Alan Light

Alan R. Light, Ph.D., is a Research Professor of Anesthesiology, Neurobiology and Anatomy at the Interdepartmental Program in Neuroscience at the University of Utah. He studies the neurobiology of pain and fatigue enhancement caused by injury and in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia. Professor Light and his wife. Dr. Kathleen Light, are known for their work on post-exertional gene expression after exercise.

Dr. Light is a member of the Working Group which offers their expertise and resources to the ME/CFS Collaborative Research Center at Stanford University.

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

Awards

 * Javits Neuroscience Investigator Award (a seven-year research grant) from the National Institutes of Health for his research on descending control of pain.
 * 2010 - Won Second Place in Oral Presentations at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the American Society Anesthesiologists for A novel approach to studying the sensory pathways involved in the perception of fatigue

Education

 * B.A. 1972, Hamilton College
 * Ph.D. 1977, SUNY at Upstate Medical Center
 * Postdoctoral Fellow 1977-1979, UNC-Chapel Hill

Talks and interviews

 * Aug 12, 2017, Community Symposium on the Molecular Basis of ME/CFS - 2017: Speech title - Gene variants, mitochondria & autoimmunity in ME/CFS
 * Alan Light - Segment 3: Update on Dr. Light's Recent CFS and FM Research (Feb 22, 2016)
 * Alan Light - Segment 2: Detailed Explanation of Dr. Light's CFS and FM Research (Feb 22, 2016)
 * Alan Light - Segment 1: Why Research Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia? (Feb 22, 2016)
 * Partnerships to Accelerate Biomarker and Mechanisms Discovery in ME/CFS and Fibromyalgia - Alan Light, PhD (5 Dec 2015)
 * Solve ME/CFS Initiative Webinar "New Developments in ME/CFS Research" - Alan Light, PhD (Oct 15, 2015)]

Short web seminars Science to patients / Wetenschap voor patienten
English speech, with Dutch subtitles
 * 2015, 58. Fatigue / Vermoeidheid - Prof. Alan Light


 * 2015, 59. Genes & Gene-Expression/ Genen en gen-expressie - Prof. Alan Light


 * 2015, 60. Gene expression markers of ME/cfs / Gen-expressie markers van ME/cvs - Prof. Alan Light


 * 2015, 61. Fatigue and Pain in ME/cfs / Vermoeidheid en pijn bij ME/cvs - Prof. Alan Light


 * 2015, 62. ME/cfs and exclusive Conditions / ME/cvs en uitsluitingsaandoeningen - Prof. Alan Light


 * 2015, 63. Effects of ME/cfs on the Brain / Effecten van ME/cvs op de hersenen - Prof. Alan Light


 * 2015, 64. ME/cfs, immune system, cell functioning / ME/cvs, immuunsysteem en cel functioneren - Prof. Alan Light

Books

 * 2010, Chapter 11: Myalgia and Fatigue—Translation from Mouse Sensory Neurons to Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndromes In: Translational Pain Research – From Mouse to Man (Full Text)

Notable studies related to ME/CFS

 * 2009, Moderate Exercise Increases Expression for Sensory, Adrenergic, and Immune Genes in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Patients But Not in Normal Subjects (Full Text)
 * 2010, Severity of symptom flare after moderate exercise is linked to cytokine activity in chronic fatigue syndrome (Full Text)
 * 2010, A novel approach to studying the sensory pathways involved in the perception of fatigue (Abstract)
 * 2011, Absence of XMRV retrovirus and other murine leukemia virus-related viruses in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (Full Text)
 * 2011, Evidence for a heritable predisposition to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (Full Text)
 * 2012, Gene expression alterations at baseline and following moderate exercise in patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia Syndrome (Full Text)
 * 2012, Differences in metabolite-detecting, adrenergic, and immune gene expression after moderate exercise in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome, patients with multiple sclerosis, and healthy controls (Full text)
 * 2012, Genetics and Gene Expression Involving Stress and Distress Pathways in Fibromyalgia with and without Comorbid Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (Full text)
 * 2013, Differing leukocyte gene expression profiles associated with fatigue in patients with prostate cancer versus chronic fatigue syndrome (Full Text)
 * 2013, Post-Exertion Malaise in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Symptoms and Gene Expression (Abstract)
 * 2016, Gene expression factor analysis to differentiate pathways linked to fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and depression in a diverse patient sample (Full Text)
 * 2017, Symptom variability following acute exercise in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: a perspective on measuring post-exertion malaise (Abstract)
 * 2017, Neural Consequences of Post-Exertion Malaise in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (Full Text)

Open Letter to The Lancet
Two open letters to the editor of The Lancet journal urged the editor to commission a fully independent review of the PACE trial, which it had published in 2011. In 2016, Dr. Light, along with 41 colleagues in the ME/CFS field, signed the second letter

News and media coverage

 * 2014, Sufferers of chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia have hope in new diagnostic tool

Online presence

 * University of Utah - Alan Light
 * PubMed