James Baraniuk

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
 * 1978-1979 - B. Sc. (Medicine), University of Manitoba
 * 1977-1981 - M. D., 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.

Notable studies

 * 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)"'Abstract -OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence of headache subtypes in Gulf War Illness (GWI) and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) compared to controls. BACKGROUND: Approximately, 25% of the military personnel who served in the 1990-1991 Persian Gulf War have developed GWI. Symptoms of GWI and CFS have considerable overlap, including headache complaints. Migraines are reported in CFS. The type and prevalence of headaches in GWI have not been adequately assessed. METHODS: 50 GWI, 39 CFS and 45 controls had structured headache evaluations based on the 2004 International Headache Society criteria. All subjects had history and physical examinations, fatigue and symptom related questionnaires, measurements of systemic hyperalgesia (dolorimetry), and assessments for exclusionary conditions. RESULTS: Migraines were detected in 64% of GWI (odds ratio = 11.6 [4.1-32.5]) (mean [±95% CI]) and 82% of CFS subjects (odds ratio = 22.5 [7.8-64.8]) compared to only 13% of controls. There was a predominance of females in the CFS compared to GWI and controls. However, migraine status was independent of gender in GWI and CFS groups (x (2) = 2.7; P = 0.101). Measures of fatigue, pain, and other ancillary criteria were comparable between GWI and CFS subjects with and without headache. CONCLUSION: The high prevalence of migraine in CFS was confirmed and extended to GWI subjects. GWI and CFS may share dysfunctional central pathophysiological pathways that contribute to migraine and subjective symptoms. The high migraine prevalence warrants the inclusion of a structured headache evaluation in GWI and CFS subjects, and treatment when present.'"
 * 2013, A Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) severity score based on case designation criteria.
 * 2012, Dyspnea 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.
 * 2011, Migraine headaches in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS): comparison of two prospective cross-sectional studies.
 * 2005, A Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - related proteome in human cerebrospinal fluid.
 * 2002, Differences in Baseline Nasal Secretions Between Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and Control Subjects"'Abstract - Objective: To assess potential mechanism(s) for the rhinitis found in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) subjects. Methods: The concentrations of mucus constituents were measured in basal nasal lavage fluids of 103 CFS and 92 non-CFS control subjects. Subjects were further characterized by their Rhinitis Score and allergy skin test results into nonallergic and allergic rhinitis, atopic, and negative subgroups to determine if differences were related to atopy. Other questionnaires of irritant sensitivity and medicine use were completed. Results: Mucin polysaccharide (p = 0.043, ANOVA), free hemoglobin (p = 0.0044), mucin/total protein (p = 0.039) and hemoglobin/total protein (p = 0.043) were higher in CFS than controls. CFS subjects with positive Rhinitis Scores (p = 0.023) or skin tests (p = 0.047) had higher mucin levels than those with negative values. For all subjects, increased mucin was correlated with total protein (Pearson's r2 = 0.188) and inhaled corticosteroid use (r2 = 0.091), while hemoglobin was correlated with total protein (r2 = 0.082) and elevated Tobacco Scores (r2 = 0.061). Other correlations with demographic, medication, or questionnaire responses gave r2 < 0.05. Conclusions: CFS subjects have a higher level of complaints in many systems including the nose. They appear to have an irritant (nonallergic) rhinitis with increased mucin production and mucosal friability (epistaxis of hemoglobin). Nasal and systemic drugs do not explain these significant baseline changes.'"

Talks and interviews

 * 2016, 11th [[Invest in ME International ME Conference] 2016 Exercise testing and Orthostatic Tachycardia]
 * 2014, 9th [[Invest in ME International ME Conference] 2014 (no speech title given)]
 * 2013, Georgetown University to Study Post-Exertional Malaise
 * 2012, 7th [[Invest in ME International ME Conference] 2012 (no speech title given)]
 * 2011, 6th [[Invest in ME International ME Conference] 2011 Cerebrospinal Biomarkers for ME/CFS]

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