Hector Bonilla

Hector Bonilla, MD, is an infectious disease doctor and researcher at Stanford University, specializing in HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C virus (HCV), ME/CFS. He received a 2018 Ramsay Award from the Solve ME/CFS Initiative for a genetics project on ME/CFS and the herpes virus. The research follows on his preliminary findings that herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 1 infection in the sera of individuals with ME/CFS is related to severity of the disease.

Education and training

Dr. Bonilla earned his medical degree (1983) from the Universidad del Valle School of Medicine in Cali, Colombia, where he later served as chief resident in internal medicine (1988). He subsequently conducted a residency at Sinai Hospital of Detroit, earning board certification in internal medicine from the American Board of Internal Medicine in 1994. He next completed a fellowship in infectious diseases at University of Michigan and earned board certification in infectious diseases from the American Board of Internal Medicine in 1996.

Career and appointments

Dr. Bonilla's early career experience focused on treating HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C Virus at a time when both diseases faced stigma and research neglect for effective treatments. He worked at Louisiana State University, then Summa Health System in Akron, Ohio, and he grew increasingly interested in clinical research. Pursuing these subjects, he joined the University Of Pittsburgh Medical Center as Assistant Professor, Clinician, and Medical Educator in the Department of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases, then later ImmunoScience Inc., a biotechnology company in California working to develop a therapeutic HIV vaccine, due to his interest in cytokines and immunological responses.

Dr. Bonilla's interest in inflammatory response as well as his experience treating HIV and HCV drew him to the subject of ME/CFS. He is currently Clinical Assistant Professor, Medicine - Infectious Diseases, at Stanford University and a positive care doctor at the Stanford's Infectious Disease Clinic. His biography at Stanford describes: "His ME/CFS patients are his inspiration, and he is committed to continuing research to seek answers to their health challenges."

He received a 2018 Ramsay Award from the Solve ME/CFS Initiative for a "Cross-sectional study to assess the prevalence of APOE e4 alleles in patients with ME/CFS and the association with herpes virus infection”. The project follows on preliminary findings that herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 1 infection in the sera of individuals with ME/CFS is related to severity of the disease.

Notable studies and publications

• 2021, Off label use of Aripiprazole shows promise as a treatment for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS): a retrospective study of 101 patients treated with a low dose of Aripiprazole (Full text)

correction

• 2021, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Essentials of Diagnosis and Management. Mayo Clinic Proceedings (Full text)

• Patients with uncomplicated COVID-19 have long-term persistent symptoms and functional impairment similar to patients with severe COVID-19: a cautionary tale during a global pandemic (Full text)

Clinic location

3351 El Camino Real, Suite 225

Atherton, CA 94027

(650) 736-5200

See also

• Aripiprazole (Abilify)
• Solve ME/CFS Initiative

See myalgic encephalomyelitis.

See chronic fatigue syndrome.

serum The clear yellowish fluid that remains from blood plasma after clotting factors have been removed by clot formation. (Blood plasma is simply blood that has had its blood cells removed.)

myalgic encephalomyelitis (M.E.) - A disease often marked by neurological symptoms, but fatigue is sometimes a symptom as well. Some diagnostic criteria distinguish it from chronic fatigue syndrome, while other diagnostic criteria consider it to be a synonym for chronic fatigue syndrome. A defining characteristic of ME is post-exertional malaise (PEM), or post-exertional neuroimmune exhaustion (PENE), which is a notable exacerbation of symptoms brought on by small exertions. PEM can last for days or weeks. Symptoms can include cognitive impairments, muscle pain (myalgia), trouble remaining upright (orthostatic intolerance), sleep abnormalities, and gastro-intestinal impairments, among others. An estimated 25% of those suffering from ME are housebound or bedbound. The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies ME as a neurological disease.