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Here is the provisional conference agenda
Registration is from 07.45. The conference begins at 09.00
and finishes at 17.30.
For conference
delegates - please aim to be in your seat by 08:55
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Start |
Presenter |
Presentation |
|
07.45 |
Registration |
|
08.55 |
Invest in ME |
Welcome to the Conference |
|
09:05 |
Professor
Leonard Jason
PhD |
How Case Definitions Can Stigmatize:
Implications for Epidemiology,
Etiology, and Pathophysiology |
|
09:50 |
Professor Nora
Chapman
PhD |
Persistent Enteroviral Infections |
|
10:35 |
Dr John Chia
MD |
Enteroviruses
in ME/CFS, Diagnosis and Treatment |
|
11.15 |
Break |
|
11:35 |
Dr Paul Cheney MD,
PhD
|
Diastolic Dysfunction in ME/CFS: A Cardiac
Manifestation of Cellular Energy Defects in ME/CFS. |
|
12:20 |
Dr. Jonathan Kerr MD, PhD |
Study of SNPs to determine subtype status in CFS patients |
|
12.50 |
Lunch |
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13:40 |
Dr Nancy
Klimas
MD |
Immunological
Biomarkers in ME/CFS |
|
14:25 |
Professor
Brigitte Huber
PhD |
Presence
of Retrovirus as a Biomarker for ME/CFS |
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15.10 |
Coffee/tea Break |
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15:30 |
Mrs
Annette
Whittemore |
Future Pathways of Research into ME |
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15:45 |
Dr. Judy Mikovits PhD |
Implications of XMRV Research for ME/CFS |
|
16:40 |
Professor
Malcolm Hooper
and Presenters |
Plenary Session |
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17.30 |
Adjourn |
(Please note
that the agenda, format and times are subject to change. We recommend that you look in Conference News to keep abreast
of news relating to the conference)
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Conference Speakers Invest in
ME are pleased to announce the following presenters at the conference -
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The 5th Invest in ME
International ME/CFS Conference 2010
A New Era in ME/CFS
Research |
Dr.
Judy Mikovits |
Dr. Judy Mikovits
obtained her Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from George
Washington University. She is Research Director at the
Whittemore Peterson Nevada CFS centre for Neuro-Immune disorders
and has
co-authored over 40 peer reviewed publications that address
fundamental issues of viral pathogenesis, hematopoiesis and cytokine
biology. Dr
Mikovits was co-author of the
"Detection of an Infectious Retrovirus, XMRV, in Blood
Cells of Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome" research paper in October 2009 in
Science magazine -
click here. |
|
Professor
Brigitte Huber |
Tufts Medical School, Boston,
Massachusetts, USA
Professor Huber studied immunogenetics at
University of London and is currently Professor of Pathology at Tufts
University, Boston, USA. Dr. Huber joined the faculty
of Tufts Medical School in 1977, and her laboratory has investigated the
cellular and molecular mechanisms involved in the immune response since that
time.
She has studied the presence
of retrovirus HERV K-18 as a marker for those who might develop ME/CFS after an
acute infection such as mononucleosis. Her research shows that EBV induces the
HERV K-18 envelope gene to trigger the expression of a specific superantigen and
that there are more HERV K-18 alleles in post-mono ME/CFS patients than in
controls. She hopes to identify other subsets among CFS patients.
|
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Dr. Jonathan Kerr |
Dr Jonathan Kerr is Sir Joseph Hotung Senior Lecturer in
Inflammation,
St George's University of London. Dr. Kerr
is now the principal investigator in a
programme of research in ME/CFS. This involves development of a diagnostic test
using mass spectrometry, analysis of human and viral gene expression in the
white blood cells, and clinical trials of immunomodulatory drugs. He has
recently published research identifying distinct subtypes in patients with
ME/CFS.
More research by Dr Kerr -
click here. |
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Dr Paul Cheney |
Dr. Paul Cheney, MD, PhD, is Medical Director of the
Cheney Clinic in Asheville, North Carolina.
For more than 25 years, Dr. Cheney
has been a pioneering clinical researcher in the field of
ME/CFS and has been an internationally
recognized authority on the subject of ME/CFS.
