Donald Staines

Professor Donald R. Staines, MBBS, MPH, FAFPHM, FAFOEM, is 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.

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

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. Staines, 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

Notable studies

 * 2016, Regulatory T, natural killer T and γδ T cells in multiple sclerosis and chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis: a comparison.
 * 2016, Novel characterisation of mast cell phenotypes from peripheral blood mononuclear cells in chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis patients
 * 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
 * 2015, Characterisation of cell functions and receptors in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME)"'Conclusions: This study was the first to show significant differences in a number of receptors in NK, CD4+T and CD8+T cells in CFS/ME suggesting dysregulation in NK cell cytotoxic activity, receptor regulation and potentially cell adherence. Consistent with previous literature, our research suggests that CFS/ME patients have immunological dysregulation in the innate and adaptive immune cells. We have also highlighted significant differences in NK, CD4+T and CD8+T cells between moderate and severe CFS/ME patients, suggesting severity subgroups may have distinct immune perturbations and consequently aetiology. Further studies examining severity subgroups of CFS/ME patients may therefore contribute to the understanding of the pathomechanism associated with the illness.'"
 * 2015, Cytokines in the Cerebrospinal Fluids of Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis
 * 2013, The role of clinical guidelines for chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis in research settings. Abstract

Diagnostic test
In February 2016 Dr Staines' team announced it had created a diagnostic test for the disease.

Talks & interviews

 * 2016, Speaker at the 11th Invest in ME International ME Conference on "Update from NCNED: Receptor identification and intracellular signalling" DVD available
 * 2015, Who Are You? Professor Don Staines, ME/CFS research, Griffith University Gold Coast (31 August 2015)

Learn more

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

Online presence

 * PubMed - Donald Staines