmine Pariante - Persistent fatigue induced by Interferon-alpha: a new immunological model for CFS
• Sonya Chowdhury, Chief Executive, Action for M.E. - Plenary session: Mapping global research funding over the last 10 years: a UK CFS/ME Research Collaborative-sponsored report
• Dr Lindsay Keir, Senior Portfolio Developer, Wellcome - Enhancing research funding applications into CFS/ME
• Dr Julius Bourke, Queen Mary’s University, London - The Brain in Pain studies: central sensitisation in CFS/ME and fibromyalgia
• Andreas Finkelmeyer, University of Newcastle - Voxel-based morphometry shows reductions in brainstem white matter in CFS/ME
• Dr Andrea Polli, University of Brussels - Immune-pain interaction following exercise in CFS/ME: associations between exercise-induced hyperalgesia, complement system and elastase activation
• Victoria Strassheim, Newcastle University - Involving severe and very severely affected CFS/ME individuals in research: a clinician’s view point
• Dr David Patrick, University of British Columbia - part one part two Researching a Syndrome: Findings from the UBC Complex Chronic Disease Study Group
• Professor George Davey Smith, University of Bristol - States, traits and diagnosed conditions: implications for the design of population-based studies of human health and disease
• Professor Caroline Relton, University of Bristol - Epigenetics - what is it and what can it do for ME/CFS?
• Professor Paul Little, Professor Tom Walley and M.E. patient Opal Webster-Philip - Panel Discussion - Exploring the challenges of gaining ME/CFS funding for the range of science required
• Dr Nadia Howard-Tripp, NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow in Rheumatology - Fatigue in Primary Sjögrens Syndrome is associated with lower levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines
• Prof Anne McArdle, University of Liverpool - Metabolism of aberrant mitochrondrial factors and cytokine production in skeletal muscle of patients with CFS
• Dr Sue Wilson, Imperial College London - Some preliminary results from the SAFFE study
• Dr Neha Issar-Brown, Medical Research Council - Enhancing research funding applications into ME/CFS
• Dr Esther Crawley, Bristol University - Investigating the treatment of Paediatric CFS/ME
• Jessica Van Oosterwijck, University of Antwerp - The role of autonomic function in exercise-induced endogenous analgesia: a case-control study in ME/CFS and healthy people
• Professor David Jones, Newcastle University - Anne Faulkner Memorial Lecture - Fatigue in PBC: Nearing Journeys End on a Long and Winding Road: Lessons for CFS/ME
• Dr Sarah Knight, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute - "Improving quality of care in paediatric chronic fatigue syndrome"
• Dr Juliet Chenery-Robson, University of Sunderland - The visualisation of CFS/ME’s invisibilities
• Joanna Elson, Mitochondrial Research Group, Institute of Genetic Medicine, Newcastle University - Investigating the possibility of a role for mtDNA variation in CFE/ME

2016 Conference Reports & Video

The 2016 UK CFS/ME Research Collaborative was held 28-29 September 2016.

REPORT by: STEPHEN HOLGATE - 16 pages

ABBREVIATED CONFERENCE REPORT - 33 pages

FULL CONFERENCE REPORT - 92 pages

• UK CMRC Conference 2016 part 1/10
• UK CMRC Conference 2016 part 2/10
• UK CMRC Conference 2016 part 3/10
• UK CMRC Conference 2016 part 4/10
• UK CMRC Conference 2016 part 5/10
• UK CMRC Conference 2016 part 6/10
• UK CMRC Conference 2016 part 7/10
• UK CMRC Conference 2016 part 8/10
• UK CMRC Conference 2016 part 9/10
• UK CMRC Conference 2016 part 10/10

Fourth Annual Conference - 2017

The 2017 conference was held at Future Inns Cabot Circus, Bond St South, Bristol, England on Wednesday 13 and Thursday 14 September 2017.

