Ronald Davis

From MEpedia, a crowd-sourced encyclopedia of ME and CFS science and history
RonaldDavis.jpeg

Ronald Wayne Davis, PhD., or Ron Davis, is a Professor of Biochemistry & Genetics and the Director of the Stanford Genome Technology Center at Stanford University. In 1983, he was bestowed the honor of being elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences.[1]

Ron Davis' son, Whitney Dafoe, is severely ill with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). Professor Davis leads the End ME/CFS Project with the Open Medicine Foundation whose first project was the ME/CFS Severely Ill, Big Data Study.[2]

Committees and boards[edit | edit source]

Open Medicine Foundation[edit | edit source]

Director of the Scientific Advisory Board at Open Medicine Foundation, which is committed to research for ME/CFS and related chronic complex diseases.[3]

Institute of Medicine report[edit | edit source]

Dr. Davis was one of the experts on the "Committee on the Diagnostic Criteria for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome" that was convened as per US government request for the 2015 Institute of Medicine.[4] The Institute of Medicine has since changed its name to the National Academy of Medicine.[5]

ME/CFS Common Data Element (CDE) Project[edit | edit source]

Member of the Biomarkers 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.[6]

ME/CFS research summary[edit | edit source]

As director of the Scientific Advisory Board at Open Medicine Foundation, a charity he founded to research ME/CFS and related chronic complex diseases, Ron Davis has led a number of high profile medical research projects for ME/CFS.[3]

In June 2018, Dr. Davis and the Stanford Genome Center received a grant award for the research study Molecular and Single-cell Immunology of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome "to investigate the immunological basis of ME/CFS using cutting-edge technologies to understand the role of infection and autoimmunity in the behavior of single immune cells from patients – offering precise insights into how this complex illness originates and persists that may lead to new strategies for treatment."[7] This was a five-year study that it was announced would receive $745,000 a year.[8]

In February 2017, Dr. Davis explained in a video that the development of new nanofabricated technology allows rapid drug screening via measurement of electrical impedance. This technology may be able to determine which medications could be most effective in treating myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome. Experimentation was also being carried out to test if this same nanofabricated technology could be used in developing a simple diagnostic test for myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.[9] A small nanoelectronics-blood-based diagnostic biomarker study was published in 2019.[10]

In March 2016, it was announced that the ME/CFS Severely Ill, Big Data Study had a significant result in the area of mitochondria. This lead to the addition of Dr. Robert Naviaux (a mitochondrial expert) to the research team.[11]

Notable studies[edit | edit source]

  • 2023, Catalytic Antibodies May Contribute to Demyelination in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome[12] - (Full text)
  • 2019, A nanoelectronics-blood-based diagnostic biomarker for myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS)[10] - (Full text)
  • 2019, Red blood cell deformability is diminished in patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome[13] - (Full text)
  • 2018, Erythrocyte Deformability As a Potential Biomarker for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome[14] - (Full text)

Advocacy[edit | edit source]

Open Letters[edit | edit source]

Millions Missing protest[edit | edit source]

Dr. Ron Davis and his wife, Dr. Janet Dafoe, protested with #MillionsMissing at the San Francisco satellite protest on May 25, 2016.[19] Dr. Davis gave a speech about the challenges ME patients face, and his hopes for the future of ME research.[20]

Talks and interviews[edit | edit source]

2016

2017

YouTube video
Transcript
Mendelspod podcast
Transcript

2018

2019

Book[edit | edit source]

Alternative title: Waiting For Superman: One Family's Struggle to Survive - and Cure - Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Online presence[edit | edit source]

See also[edit | edit source]

