Invest in ME Research International ME Conference 2023

An Update on Research into ME - Post-Pandemic - including aspects of long covid research

The 15th Invest in ME Research International ME Conference 2023 - IIMEC15 - took place on 2nd June 2023 at the Wellcome Genome Campus near Cambidge, UK.

In 2023 IiMER also celebrated the start of its eighteenth year as a charity and reinforced the charity's efforts to increase international collaboration by arranging a week of events for research into ME - the first in person meetings since 2019.
Following the pause in conferences caused by the pandemic the theme for the conference was appropriately entitled "An Update on Research into ME - Post-Pandemic - including aspects of long covid research" . Multiple international collaborations were formed with an extremely positive atmosphere present during ME Conference Week 2023 as researchers and clinicians and patients from four continents came together.

The IIMEC15 conference showed the major initiatives and research taking place to continue an international collaborative strategy for biomedical research into ME which Invest in ME Research has been championing over fourteen years.

Click on sections below


IIMEC15 International ME Conference report

Conference Presentations from IIMEC15

Professor Simon Carding, Quadram Institute, UK

Research Leader, Quadram Institute Bioscience, Norwich Research Park, UK

Professor Simon Carding

Upon completing postgraduate work at the Medical Research Council’s Clinical Research Centre in Harrow, Professor Carding “emigrated” to the USA to take up a postdoctoral position at New York University School of Medicine, and then at Yale University as a Howard Hughes Fellow in the Immunobiology Group at Yale University with Profs Kim Bottomly and Charlie Janeway Jr. While at Yale an interest in gamma-delta (γδ) T cells was acquired working closely with Adrian Hayday on molecular genetics and then with Prof. Peter Doherty to establish their role in (viral) infectious disease.

He left Yale after five years to take up a faculty position at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia where he developed a research interest in mucosal and GI-tract immunology, performing studies in germfree mice with Prof John Cebra that helped establish the role of gut microbes in the aetiology of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

After 15 years in the USA, he returned to the UK to take up the Chair in Molecular Immunology at the University of Leeds where he established a new research programme on commensal gut bacteria and Bacteroides genetics leading to the development of a Bacteroides drug delivery platform that is being used for developing new interventions for IBD and for mucosal vaccination.

In 2008 he was recruited by UEA and IFR to develop a gut research programme, taking up the Chair of Mucosal Immunology at UEA-MED and the position of head of the Gut Biology Research Programme at IFR, which later became part of the Gut Health and Food Safety (GHFS) Programme.

GHFS research covers a broad area of gut biology including epithelial cell physiology, mucus and glycobiology, mucosal immunology, commensal microbiology, foodborne bacterial pathogens, and mathematical modelling and bioinformatics. The success of this programme has led to the establishment of the Gut Microbes and Health research programme that is integral to the research agenda of The Quadram Institute.

Dr Vicky Whittemore
Program Director, Division of Neuroscience, National Institutes of Health, USA

Dr Vicky Whittemore

USA

Dr. Whittemore oversees a grant portfolio that includes basic, translational and clinical studies on epilepsy. These include grants on sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP), the genetic epilepsies, and seizure localization studies. In addition, she oversees a grant portfolio on myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and fatigue. Her additional interests are in research on global health issues, stigma, and co-morbidities.

Dr David Systrom
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, USA

Dr. David M. Systrom

USA

Dr. David M. Systrom is a physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital. He is also an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. He received his medical degree from Dartmouth Medical School (now known as Geisel School of Medicine).

Dr Bhupesh Prusty, Institute for Virology and Immunobiology, University of Wuerzburg, Germany

Bhupesh Prusty currently works at the Institute for Virology and Immunobiology, University of Wuerzburg. Bhupesh does research in Microbiology and Virology. His current research focuses on ciHHV-6 reactivation and its clinical consequences.

Professor Karl Johan Tronstad, Institute for Biomedicine , Tronstad Lab, Bergen, Norway

The Tronstad Lab investigates cell metabolism and mitochondrial biology.

Professor Nancy Klimas, Nova Southeastern University, Florida, USA

Professor Nancy Klimas

USA

Director, Institute for Neuro Immune Medicine, Nova Southeastern University.
Director, Clinical Immunology Research, Miami VAMC
Professor of Medicine, Department of Clinical Immunology, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Nova Southeastern University
Chair, Department of Clinical Immunology, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Nova Southeastern University
Professor Emerita, University of Miami, School of Medicine
In for her research and clinical efforts in multi-symptom disorders, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), War Illness (GWI), Fibromyalgia, and other Neuro Immune Disorders. She is immediate past president of the International Association for CFS and ME (IACFS/ME), a professional organization of clinicians and investigators, and is also a member of the VA Research Advisory Committee for GWI, the NIH P2P CFS Committee, and the Institute of Medicine ME/CFS Review Panel. Dr. Klimas has advised three Secretaries of Health and Human Services, including Kathleen Sabelius, during her repeated service on the Health and Human Services CFS Advisory Committee. Dr. Klimas has been featured on Good Morning America, in USA Today and the New York Times.

