Whittemore Peterson Institute

From MEpedia, a crowd-sourced encyclopedia of ME and CFS science and history

The Whittemore Peterson Institute (WPI) is a nonprofit center based in Reno, Nevada, dedicated to the support of those with a spectrum of neuro-immune diseases (NIDs), including myalgic encephalomyelitis and fibromyalgia, via research, education, and advocacy. It was founded by Annette Whittemore, in 2005, in honor of an impacted family member and Dr Daniel Peterson, the doctor who diagnosed and treated her.[1]

Notable studies[edit | edit source]

XMRV[edit | edit source]

An October 2009 paper by Vincent Lombardi, Francis Ruscetti, Jaydip Das Gupta, Max Pfost, Kathryn S. Hagen, Daniel Peterson, Sandra Ruscetti, Rachel K. Bagni, Cari Petrow-Sadowski, Bert Gold, Michael Dean, Robert Silverman Judy Mikovits entitled "Detection of an Infectious Retrovirus, XMRV, in Blood Cells of Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome" claimed to have found a link between chronic fatigue syndrome and the presence of the retrovirus.[2] The paper's primary authors were at that time based at the Whittemore Peterson Institute (WPI) in Reno, Nevada, United States. The WPI soon began offering a controversial commercial XMRV testing service.[3][4]

Other labs around the world were unable to detect XMRV in their patient samples. In July 2011 the journal issued an editorial expression of concern about the paper.[5]

The paper was fully retracted in December 2011 by the journal.[6][7]

One of the key scientists involved in efforts to clarify the situation surrounding XMRV, and eventually to debunk the science, was Ian Lipkin of Columbia University in New York.[8]

Doctor Mikovits has maintained her view that XMRV is a public health risk and documents those views in her book Plague with co-author Kent Heckenlively.[9][10]

Mainstream science considers XMRV to be a laboratory artefact and not a threat to human health or related to chronic fatigue syndrome.[11]

Online presence[edit | edit source]

Notable people[edit | edit source]

See also[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ NVCBR. "About Us". Whittemore Peterson Institute. Retrieved January 17, 2019.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lombardi, Vincent C.; Ruscetti, Francis W.; Gupta, Jaydip Das; Pfost, Max A.; Hagen, Kathryn S.; Peterson, Daniel L.; Ruscetti, Sandra K.; Bagni, Rachel K.; Petrow-Sadowski, Cari (October 23, 2009). "Detection of an Infectious Retrovirus, XMRV, in Blood Cells of Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome". Science. 326 (5952): 585–589. doi:10.1126/science.1179052. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 19815723.
  3. ↑ "WPI-Licensed Test for XMRV & Variants Now Available". Prohealth. August 23, 2010. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  4. ↑ "XMRV testing in the UK". ME Association. April 12, 2010. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  5. ↑ Alberts, Bruce (July 1, 2011). "Editorial Expression of Concern". Science. 333 (6038): 35–35. doi:10.1126/science.1208542. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 21719658.
  6. ↑ Oransky, Author Ivan (December 22, 2011). "Chronic fatigue syndrome-XMRV paper retracted by Science, completely this time". Retraction Watch. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  7. ↑ Alberts, Bruce (December 23, 2011). "Retraction". Science. 334 (6063): 1636–1636. doi:10.1126/science.334.6063.1636-a. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 22194552.
  8. ↑ Callaway, Ewen. "The scientist who put the nail in XMRV's coffin". Nature News. doi:10.1038/nature.2012.11444.
  9. ↑ "PLAGUE – The Update on XMRV". greenmedinfo.com. July 3, 2015. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  10. ↑ Oransky, Author Ivan (March 11, 2014). "Chronic fatigue syndrome researcher Mikovits, who championed link to XMRV, to publish book". Retraction Watch. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
  11. ↑ Enserink, Martin (September 18, 2012). "Final Study Confirms: Virus Not Implicated in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome". Science | AAAS. Retrieved February 19, 2020.
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