Funding of Biomedical Research into ME

In December 2009 Invest in ME announced its plans to attempt to fund research by Dr Jonathan Kerr. This was in conjunction with the charity ME Solutions and we wished to maximise the opportunities to fund research into ME/CFS. The research project was -

The role of XMRV in modulation of NK cell cytotoxicity and NK cell gene abnormalities in ME/CFS patients and normal blood donors

Recently Dr Kerr informed us that he was withdrawing the grant application as a study in which he was involved has shown no XMRV in ME/CFS patients.
This now means that the fund-raising for this particular project will be halted.

Invest in ME have contacted those supporters who have donated funds specifically to aid this particular project and we have offered to refund the donations. We are happy to announce that all our supporters have requested that we retain the funds donated and use them for  biomedical research.

The supporters of IiME, those who fund and those who provide moral and other support, are the finest in the ME community. These supporters remain, for the most part, anonymous yet they continue to be the source of our determination to continue to campaign for biomedical research and raise awareness and improve education about myalgic encephalomyelitis.

Therefore, we are planning on helping the Whittemore-Peterson Institute directly by offering to fund some important work on XMRV in UK/European patients. We know this may not be a massive contribution in the grand scheme of things but we feel it is important to give as much financial support, and all the moral support that we can at this time to the WPI and their research colleagues.

We hope to have more news soon.

Invest in ME will continue to campaign for biomedical research into ME and we hope to be able to fund more such work in the future.

UPDATE 5 March 2010: Invest in ME will contribute funding to the Whittemore-Peterson Institute to perform biomedical research into ME. More news will be added later .

Donations

Invest in ME welcome any support - financial or moral support - for our efforts to raise funds for biomedical research into ME.

Help us by contributing to the Invest in ME Biomedical Research Fund for ME - click here

or  contact Invest in ME