Professor Alain Moreau, University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre CRCHUM · Biochemistry and molecular medicine

Professor Alain Moreau

Canada

Since October 2000, Dr. Moreau has been Director of the Laboratory of Molecular Genetics of Musculoskeletal Diseases/malformations. His team is interested in the molecular genetics of musculoskeletal diseases in children (scoliosis) and adults (osteoarthritis). Their work mainly focuses on musculoskeletal diseases that affect children (congenital malformations, bone and cartilage tumours), adolescents (idiopathic scoliosis) and adults (osteoarthritis and joint cartilage degeneration). In addition, his team studies the molecular mechanisms involved in the inflammation and regeneration of musculoskeletal tissues. Dr. Moreau is an active member of the Bone and Periodontium Research Center (a consortium of researchers working in the field of bone) set up by McGill University, the American Society of Bone and Mineral Research and the Scoliosis Society of Quebec. He is also the thematic leader of the Molecular Biology and Genetics Axis of the Scoliosis Quebec Network.

Professor Maureen Hanson, Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Cornell University, New York, USA

Professor Maureen Hanson

USA

Maureen Hanson is Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor in the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. Previously she was on the faculty of the Department of Biology at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville and an NIH NRSA postdoctoral fellow at Harvard, where she also completed her Ph.D. degree. While most of her prior research has concerned cell and molecular biology in plant cells, she began a research program on ME/CFS after noting at a 2007 IACFS meeting the paucity of molecular biologists studying the illness. Her lab was part of the 2012 multicenter study organized by Ian Lipkin's group at Columbia University to assess the actual role of XMRV in ME/CFS. Dr. Hanson has a current project to examine the microbiome of ME/CFS patients and controls, in collaboration with Dr. Ruth Ley (Cornell Microbiology) and Susan Levine, M.D. (Manhattan, NY). Dr Levine is also collaborating with Dr. Hanson on an immune cell gene expression project that involves Dr. Fabien Campagne and Dr. Rita Shaknovich at Weill Cornell Medical School in New York City. Dr. Hanson's third project concerns analysis of blood samples from individuals performing a two-day cardiopulmonary exercise test at Ithaca College under the supervision of Dr. Betsy Keller.

Dr Avindra Nath, NIH National Institute of Neurological Disorders, Bethesda, Maryland, USA

Coming Soon

Dr. Nath received his MD degree from Christian Medical College in India in 1981 and completed a residency in Neurology from University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, followed by a fellowship in Multiple Sclerosis and Neurovirology at the same institution and then a fellowship in Neuro-AIDS at NINDS.

He held faculty positions at the University of Manitoba (1990-97) and the University of Kentucky (1997-02).

In 2002, he joined Johns Hopkins University as Professor of Neurology and Director of the Division of Neuroimmunology and Neurological Infections.

He joined NIH in 2011 as the Clinical Director of NINDS, the Director of the Translational Neuroscience Center and Chief of the Section of Infections of the Nervous System.

His research focuses on understanding the pathophysiology of retroviral infections of the nervous system and the development of new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for these diseases.

Dr Dag Storla, Røysumtunet Hospital, Norway

Dr Dag Storla

Norway

Dr Dag Storla is senior physician at Lovisenberg Diakonale hospital in Norway.
He has previously been senior physician at senior physician at the CFS/ME center OUS Aker as well as working at Akershus University Hospital, Oslo University Hospital Ullevål, Buskerud Central Hospital in Drammen and served as Director and Chief Medical Officer for the Brahmonbazar Christian Health Project.

Professor Jonas Bergquist, Full Chair Professor in Analytical Chemistry and Neurochemistry at the Department of Chemistry, Uppsala University, Sweden

Professor Jonas Bergquist

Sweden

Professor Begquist has a background as MD, Associate Professor of Clinical Neuroscience , Sahlgrenska University Hospital and the University of Gothenburg. Since 1999 , he has been a researcher in Uppsala, Sweden, and in 2005 was appointed professor of analytical chemistry and neurochemistry at the Department of Chemistry - BMC , Uppsala University. From 2011 he worked also as an adjunct professor of pathology at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
Professor Bergquist is also one of the founding members of the European ME Research Group (EMERG).

Dr Jesper Mehlsen, Research Director, Coordinating Research Centre, Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg Hospital, Denmark Co-chair European ME Research Group

Dr Jesper Mehlsen graduated as a medical doctor in 1979 and finished his specialist training in 1990. He has published more than 140 scientific papers in peer reviewed journals, mainly on the autonomic nervous system and more recently on complex diseases possibly resulting form HPV-vaccination.
For more than 35 years, he has worked clinically and in research with dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system. Such dysfunction may lead to symptoms from a number of different organs often dominated by diminished control of blood pressure and heart rate.
Over the past 5 years, he has worked clinically and in research with patients who suspect side effects due to HPV vaccination to be the cause of a number of symptoms, common to those seen in chronic ME.
Dr Mehlsen is co-chair of the European ME Research Group (EMERG).

