James Baraniuk

Source:www.prohealth.com

James Nicholas Baraniuk, MD, is an Associate Professor with Tenure in the Department of Medicine at Georgetown University and the Director of the Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center, located within the Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, D.C. The Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center does research on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Gulf War Illness and other pain conditions, particularly in the areas of Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), biomarker discovery through proteomic, metabolomic, and transcriptomic assays in blood and cereobrospinal fluid, autonomic testing and heart rate variability (HRV) and statistical analyses using machine learning, hierarchical clustering, and other data mining methods.

Education

• 1972-1976 - B. Sc. (Hons.), Joint Honours in Chemistry and Microbiology, Dean's Honour List, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
• 1977-1981 - M. D., University of Manitoba
• 1978-1979 - B. Sc. (Medicine), University of Manitoba
• 1981-1982 - Internship, Saint Thomas Hospital Medical Center, Akron, Ohio
• 1982-1984 - Internal Medicine Resident, Saint Thomas Hospital Medical Center, Akron, Ohio
• 1984-1985 - Senior Assistant Resident in Internal Medicine, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina
• 1985-1987 - Fellowship in Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Duke University Medical Center

Positions of employment

• 1987-1989 - Adjunct Scientist, Allergy Disease Section, Laboratory of Clinical Investigation, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, Bethesda, MD
• 1989-1991 - Visiting Clinical Scientist, Thoracic Medicine Department, National Heart and Lung Institute, London, England
• 1991-present - Department of Medicine, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.

ME/CFS Common Data Element (CDE) Project

Member of the Neurologic/Cognitive/CNS Imaging Working Group of the Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Common Data Element (CDE) Project sponsored by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Notable studies related to ME/CFS

• 2000, Irritant Rhinitis in Allergic, Nonallergic, Control and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Populations
• 2000, Tobacco Sensitivity in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) (Abstract)
• 2002, Differences in Baseline Nasal Secretions Between Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and Control Subjects
• 2005, A Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - related proteome in human cerebrospinal fluid. (Full Text)
• 2010, Xenotropic Murine Leukemia Virus-Related Virus in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Prostate Cancer (Full Text)
• 2011, Migraine headaches in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS): comparison of two prospective cross-sectional studies.
• 2012, No serological evidence for a role of HHV-6 infection in chronic fatigue syndrome.
• 2012, Dyspnea in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS): Comparison of Two Prospective Cross-Sectional Studies. (Full Text)
• 2013, Increased Brain White Matter Axial Diffusivity Associated with Fatigue, Pain and Hyperalgesia in Gulf War Illness (Full Text)
• 2013, Migraine in gulf war illness and chronic fatigue syndrome: Prevalence, potential mechanisms, and evaluation. (Full Text)
• 2013, A Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) severity score based on case designation criteria. (Full Text)
• 2017, Exercise-induced changes in cerebrospinal fluid miRNAs in Gulf War Illness, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and sedentary control subjects (Full Text)

Talks and interviews

• 2011, 6th Invest in ME International ME Conference 2011 - Speech Title: Cerebrospinal Biomarkers for ME/CFS

• 2011 Conference DVD available

• 2012, 7th Invest in ME International ME Conference 2012 (no speech title given)
• 2013, Georgetown University to Study Post-Exertional Malaise
• 2014, 9th Invest in ME International ME Conference 2014 (no speech title given)
• 2016, 11th Invest in ME International ME Conference 2016 - Speech Title: Exercise testing and Orthostatic Tachycardia

Open Letter to The Lancet

Two open letters to the editor of The Lancet urged the editor to commission a fully independent review of the PACE trial, which the journal had published in 2011. In 2016, Dr. Baraniuk, along with 41 colleagues in the ME/CFS field, signed the second letter.

• 10 February 2016, An open letter to The Lancet, again - Virology blog

Learn more

• Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center, Georgetown University
• Active Research Studies currently recruiting subjects

assay 1. (verb) analysis (as of an ore or drug) to determine the presence, absence, or quantity of one or more components. 2. (noun) In biochemistry, any laboratory protocol used to test a sample for one or more qualities.

heart rate variability (HRV) - A measurement of the variability of the heart rate over time. When the heart rate is consistent, there will be a low heart rate variability. When the heart rate is constantly changing, there will be a high heart rate variability. Heart rate variability is often used by ME/CFS patients to monitor their autonomic nervous system, as high heart rate variability is associated with the sympathetic nervous system and low heart rate variability is associated with the parasympathetic nervous system.

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

central nervous system (CNS) - One of the two parts of the human nervous system, the other part being the peripheral nervous system. The central nervous system consists of the brain and spinal cord, while the peripheral nervous system consists of nerves that travel from the central nervous system into the various organs and tissues of the body.

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.

tachycardia An unusually rapid heart beat. Can be caused by exercise or illness. A symptom of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). (Learn more: www.heart.org)

creatine (CR) - A natural substance that turns into creatine phosphate in the body, which helps make ATP. ATP provides the energy for muscles Often taken as a supplement to improve sports performance. (Learn more: www.webmd.com)