He has published numerous articles and lectured around the
world on ME/CFS and is author/co-author of numerous publications and
scientific presentations about ME/CFS.
|
|
Dr. John Chia |
Dr John Chia is
an
infectious disease specialist practicing in Torrance, California,
USA and
has published research recently (Chronic fatigue syndrome
associated with chronic enterovirus infection of the stomach)
on the role of enteroviruses in the aetiolgy of ME/CFS – an area
which has been implicated as one of the causes by a number of
studies. There
are more than 70 different types of enteroviruses that can affect
the central nervous system, heart and muscles, all of which is
consistent with the symptoms of ME/CFS. By analyzing samples of
stomach tissue from 165 patients with CFS, Dr. Chia's team
discovered that 82% of these individuals had high levels of
enteroviruses in their digestive systems. Dr Chia's research may
result in the development of antiviral drugs to treat the
debilitating symptoms of ME/CFS. |
Dr Nancy Klimas |
Dr Nancy Klimas MD, is a
Professor of Medicine, Psychology, Microbiology and Immunology at
the University of Miami School of Medicine.
She is the University’s director of the Allergy and
Immunology Clinic as well as Director of Research for the Clinical
AIDS/HIV Research at the Miami Veterans Affairs Medical Centre.
She is a member of the federal CFS Advisory Committee
(CFSAC) and former President and current Board Member of the
International Association of CFS/ME (IACFS/ME) and a founding editor
of the Journal of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
Dr Klimas has been a leader in the field of ME/CFS
research for many years and recently Dr Klimas opened a model clinic
for CFS patients with the aim to treat patients as well as train
doctors.
Dr Klimas has published over a 130 peer reviewed
scientific papers.
As the
principal investigator of one of the NIH sponsored CFS Research
Centers she leads a multidisciplinary research team representing the
fields of immunology, autonomic medicine, neuroendocrinology,
behavioural psychology, rheumatology, nutrition, and exercise
physiology. The University of Miami CFS Research Center is exploring
interactions between the immune, autonomic and neuroendocrine.
|
|
Professor Nora Chapman PhD |
Professor Nora Chapman is a Research Scientist at the University of Nebraska
Enterovirus Research Laboratory and Associate Professor at the
University of Nebraska Medical Centre.
Professor Chapman studies persistent coxsackie infections in
murine models of chronic myocarditis and dilated cardiomyopathy.
She and her associates have demonstrated that selection of defective
enterovirus in heart and other tissues leads to persistent
infections despite active antiviral immune responses.
Dr. Chapman is
presently studying the mode of selection of these viruses and the
effects of replication of these viruses upon infected cell function.
Dr. Chapman and her associates at the University of Nebraska are
further investigating Dr. John Chia’s work in regards to enterovirus
in the gut biopsies. |
|
Professor Leonard
Jason |
Professor Jason has been among the most prolific of all ME/CFS researchers. For more than a decade,
Professor
Jason and his team at DePaul University’s Centre for Community Research in
Chicago have worked to define the scope and impact of ME/CFS worldwide.
Professor Jason was Vice President of the International
Association for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (now the IACFS/ME) and has been a key
driver of CFS research since 1991, and is uniquely positioned to support
collaboration between CFS researchers, patients, and government decision makers.
His studies have shown that the direct and indirect costs of ME/CFS amount to
$20 billion in the U.S. each year, and more than 1 million people suffer from
ME/CFS as opposed to the estimated 20,000 people originally reported by the CDC
(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). |
Professor Malcolm
Hooper (conference Chair) |
Chair of the 5th Invest in ME International ME/CFS
Conference 2010 will be Professor Malcolm Hooper, Emeritus
Professor of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Sunderland.
Professor Hooper is an internationally-renowned expert on ME/CFS and
a tireless campaigner for patients' rights.
Professor Hooper has previously
chaired Invest in ME conferences and participates in The Hooper
Interviews - interviews with conference speakers at the Invest
in ME Conferences (see
here). |
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Last Updated:
18/05/2010 |
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