Learn more[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. http://www.nasonline.org, National Academy of Sciences -. "Ronald Davis". nasonline.org. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  2. "End ME/CFS Project | Open Medicine Foundation". Open Medicine Foundation. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  3. 3.0 3.1 "Scientific Advisory Board | Open Medicine Foundation". Open Medicine Foundation. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  4. Committee on the Diagnostic Criteria for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome; Board on the Health of Select Populations; Institute of Medicine (February 10, 2015). Biographical Sketches of Committee Members, Consultants, and Staff. National Academies Press (US).
  5. "Home". National Academy of Medicine. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  6. "Complete Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome CDE Roster". NIH. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  7. Molecular and Single-cell Immunology of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - NIH RePORT Project Number 1R01AI139550-01
  8. HealthRising: Ron Davis (Finally) Gets His Big Grant! by Cort Johnson via Open Medicine Foundation
  9. "An Update on ME/CFS Research with Dr. Ronald W. Davis". Retrieved September 12, 2019.
  10. 10.0 10.1 Esfandyarpour, R.; Kashi, A.; Nemat-Gorgani, M.; Wilhelmy, J.; Davis, R.W. (May 21, 2019). "A nanoelectronics-blood-based diagnostic biomarker for myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS)". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 116 (21): 10250–10257. doi:10.1073/pnas.1901274116. ISSN 0027-8424.
  11. "End ME/CFS Severe Patient Study Turns to the Mitochondria". Health Rising's Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) and Fibromyalgia Forums. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
  12. Jensen, Michael Anthony; Dafoe, Miranda Lee; Wilhelmy, Julie; Cervantes, Layla; Okumu, Anna N.; Kipp, Lucas; Nemat-Gorgani, Mohsen; Davis, Ronald Wayne (November 27, 2023). "Catalytic Antibodies May Contribute to Demyelination in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome". Biochemistry. doi:10.1021/acs.biochem.3c00433. ISSN 1520-4995. PMID 38011893.
  13. Saha, Amit K.; Schmidt, Brendan R.; Wilhelmy, Julie; Nguyen, Vy; Abugherir, Abed; Do, Justin K.; Nemat-Gorgani, Mohsen; Davis, Ronald W.; Ramasubramanian, Anand K. (February 23, 2019). "Red blood cell deformability is diminished in patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome". Clinical Hemorheology and Microcirculation. 71 (1): 113–116. doi:10.3233/CH-180469.
  14. Saha, Amit K; Schmidt, Brendan R; Wilhelmy, Julie; Nguyen, Vy; Do, Justin; Suja, Vineeth C; Nemat-Gorgani, Mohsen; Ramasubramanian, Anand K; Davis, Ronald W (November 2018). "Erythrocyte Deformability As a Potential Biomarker for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome". Blood (132): 4874. doi:10.1182/blood-2018-99-117260.
  15. "An open letter to Dr. Richard Horton and The Lancet". Virology blog. Retrieved August 18, 2018.
  16. "An open letter to The Lancet, again". Virology blog. Retrieved August 18, 2018.
  17. "Trial By Error: An Open Letter to The Lancet, Two Years On". Virology blog. Retrieved August 18, 2018.
  18. "An open letter to Psychological Medicine about "recovery" and the PACE trial". Virology blog. Retrieved August 18, 2018.
  19. "#MillionsMissing - #MillionsMissing". millionsmissing.meaction.net. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  20. "Speeches from the Front Lines of #MillionsMissing: Ron Davis | #MEAction". The MEAction Network. Retrieved August 16, 2018.
  21. Davis Family (May 21, 2016). "Short Story of a Family's Struggle with ME/CFS". YouTube.
  22. Davis, Ronald; Tannenbaum, Linda (December 13, 2016). "Getting Answers to ME/CFS Faster through Collaboration and Openness". YouTube. Open Medicine Foundation - OMF.
  23. Davis, Ronald (February 3, 2017). "Scientist Ron Davis Tells How We Are "Fast-Tracking" ME/CFS Research". YouTube. Open Medicine Foundation - OMF.
  24. Davis, Ronald (March 7, 2017). "Q&A on ME/CFS Research with Dr. Ron Davis". YouTube. Open Medicine Foundation - OMF.
  25. Davis, Ronald (June 20, 2017). "Ron Davis is optimistic at the 2017 Invest in ME Research Conference". YouTube. Open Medicine Foundation - OMF.
  26. "Invest in ME Research - International ME Conferences and Colloquiums Home Page". Invest in ME Research. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
  27. Davis, Ronald (September 28, 2017). "Ronald Davis, PhD, Speaking on ME/CFS Research Approach". YouTube. Open Medicine Foundation - OMF.
  28. "ME/CFS Canadian Collaborative Team Conference program" (PDF). Retrieved March 6, 2019.
  29. "Invest in ME Research - IIMEC13 International ME Conference 2018". Invest in ME Research. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
  30. Davis, Ronald (September 17, 2018). "Dr. Ron Davis Presents ME/CFS Research at the 2018 IIMEC Conference". YouTube. Open Medicine Foundation - OMF.
  31. White, Tracie; Davis, Ronald W. (January 5, 2021). The Puzzle Solver: A Scientist's Desperate Quest to Cure the Illness that Stole His Son (1st ed.). New York: Hachette Books. ISBN 9781549177545.
  32. Davis, Ronald (July 12, 2016). "Happy 75th Birthday to Scientist Ronald W. Davis, PhD". YouTube. Open Medicine Foundation - OMF.
  33. Gu, Katie (January 4, 2016). "Tackling Chronic Fatigue Syndrome". The Stanford Daily. Retrieved September 17, 2018.
  34. White, Tracie. "The puzzle solver". Stanford Medicine. Retrieved September 17, 2018.