Michael Houghton

From MEpedia, a crowd-sourced encyclopedia of ME and CFS science and history
Source:ualberta.ca

Michael Houghton, PhD, is a Professor at the Department of Medical Microbiology & Immunology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He was the first to successfully identify and clone the Hepatitis C virus.[1] His professional interests are the Hepatitis C virus, the Hepatitis B virus, and exploring if other chronic illnesses are caused or exacerbated by an acute or persistent viral infection.[2]

Dr. Houghton and his virology team are working on a biomarker for myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) using diagnostic cytokine patterns (specifically circulating interleukin (IL)-16, IL-7, and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A (VEGF-A).[3] The team is also investigating if a novel pathogen is associated with a cluster of CFS patients.[4]

Awards[edit | edit source]

  • Canada Excellence Research Chair in Virology at the University of Alberta[5]
  • 2000, Albert Lasker Clinical Medical Research Award[6]

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Advisory Committee[edit | edit source]

Dr. Houghton served as a voting member of the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Advisory Committee from 05/10/10 to 05/10/14.[7]

Notable studies[edit | edit source]

See also[edit | edit source]

Learn more[edit | edit source]


References[edit | edit source]

  1. http://www.cerc.gc.ca/chairholders-titulaires/houghton-eng.aspx
  2. http://www.mmi.med.ualberta.ca/staff_students/michael_houghton.php
  3. 3.0 3.1 Landi, Abdolamir; Broadhurst, David; Vernon, Suzanne D.; Tyrrell, D. Lorne J.; Houghton, Michael (February 2016). "Reductions in circulating levels of IL-16, IL-7 and VEGF-A in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome". Cytokine. 78: 27–36. doi:10.1016/j.cyto.2015.11.018.
  4. http://solvecfs.org/research/cfidsaa-research-program-for-researchers/michael-houghton/
  5. http://www.mmi.med.ualberta.ca/staff_students/michael_houghton.php
  6. http://www.laskerfoundation.org/awards/
  7. HHS.gov (2010), October 12 & 13, 2010 CFSAC Meeting (PDF) (Roster)
  8. Steffen, Imke; Tyrrell, D. Lorne; Stein, Eleanor; Montalvo, Leilani; Lee, Tzong-Hae; Zhou, Yanchen; Lu, Kai; Switzer, William M.; Tang, Shaohua; Jia, Hongwei; Hockman, Darren; Santer, Deanna M.; Logan, Michael; Landi, Amir; Law, John; Houghton, Michael; Simmons, Graham (November 17, 2011). "No Evidence for XMRV Nucleic Acids, Infectious Virus or Anti-XMRV Antibodies in Canadian Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome". PLoS ONE. 6 (11): e27870. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0027870. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 3219700. PMID 22114717.
  9. Jason, LA; Unger, ER; Dimitrakoff, JD; Fagin, AP; Houghton, M; Cook, DB; Marshall, GD, Jr; Klimas, N; Snell, C (2012), "Minimum data elements for research reports on CFS", Brain, Behavior, Immunology, 26 (3): 401-6, doi:10.1016/j.bbi.2012.01.014, PMID 22306456