Anthony Komaroff

Anthony L. Komaroff, MD, is an Internal Medicine physician and since 1993, a professor at Harvard Medical School in the United States, holding the title of the Steven P. Simcox, Patrick A. Clifford and James H. Higby Distinguished Professor of Medicine.

He was quoted in a Rolling Stone article in 1987, written by Hillary Johnson, stating that he did not agree the illness was a "yuppie disease", which became the derogatory label that became commonly used later, Yuppie Flu. He is featured in Ryan Prior's documentary, Forgotten Plague.

He served as past President of the Board of Directors of the International Association of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis from 1991-1992.

Education

 * 1963 – 1967, M.D., University of Washington
 * 1959 – 1963, A.B., History, Pre-Med, Stanford University

Awards and Honors

 * 2001, Rudy Perpich Senior Lectureship Award, presented to a distinguished CFS/FM scientist, physician or healthcare worker awarded by IACFS/ME
 * Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American College of Physicians, and the Association for Health Services Research.
 * Served on advisory committees for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Surgeon General of the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Institute of Medicine/National Academy of Sciences.
 * Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the HHV-6 Foundation.

Notable studies

 * 2015, Findings from a clinical and laboratory database developed for discovery of pathogenic mechanisms in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome. Abstract
 * 1994, Ampligen inhibits human herpesvirus-6 in vitro."Abstract: 'The recently discovered human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6) is being associated with an increasing number of conditions in which there is evidence of immunologic dysfunction. A number of widely available antiviral agents have shown little or no activity against the virus. We found that Ampligen [Poly (1): Poly (C12U), a synthetic, mismatched, double-stranded RNA, has potent, previously unexpected antiviral effects. Cells known to allow replication of HHV-6 were infected with the virus and treated with Ampligen under various conditions. When cells were pretreated with Ampligen (concentrations of 100 or 200 micrograms/ml) prior to infection or treated shortly after infection, viral replication was inhibited by 46-98%. At 100 and 200 micrograms/ml, Ampligen also inhibited the DNA polymerase activity of HHV-6 by 42-98%. When lower concentrations of Ampligen (10 and 50 micrograms/ml) were used, only pretreatment of cells, with Ampligen, followed by virus infection and carrying the infected cells with Ampligen, significantly inhibited HHV-6 infection (83.7 and 89.1% respectively). Indirect evidence suggests that Ampligen may inhibit viral attachment to cellular receptors and/or inhibit intracellular maturation of the virus. The above concentrations of Ampligen were not toxic to the cells used in the study. Given these in vitro findings, and the low frequency of toxicity reported with the use of Ampligen, clinical trials of this drug in patients with evidence of reactivated HHV-6 infection would seem to be warranted.'"

Talks & interviews

 * 10 Nov 2016, [[Solve ME/CFS Initiative] Webinar with Dr. Anthony Komaroff, "Hot Areas in ME/CFS Research"]
 * 16 Feb 2016, CDC Grand Rounds - Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Advancing Research and Clinical Education with Charles Lapp, MD, Elizabeth Unger, PhD, MD, Anthony Komaroff, MD and Avindra Nath, MD
 * 2016, Beyond the Data – Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Advancing Research and Clinical Education (NIH Post-Infectious ME/CFS Study)
 * 2014, ME/CFS Alert Interviews: Part 1 Part2 Part3 Advice for the Department of Health

Online presence

 * PubMed - Anthony Komaroff
 * Ask Doctor K - an online medical information column for patients
 * LinkedIn

Learn more

 * Wikipedia