Harvard ME/CFS Collaborative Research Center

In May 2018, the Open Medicine Foundation announced the establishment of a new ME/CFS Collaborative Research Center at the Harvard Medical School affiliated hospitals. This center work in synergy with the ME/CFS Collaborative Research Center at Stanford, led by Ronald Davis.

Notable people
This center is led by two OMF Scientific Advisory Board members:
 * Ronald Tompkins
 * Wenzhong Xiao

Aims
""The Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) Collaboration seeks to conduct clinical and basic science mechanistic studies with high priority given to areas that create major symptoms for patients.""

Goals

 * to establish a Clinical Trials Network to facilitate multi-center clinical studies on potential effective treatments for ME/CFS


 * to establish a Center of Excellence for ME/CFS

Research project
The research focii for this new center are:
 * to collect molecular data on muscle and other tissues affected by ME/CFS
 * This will include comparing patient muscle biopsies to controls, "examining genomics, proteomics, and ultrastructural analysis". This aims to help uncover the etiology of post-exertional malaise.

This aims to test the hypothesis that "the inflammation-related recovery mechanisms in ME/CFS patients are dysfunctional, and that this delays recovery from post-stress".


 * investigating neurological symptoms of brain fog and circadian rhythms
 * This will involve the testing of hypotheses related to microglial cell activation, vagus nerve signaling, and disrupted autonomic and metabolic functioning in the central nervous system. The very advanced MGH/HMS brain imaging at the Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging will be used.


 * to research the cardiopulmonary problems contributing to fatigue in ME/CFS
 * This will use the iCPET Cardiopulmonary Laboratory at the Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston. Exploring the "very specific findings that are seen in ME/CFS patients" to help understand the autonomic dysregulation in ME/CFS, its effects, and its contribution to postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS).


 * to explore plasma repository samples of patients undergoing exercise stresses
 * This will improve understanding of the proteomics and metabolomics in patients.

Funding
OMF has funded $1.8 million for the first year of this new ME/CFS Collaborative Research Center at Harvard.

News and blogs

 * 2018, Open Medicine Foundation Announces Harvard Collaborative Research Center

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