SMCI Monthly Update Thread - July 2018

Hello from the Solve ME/CFS Initiative. We want to share our latest news and research with you, but we also want to respect your space and not spam the forums. In order to do that, we are starting a monthly thread where will we add all of the latest news from SMCI. Throughout the month we plan to use this thread to post our latest news and research.

 

Research Highlights from 2018 So Far: Notable Study Developments
The first half of 2018 has yielded over 100 publications specifically addressing various aspects of ME/CFS. Reports encompass familiar domains such as neuroimaging, cytokine abnormalities and NK cell function, as well as explorations of novel technologies in biomarker identification and new findings of endocrine dysfunction, premature aging, post exertional inflammation and autoimmune activity. Here, we summarize highlights from many of the primary research articles published in the past 6 months... READ MORE

 

Meet ME Award: Katya Lavine and “Thinking the Future” Symposium
“Excuse me,” a young man tapped me on the shoulder in the lobby outside of the conference. “What is M.E.?”

We had a short interaction, but a significant one. I explained the basics of M.E. and the purpose of our conference. I realized that these conferences not only brought us in the M.E. community together, but functioned to reach and educate others. Perhaps that man will go on to read further about M.E., or remember it in the future if someone he knows becomes ill. Perhaps, even in a small way, he is our newest ally... READ MORE

 

Preliminary Results from Ramsay 2016 Projects Team 1 & Team 5
In 2016, Solve ME/CFS Initiative launched the first cycle of the Ramsay Award Program. The Ramsay Awards are foundational to SMCI’s commitment to explore all worthy research avenues. This program aims to move the field forward by funding innovative research across many disciplines, bring new researchers in the myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) field, and provide seed dollars so that researchers can go on to obtain funds for larger studies in their areas of expertise. In this edition of Research 1st, we are featuring preliminary results from Ramsay 2016 Teams 1 and 5... READ MORE

 

“Hot Areas in ME/CFS Research” Webinar Q&A Follow-up with Dr. Anthony Komaroff
On May 24, 2018, Anthony L. Komaroff, MD, Simcox-Clifford-Higby Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Senior Physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, presented on “Hot Areas in ME/CFS Research.” The webinar audience submitted many compelling questions – more than we had time for during the Q&A period. To follow-up with the community, Dr. Komaroff addresses some additional questions submitted during the webinar... READ MORE

 

Becky McNeil presenting on the promise of a collaborative research network model in ME/CFS at the 1st Canadian Collaborative Team Conference for ME/CFS Research in Quebec
Learning more about the ME/CFS Data Management Coordinating Center with Dr. Becky McNeil
RTI International, a non-profit research institute, is heading up the development of a Data Management Coordinating Center (DMCC) for the NIH ME/CFS Collaborative Research Centers. We caught up with Becky McNeil, PhD, a biostatistician at RTI and lead of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) DMCC Analytics Core, following her Montreal conference presentation on the challenges and opportunities of applying a collaborative research model to the field of ME/CFS…. READ MORE

 

SMCI joins Open Letter calling for Reanalysis of PACE Trial Data
Dr. Sadie Whittaker, Chief Scientific Officer for the Solve ME/CFS Initiative, joined more than 90 international clinicians and researchers in a second open letter to Richard Horton, editor of The Lancet, and cc’d the three lead PACE investigators and the public relations office at Queen Mary University of London. The June 19th letter asks the journal to “commission an independent re-analysis of the individual-level trial data, with appropriate sensitivity analyses, from highly respected reviewers with extensive expertise in statistics and study design.”

To read the letter and learn more about the PACE Trial controversy, please visit The Virology Blog and the work of award-winning reporter, David Tuller at: http://www.virology.ws/2018/06/19/trial-by-error-an-open-letter-to-the-lancet-two-years-on/

 

You'd think RH must be getting the message by now. Skin must be so thick I can't imagine how there's room left for anything else.

 

July 19, 2018 Webinar
“Crossroad of the immune response and the microbiome: Impact on ME/CFS”
Watch this webinar led by Derya Unutmaz, MD, Professor and Principal Investigator at The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFCSA9E5Ds8