Mary Ann Fletcher

Source:nova.edu

Mary Ann Fletcher, Ph.D., is the first Schemel Professor for Neuro Immune Medicine at the Institute for Neuro Immune Medicine, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, US. Previously, she spent 40 years at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine as a Professor of Medicine, Microbiology/Immunology and Psychology. She holds two U.S. Patents for developing tests to determine if a person has mononucleosis. Currently her research focus has been on the identification of diagnostic biomarkers in ME/CFS, Gulf War Illness and other multi-complex illnesses.

Education

• Bachelor of Science in Microbiology from Texas Tech University
• Master of Science in Immunology and Virology from University of Texas Medical School
• Doctor of Philosophy in Immunochemistry from Baylor University
• Postdoctoral research at Northwestern University in Chicago.

Awards

• 2011, Research Award, awarded by International Association for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis.

Committees and boards

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Advisory Committee

Dr. Fletcher was a voting member of the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Advisory Committee, for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, from June 13, 2012 to December 13, 2016.

ME/CFS Common Data Element (CDE) Project

Member of the Immune Working Group of the Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Common Data Element (CDE) Project sponsored by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Advocacy

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 and again in 2018 , Dr. Fletcher, along with colleagues in the ME/CFS field, signed the second and third letter.

• 10 February 2016, An open letter to The Lancet, again - Virology blog
• 9 July 2018, Trial By Error: Yet Another Appeal to The Lancet, With More On Board

Notable studies in ME/CFS

• 1994, Dysregulated expression of tumor necrosis factor in chronic fatigue syndrome: interrelations with cellular sources and patterns of soluble immune mediator expression (Abstract)
• 1995, Relationships of Cognitive Difficulties to Immune Measures, Depression and Illness Burden in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (Abstract)
• 1995, Physical symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome are exacerbated by the stress of Hurricane Andrew (Abstract)
• 1995, Dysregulated Expression of Soluble Immune Mediator Receptors in a Subset of Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Cross-Sectional Categorization of Patients by Immune Status (Abstract)
• 1996, Interindividual Immune Status Variation Patterns in Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Association with Gender and the Tumor Necrosis Factor System (Abstract)
• 1998, Interleukin-6 and Disease: Two Case Reports that Point to the Usefulness of Measuring Cytokine Levels in Clinical Settings (Abstract)
• 2000, Comparative Analysis of Lymphocytes in Lymph Nodes and Peripheral Blood of Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (Abstract)
• 2000, Clinical and Immunologic Effects of Autologous Lymph Node Cell Transplant in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (Abstract)
• 2000, Immunotherapy of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Therapeutic Interventions Aimed at Modulating the Th1/Th2 Cytokine Expression Balance (Abstract)
• 2000, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Evidence Supporting the Hypothesis of a Behaviorally-Activated Neuromodulator of Fatigue (Abstract)
• 2001, Cytokine and Other Immunologic Markers in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Their Relation to Neuropsychological Factors - (Abstract)
• 2002, Effects of Benzalkonium Salts on G-protein-Mediated Processes and Surface Membranes: Relevance to Microbial- and Chemical-Induced Diseases (Abstract)
• 2002, The Paul-Bunnell Heterophile Antibody Determinant in Epstein-Barr Virus-Associated Disease (Abstract)
• 2007, Baseline Cortisol Levels Predict Treatment Outcomes in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Nonpharmacologic Clinical Trial (Full Text)
• 2008, The associations between basal salivary cortisol levels and illness symptomatology in chronic fatigue syndrome (Full text)
• 2008, Evidence for T-helper 2 shift and association with illness parameters in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) (Full Text)
• 2009, Plasma cytokines in women with chronic fatigue syndrome (Full Text)
• 2010, A Formal Analysis of Cytokine Networks in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Full Text
• 2010, Plasma neuropeptide Y: a biomarker for symptom severity in chronic fatigue syndrome (Full Text)
• 2010, A Comparison of Immune Functionality in Viral versus Non-Viral CFS Subtypes - (Full Text)
• 2010, Biomarkers in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Evaluation of Natural Killer Cell Function and Dipeptidyl Peptidase IV/CD26 - (Full Text)
• 2012, Biomarkers for chronic fatigue (Full Text)
• 2012, Cytokine expression profiles of immune imbalance in post-mononucleosis chronic fatigue (Full Text)
• 2014, Stress management skills, cortisol awakening response, and post-exertional malaise in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (Full Text)
• 2014, A Role for Homeostatic Drive in the Perpetuation of Complex Chronic Illness: Gulf War Illness and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (Full Text)
• 2015, Perceived Fatigue Interference and Depressed Mood: Comparison of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Patients with Fatigued Breast Cancer Survivors (Full Text)
• 2015, Findings from a clinical and laboratory database developed for discovery of pathogenic mechanisms in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (Abstract)
• 2015, Using gene expression signatures to identify novel treatment strategies in gulf war illness - (Full text)
• 2016, Poor sleep quality is associated with greater circulating pro-inflammatory cytokines and severity and frequency of chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) symptoms in women (Full Text)
• 2016, Tracking post-infectious fatigue in clinic using routine Lab tests (Full Text)
• 2016, Illness progression in chronic fatigue syndrome: a shifting immune baseline (Full Text)
• 2017, Telephone-administered versus live group cognitive behavioral stress management for adults with CFS (Full Text)
• 2017, Depression, evening salivary cortisol and inflammation in chronic fatigue syndrome: A psychoneuroendocrinological structural regression model (Abstract)
• 2018, Identification of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome-associated DNA methylation patterns - (Full Text)
• 2019, From biomarkers to targeted treatment: The myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and gulf war illness (GWI) story - (Abstract)
• 2019, Leveraging Prior Knowledge of Endocrine Immune Regulation in the Therapeutically Relevant Phenotyping of Women With Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - (Abstract)
• 2019, Pharmaceutical Interventions in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Literature-based Commentary - (Abstract)
• 2019, Treatment Avenues in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Split-gender Pharmacogenomic Study of Gene-expression Modules - (Abstract)
• 2019, Relationship satisfaction, communication self-efficacy, and chronic fatigue syndrome-related fatigue - (Abstract)
• 2020, Unravelling myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS): Gender‐specific changes in the microRNA expression profiling in ME/CFS - (Full text)

