Donald Staines

Professor Donald R. Staines, MBBS, MPH, FAFPHM, FAFOEM, is a Clinical Professor at Menzies Health Institute Queensland and the co-director (alongside Sonya Marshall-Gradisnik) of the National Centre for Neuroimmunology and Emerging Diseases (NCNED) at Griffith University in Queensland in north-eastern Australia. His research team is working towards discovery of diagnostic tools and treatments for chronic fatigue syndrome.

International Consensus Criteria
Staines is one of the authors of the 2011 case definition, International Consensus Criteria.

Diagnostic test
In February 2016 the research team led by Donald Staines and Sonya Marshall-Gradisnik announced it had created a diagnostic test for the disease using CD8 T cells. They have been awarded a $4-million grant to be administered during the next five years that will enable them to continue research into developing a diagnostic test for ME/CFS.

Open Letters to The Lancet
Three 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. Staines, along with 41 colleagues in the ME/CFS field, signed the second letter. In June 2018, Dr. Staines signed the third letter, this time along with approximately 100 colleagues.


 * 10 February 2016, An open letter to The Lancet, again - Virology blog
 * 19 June 2018, Trial By Error: An Open Letter to The Lancet, Two Years On - Virology blog

Notable studies

 * 2011, Immunological abnormalities as potential biomarkers in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis - (Full Text)
 * 2012, The Effects of Influenza Vaccination on Immune Function in Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis - (Full Text)
 * 2014, Characterization of Natural Killer Cell Phenotypes in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis - (Full Text)
 * 2014, The Role of Adaptive and Innate Immune Cells in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis - (Full Text)
 * 2014, The role of clinical guidelines for chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis in research settings - (Abstract)
 * 2014, Analysis of the Relationship between Immune Dysfunction and Symptom Severity in Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) - (Full Text)
 * 2015, A Comparison of Cytokine Profiles of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and Multiple Sclerosis Patients
 * 2015, Metabolic profiling reveals anomalous energy metabolism and oxidative stress pathways in chronic fatigue syndrome patients - (Abstract)
 * 2015, Serum Immune Proteins in Moderate and Severe Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Patients - (Full Text)
 * 2015, Examination of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) in Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) Ion Channels in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Patients - (Full Text)
 * 2015, Characterisation of cell functions and receptors in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) - (Full Text)
 * 2015, Longitudinal analysis of immune abnormalities in varying severities of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis patients - (Full Text)
 * 2015, Cytokines in the Cerebrospinal Fluids of Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis
 * 2016, Killer Cell Immunoglobulin-like Receptor Genotype and Haplotype Investigation of Natural Killer Cells from an Australian Population of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Patients - (Full Text)
 * 2016, A Systematic Review of Drug Therapies for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis -(Abstract)
 * 2016, Progressive brain changes in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome: A longitudinal MRI study - (Full Text)
 * 2016, Regulatory T, natural killer T and γδ T cells in multiple sclerosis and chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis: a comparison - (Full Text)
 * 2016, ERK1/2, MEK1/2 and p38 downstream signalling molecules impaired in CD56dimCD16+ and CD56brightCD16dim/− natural killer cells in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis patients - (Full Text)
 * 2016, Natural killer cells and single nucleotide polymorphisms of specific ion channels and receptor genes in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome - (Full Text)
 * 2017, Dietary and nutrition interventions for the therapeutic treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis: a systematic review - (Full Text)
 * 2017, Impaired calcium mobilization in natural killer cells from chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis patients is associated with transient receptor potential melastatin 3 ion channels - (Full Text)
 * 2017, Novel characterisation of mast cell phenotypes from peripheral blood mononuclear cells in chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis patients - (Full Text)
 * 2018, Decreased Expression of TRPM3 and mAChRM3 in the Small Intestine in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis - (Full text)
 * 2018, Brain function characteristics of chronic fatigue syndrome: A task fMRI study - (Full Text)
 * 2018, A Systematic Review of Probiotic Interventions for Gastrointestinal Symptoms and Irritable Bowel Syndrome in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) - (Abstract)
 * 2018, A systematic review of enteric dysbiosis in chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis - (Full text)
 * 2018, Rituximab impedes natural killer cell function in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis patients: A pilot in vitro investigation - (Full Text)
 * 2018, Reduced glycolytic reserve in isolated natural killer cells from Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome patients: A preliminary investigation - (Abstract)
 * 2018, Hyperintense sensorimotor T1 spin echo MRI is associated with brainstem abnormality in chronic fatigue syndrome - (Full Text)
 * 2018, Loss of Transient Receptor Potential Melastatin 3 ion channel function in natural killer cells from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis patients - (Full Text)
 * 2019, Prevalence and characteristics of chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) in Poland: a cross-sectional study - (Full text)
 * 2019, Validation of impaired Transient Receptor Potential Melastatin 3 ion channel activity in natural killer cells from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ Myalgic Encephalomyelitis patients - (Full text)
 * 2019, A systematic review of cytokines in chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis/systemic exertion intolerance disease (CFS/ME/SEID) - (Full text)
 * 2019, Naltrexone restores impaired transient receptor potential melastatin 3 ion channel function in natural killer cells from myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome patients - (Abstract)
 * 2019, Intra brainstem connectivity is impaired in chronic fatigue syndrome - (Full text)
 * 2019, Transient receptor potential melastatin 2 channels are overexpressed in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome patients - (Full text)
 * 2020, Health-related quality of life in patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: an Australian cross-sectional study - (Full text)
 * 2020, Mapping of pathological change in chronic fatigue syndrome using the ratio of T1- and T2-weighted MRI scans - (Full text)
 * 2021, Systematic Review of Sleep Characteristics in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - (Full text)
 * 2021, Potential Therapeutic Benefit of Low Dose Naltrexone in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Role of Transient Receptor Potential Melastatin 3 Ion Channels in Pathophysiology and Treatment - (Full text)

Talks and interviews

 * 2015, Who Are You? Professor Don Staines, ME/CFS research, Griffith University Gold Coast (31 August 2015)
 * 2016, Speaker at the 11th Invest in ME International ME Conference on "Update from NCNED: Receptor identification and intracellular signalling" DVD available
 * 2017, Speaker at the 12th Invest in ME International ME Conference; Speech title: Dysregulation of Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) ion channels and calcium in natural killer cells in CFS/ME patients - (Video)
 * 2018, Meet the Scientists: Prof Don Staines on ME Australia
 * 13 Mar 2019, Immunological & Calcium Signalling Define ME/CFS given at the International Research Symposium, Geelong, Australia, sponsored by Emerge Australia (presentation with Sonya Marshall-Gradisnik)
 * 31 May 2019, Speaker at the 14th Invest in ME Conference 2019; Speech title: Transient receptor potential ion channels in the aetiology and pathomechanism of CFS/ME - (Video)

Learn more

 * Donald Staines Griffith University - Donald Staines
 * 2014, Gold Coast’s Griffith University to lead way in the battle against chronic fatigue (Gold Coast Bulletin, July 30 2014)
 * 2016, Australian scientists make breakthrough in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome testing
 * 2018, Profile in Meet the Scientists: Prof Don Staines

Online presence

 * PubMed - Donald Staines
 * ResearchGate