Professor Kristian Sommerfelt Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway

Kristian Sommerfelt is a paediatrician. He completed his medical degree at the University of Bergen in 1981 and specialist in paediatrics in 1994. Dr degree in 1997 with the theme of premature children and later development. Since 1987, he has worked at the Children's Clinic (now the Children's and Adolescent Clinic) at Haukeland University Hospital, now as senior physician at the section for pediatric neurology and habilitation. Kristian has adjunct position as professor at the Department of Clinical Medicine 2, University of Bergen. He specialises in headaches, epilepsy and ME/CFS, but has broad experience in the entire field of child neurology. For the past 12 years, he has had a special interest in children and young people with ME/CFS, both directly with patient work and in research. He is particularly concerned with investigation, diagnosis and the transfer of knowledge to the first-line service and school. He has broad scientific experience with articles in international journals and authorship of chapters in several medical textbooks.
He is a member of the European ME Research Group (EMERG).

Professor Robert Phair, Chief Scientific Officer, Integrative Bioinformatics, Inc., USA

Dr. Robert Phair, a systems biologist whose Ph.D. is in Physiology, is an internationally known expert in the area of kinetic modeling, with over 35 years of experience in the modeling of complex biological systems. He started his academic life with a degree in Electrical Engineering at MIT with the intention to apply engineering analysis to complex biological systems. He was a professor at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine for 16 years before co-founding Integrative Bioinformatics, Inc (IBI), a scientific consultancy in Silicon Valley, with a focus on cellular and molecular systems,where a systematic approach has been developed to model biological systems that allows effective testing of complex hypotheses against available experimental data.

Professor Ronald Davis, Professor of Biochemistry and Genetics at the Stanford School of Medicine in Stanford, California, USA

Ronald W. Davis, Ph.D., is a Professor of Biochemistry and Genetics at the Stanford School of Medicine in Stanford, California.

He is a world leader in the development of biotechnology, especially the development of recombinant DNA and genomic methodologies and their application to biological systems.

At Stanford University, where he is Director of the Stanford Genome Technology Center, Dr. Davis focuses on the interface of nano-fabricated solid state devices and biological systems.

He and his research team also develop novel technologies for the genetic, genomic, and molecular analysis of a wide range of model organisms as well as humans.

The team's focus on practical application of these technologies is setting the standard for clinical genomics.

Professor Simon Carding, Quadram Institute, UK

Research Leader, Quadram Institute Bioscience, Norwich Research Park, UK

Professor Simon Carding

Upon completing postgraduate work at the Medical Research Council’s Clinical Research Centre in Harrow, Professor Carding “emigrated” to the USA to take up a postdoctoral position at New York University School of Medicine, and then at Yale University as a Howard Hughes Fellow in the Immunobiology Group at Yale University with Profs Kim Bottomly and Charlie Janeway Jr. While at Yale an interest in gamma-delta (γδ) T cells was acquired working closely with Adrian Hayday on molecular genetics and then with Prof. Peter Doherty to establish their role in (viral) infectious disease.

He left Yale after five years to take up a faculty position at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia where he developed a research interest in mucosal and GI-tract immunology, performing studies in germfree mice with Prof John Cebra that helped establish the role of gut microbes in the aetiology of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

After 15 years in the USA, he returned to the UK to take up the Chair in Molecular Immunology at the University of Leeds where he established a new research programme on commensal gut bacteria and Bacteroides genetics leading to the development of a Bacteroides drug delivery platform that is being used for developing new interventions for IBD and for mucosal vaccination.

In 2008 he was recruited by UEA and IFR to develop a gut research programme, taking up the Chair of Mucosal Immunology at UEA-MED and the position of head of the Gut Biology Research Programme at IFR, which later became part of the Gut Health and Food Safety (GHFS) Programme.

GHFS research covers a broad area of gut biology including epithelial cell physiology, mucus and glycobiology, mucosal immunology, commensal microbiology, foodborne bacterial pathogens, and mathematical modelling and bioinformatics. The success of this programme has led to the establishment of the Gut Microbes and Health research programme that is integral to the research agenda of The Quadram Institute.

The conference day was preceded by the 12th Invest in ME Research International Biomedical Research into ME Colloquium - a two day closed researchers' meeting with over forty of the major institutes from around the world were represented - from Europe, North America, Africa and Australasia.
The charity also initiated the European ME Research Group Early Career Researcher network - Young EMERG - and a workshop was held with delegates attending from around the world.

copyright Invest in ME Research 2023

These three days prior to the IIMEC15 conference brought together researchers (both new to ME and experienced ME researchers) to collaborate and share knowledge for the benefit of future research into this disease by enhancing education and effectiveness of research efforts.

Gallery of Images from IIMEC15, Cambridge, 2023

European ME Research Group

The European ME Research Group also held a planning meeting to develop applications for biomedical research into ME https://www.investinme.org/IIMER-newslet-20230301.shtml We welcomed several new members to the EMERG group - from Germany, Denmark, Austria, Netherlands and Iceland - which now expands this group into a powerful organisation for research in Europe.

European ME Research Group Early Career Researcher Network - Young EMERG

The Young European ME Research Group - #YoungEMERG group was formed and proved to be a great success https://www.investinme.org/emergecr-workshop202306uk.shtml

Our Sponsors for IIMEC15

We would like to thank and acknowledge the support of our conference sponsors




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