Donna Pearson

Donna M. Pearson is a patient advocate from Holland, Massachusetts. She became ill with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) in 2003 following a flu, that in her words, "was far worse than anything I had ever experienced." Prior to becoming ill she worked as the Vice President for a real estate syndication firm, established her own management company, raised a family, and led a full and active life.

Massachusetts CFIDS/ME & FM Association

Pearson is an officer of the Massachusetts CFIDS/ME & FM Association, a large and respected patient advocacy group.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Advisory Committee

Pearson serves as a voting member of the HHS's Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Advisory Committee (CFSAC) for the term: 06/16/14 to 06/16/18 and chairs the IOM/P2P Working Group for CFSAC.

Questions to NIH during Advocacy Call

• 2 Nov 2016, NIH ME/CFS Advocacy Call - (Recorded call and Transcript) with Dr. Walter Koroshetz, Dr. Vicky Whittemore, Dr. Joseph Breen, and Dr. Avindra Nath - During the question and answer session, Pearson challenges Dr. Koroshetz's statements that the illness needed champions. She stated that we do have champions. And they’ve been working for years and that we needed the NIH to become our champion.

Talks and interviews

• Testimony during the CFSAC Meeting

Chronic Fatigue and Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (CFIDS) - Chronic Fatigue and Immune Dysfunction Syndrome is another term for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, but one which emphasizes the immunological aspects of the disease. Popular in the 1990s, this term has apparently fallen into disuse.

National Institutes of Health (NIH) - A set of biomedical research institutes operated by the U.S. government, under the auspices of the Department of Health and Human Services.