2017 Speakers - Day 1

• Professor Stephen Holgate - Welcome
• Dr Avindra Nath, National Institutes of Health, USA - Post-infectious CFS/ME study at National Institutes of Health
• Dr Matt Wall, Imanova, London, UK - Imaging in research
• Prof Alan Silman, Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Science, University of Oxford, UK - Overview of fatigue in arthritis:insights for CFS/ME
• Gina Wall, Royal Free Hospital Fatigue Service, London, UK - Examining Joint Hypermobility Syndrome in a London fatigue clinic
• Dr Peter Rowe, John Hopkins Children’s Centre for CFS, Baltimore, US - Orthostatic Intolerance and the lessons from the last two decades
• Prof Dr Frans Visser, Cardiac Care Foundation, Hoofddorp, Netherlands- Orthostatic Intolerance
• Dr Linda van Campen, Stichting Cardiozorg, Amsterdam, Netherlands - Cerebral blood flow decline: deconditioning or disease?
• James McCullagh, University of Oxford, UK - Investigating altered metabolism in ME/CFS
• Prof John Gallacher, University of Oxford, UK - Brain health in an age of platform science

2017 Speakers - Day 2

• Dr Julia Newton, University of Newcastle, UK - Collaboration
• Dr Karl Morten, University of Oxford, UK - Investigating mitochondrial function in health and disease (Dr Morten's talk starts at 15:00 minute mark)
• Dr Neil Harrison, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, UK - Using insights from psychoneuroimmunology to better understand ME/CFS Fatigue
• Prof Carmine Pariante, Kings College London, UK - Persistent Fatigue Induced by Interferon-alpha: A new Immunological Model for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, part 1 part2
• Phil Murray, Patient Advisory Group member - Patient Advisory Group: A valuable resource for ME research

2017 Conference Reports & Video

• Report of the Fourth Annual Science Conference

Fifth Annual Conference - 2018

The 2018 conference was held on 19 and 20 September 2018 in Bristol, UK.

2018 Speakers - Day 1- 20 September 2018

• Professor Stephen Holgate - Welcome
• Dr Nina Muirhead, Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust - The views of a Doctor with ME on educating Doctors and medical students about ME
• Prof Alain Moreau, University of Montreal, Canada - Identification of post-exertional dysregulated circulating microRNAs in ME/CFS pathogenesis
• Dr Eliana Lacerda, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine - European collaboration in ME/CFS: The EUROMENE network
• Dr Mark Jones, UCB Pharma - What will it take for the pharmaceutical industry to engage in CFS/ME drug discovery?
• Rachel Hunter, University College London - The economic impact of CFS/ME
• Rachel French, County Durham & Darlington NHS Foundation Trust - CFS/ME, IBS and Fibromyalgia: Chance association or common pathway
• Prof Frances Williams, Kings College London - Twins and the study of chronic pain genetics
• Dr Luis Nacul, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, CureME - The UK ME/CFS Biobank: Accelerating global research in ME/CFS
• Jo Elson, Newcastle University - Oral Abstract Presentation: Investigating the possibility of a role of mtDNA variation in ME/CFS
• Tiffany Lodge, University of Oxford - Oral Abstract Presentation: Alterations of cellular metabolism observed in muscle cells, indicating possible factors present in plasma of patients with ME/CFS capable of modifying cell function
• Pawel Zalewski, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Poland - Effects of whole-body cryotherapy among CFS patients – preliminary results
• Dr Neil Harrison - MRC-funded update: Imaging exercise-induced Post-Exertional Malaise in ME/CFS
• Dr David Tuller - Panel Q&A session