Online presence

• PubMed
• Institute for Neuro Immune Medicine Leadership Webpage

See also

• Institute for Neuro Immune Medicine

See myalgic encephalomyelitis.

See chronic fatigue syndrome.

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.

cognition Thought processes, including attention, reasoning, and memory.

membrane The word "membrane" can have different meanings in different fields of biology. In cell biology, a membrane is a layer of molecules that surround its contents. Examples of cell-biology membranes include the "cell membrane" that surrounds a cell, the "mitochondrial membranes" that form the outer layers of mitochondria, and the "viral envelope" that surrounds enveloped viruses. In anatomy or tissue biology, a membrane is a barrier formed by a layer of cells. Examples of anatomical membranes include the pleural membranes that surrounds the lungs, the pericardium which surrounds the heart, and some of the layers within the blood-brain barrier.

antibodies Antibody/immunoglobulin refers to any of a large number of specific proteins produced by B cells that act against an antigen in an immune response.

plasma The liquid part of blood, lymph, or milk after removing any suspended material. Most of the time, "plasma" simply refers to blood, after all the blood cells have been removed. If you also remove the clotting factors, then the plasma is referred to as "serum".

stress Stress can by either physical or psychological, or both. Stress is either 1) a state of emotional or psychological strain or 2) the physical stress (pressure or tension) that a physical object such the human body is placed under, e.g., a stress test is a medical test that monitors the cardiovascular system during strenuous exercise.

chronic illness any long-term illness, regardless of the severity. Chronic illnesses are typically incurable, requiring long-term management.

cognition Thought processes, including attention, reasoning, and memory.

See National Institutes of Health.

National Institutes of Health (NIH) - A set of biomedical research institutes operated by the U.S. government, under the auspices of the Department of Health and Human Services.

somatic symptom disorder A psychiatric term to describe an alleged condition whereby a person's thoughts somehow cause physical symptoms. The actual existence of such a condition is highly controversial, due to a lack of scientific evidence. It is related to other psychiatric terms, such as "psychosomatic", "neurasthenia", and "hysteria". Older terms include "somatization", "somatoform disorder", and "conversion disorder". Such terms refer to a scientifically-unsupported theory that claims that a wide range of physical symptoms can be created by the human mind, a theory which has been criticized as "mind over matter" parapsychology, a pseudoscience.

cytokine any class of immunoregulatory proteins secreted by cells, especially immune cells. Cytokines are small proteins important in cell signaling that modulate the immune system. (Learn more: me-pedia.org)

post-exertional malaise (PEM) - A notable exacerbation of symptoms brought on by small physical or cognitive exertions. PEM may be referred to as a "crash" or "collapse" and can last for days or weeks. Symptoms can include cognitive impairments, muscle pain, trouble remaining upright (orthostatic intolerance), sleep abnormalities, and gastro-intestinal impairments, and others.

cytokine any class of immunoregulatory proteins secreted by cells, especially immune cells. Cytokines are small proteins important in cell signaling that modulate the immune system. (Learn more: me-pedia.org)

See ME/CFS.