2018 Speakers - Day 2 - 20 September 2018

• Prof Chris Ponting, CMRC Deputy Chair; University of Edinburgh - Welcome
• Prof Cathie Sudlow, UK Biobank, University of Edinburgh - Anne Faulkner Memorial Lecture: Big health data and open science: a powerful combination to generate new understanding of disease
• Dr Elisa Oltra, Universidad Católitica de Valencia - Differential microRNA profiles in PBMCs and plasma EVs of severely affected ME/CFS patients
• Prof Carmine Pariante, Kings College London - MRC Funded Update: Persistent fatigue induced by interferon-alpha: a novel, inflammation-based, proxy model of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
• Dr Sue Pemberton, Yorkshire Fatigue Clinic - Workshop 1: Activity as treatment – myths and methods
• Prof Chris Ponting, University of Edinburgh - Workshop 2: Biomedical research priorities
• Sue Luscombe, Hampden Health Limited and Dr Michelle Dobrota-Gibbs, Freelance dietician and nutritionist - Workshop 3: Nutrition and CFS/ME – The search and research for evidence
• Stephen Simpson - Working together against the pain, isolation and fatigue of arthritis
• Jackie Cliff, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine - Cellular immune function in ME/CFS
• Prof Carmine Pariante, Kings College London - Is inflammation the link between the body and the brain?
• Cara Tomas, Newcastle University - Cellular bioenergetics in ME/CFS
• Prof Chris Ponting, CMRC Deputy Chair; University of Edinburgh - Conference reflections

2018 Conference Reports

• Report of the Fifth Annual Science Conference

Sixth Annual Conference - 2020

The sixth annual conference is scheduled to be held March 10 and 11, 2020

UK CFS/ME Research Collaborative (CMRC) - A UK group of researchers and ME/CFS patient groups led by Professor Stephen Holgate. Its launch in 2013 was covered by the Science Media Centre. Since 2014, the collaborative sponsors the CFS/ME Research Collaborative Conference.

UK CFS/ME Research Collaborative (CMRC) - A UK group of researchers and ME/CFS patient groups led by Professor Stephen Holgate. Its launch in 2013 was covered by the Science Media Centre. Since 2014, the collaborative sponsors the CFS/ME Research Collaborative Conference.

α α / Α. Greek letter alpha or alfa (a symbol used in science), equivalent to "a".

cognition Thought processes, including attention, reasoning, and memory.

chronic disease a disease or condition that usually lasts for 3 months or longer and may get worse over time. Chronic diseases are long-term (typically incurable and requiring long-term management) but are not necessarily severe.

myalgic encephalomyelitis (M.E.) - A disease often marked by neurological symptoms, but fatigue is sometimes a symptom as well. Some diagnostic criteria distinguish it from chronic fatigue syndrome, while other diagnostic criteria consider it to be a synonym for chronic fatigue syndrome. A defining characteristic of ME is post-exertional malaise (PEM), or post-exertional neuroimmune exhaustion (PENE), which is a notable exacerbation of symptoms brought on by small exertions. PEM can last for days or weeks. Symptoms can include cognitive impairments, muscle pain (myalgia), trouble remaining upright (orthostatic intolerance), sleep abnormalities, and gastro-intestinal impairments, among others. An estimated 25% of those suffering from ME are housebound or bedbound. The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies ME as a neurological disease.

myalgic encephalomyelitis (M.E.) - A disease often marked by neurological symptoms, but fatigue is sometimes a symptom as well. Some diagnostic criteria distinguish it from chronic fatigue syndrome, while other diagnostic criteria consider it to be a synonym for chronic fatigue syndrome. A defining characteristic of ME is post-exertional malaise (PEM), or post-exertional neuroimmune exhaustion (PENE), which is a notable exacerbation of symptoms brought on by small exertions. PEM can last for days or weeks. Symptoms can include cognitive impairments, muscle pain (myalgia), trouble remaining upright (orthostatic intolerance), sleep abnormalities, and gastro-intestinal impairments, among others. An estimated 25% of those suffering from ME are housebound or bedbound. The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies ME as a neurological disease.

cytokine any class of immunoregulatory proteins secreted by cells, especially immune cells. Cytokines are small proteins important in cell signaling that modulate the immune system. (Learn more: me-pedia.org)

mitochondria Important parts of the biological cell, with each mitochondrion encased within a mitochondrial membrane. Mitochondria are best known for their role in energy production, earning them the nickname "the powerhouse of the cell". Mitochondria also participate in the detection of threats and the response to these threats. One of the responses to threats orchestrated by mitochondria is apoptosis, a cell suicide program used by cells when the threat can not be eliminated.

Oxford University a prestigious university located in Oxford, England renowned for its teaching and research in health and medicine

biomedical research basic medical research on organisms, such as humans or other living things, that helps increase medical knowledge. (Learn more: me-pedia.org)