UK: News from ME Research UK

A thread for news from ME Research UK, starting with

Funding: Investigating brain-stem dysfunction in ME/CFS using 7-Tesla MRI

https://www.meresearch.org.uk/research/investigating-brain-stem-dysfunction/

 

My brother-in-law is swimming........
https://www.justgiving.com/fundrais...ail&utm_term=ad8db439fb404e7aa0e2949021ff4c2a

 

Perth charity funds ME research with potential clues into long Covid

"ME Research UK, along with The Gordon Parish Charitable Trust, has announced a £400,000 joint initiative to research the role of viruses in ME/CFS.

The research project is not only relevant to ME/CFS, but also to long Covid, with suggestions sufferers are exhibiting parallel symptoms.

The announcement follows news every Scot who has tested positive for the coronavirus will be invited to take part in a study into long Covid.

(...)

ME Research UK hope this latest research project will give insight into the role of viruses in ME/CFS and is inviting applications from researchers."
​

Edit: It looks like researchers from other countries can apply too.

Edit 2: This is where they can apply, the deadline is 30th July, 2021: https://www.meresearch.org.uk/research/research-grants/

Article: https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/lif...esearch-with-potential-clues-into-long-covid/

 

Spring 2021 of their newsletter is now available from https://www.meresearch.org.uk/research/breakthrough-magazine/

 

Funding awarded: ELUCIDATE: Exploring pain and autonomic dysfunction in ME/CFS and temporomandibular disorders

"Mr James Allison is an oral surgeon at Newcastle University, and the aim of his study is to explore the contribution of the ANS to the painful symptoms experienced by people with ME/CFS and/or TMDs.

He will use electroencephalography (which measures the electrical activity of the brain non-invasively) to assess the brain’s response to painful pressure applied to the finger and jaw in four groups of people:

• Patients with ME/CFS only,
• Patients with both ME/CFS and TMD,
• Patients with TMD only, and
• Healthy participants without ME/CFS or TMD.

The idea is that these responses will help to determine how pain differs in ME/CFS and in other people. In addition, low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography will be used to identify where in the brain these differences are located.

Another part of the study involves using non-invasive stimulation of the vagus nerve to potentially ‘calm’ the ANS, and to measure the effect this has on both brain activity and levels of pain."

https://www.meresearch.org.uk/research/elucidate/

This looks to follow on from Brain Responses in CFS and TMD to Autonomic Challenges: An Exploratory fMRI Study, 2019, Allison et al

 

What has happened to measurements of brain activity? When I was an undergraduate over forty years ago there was such optimism about what might be possible. I remember the excitement when one of my lecturers identified his ‘yummy, yummy, I see a banana cells’, that was a small group of neurones in primates that responded to visual food stimuli only when hungry.

The animal studies were raising all sorts of interesting possibilities, though researchers were then struggling how to relate this research to humans. I remember failing to get a contemporary post doctoral researcher to understand that it was not appropriate to run elderly Alzheimer’s patients through life sized mazes for food rewards (it took his supervisor’s wife to persuade them that the resultant tabloid headlines would not be good publicity).

 

Big Give Christmas Challenge 2021

"The Christmas Challenge is a match funding campaign where donations made during the event are doubled by matching them with monies already pledged by supporters. Additional funds can also come from a Big Give Champion which further increases the giving fund.

Big Give 2021 runs from noon 30th November 2021 – noon 7th December 2021

To be a part of the Christmas Challenge, we need to secure £1,000 in pledges. This can be from a single individual or ten supporters pledging £100 each. £100 is the minimum pledge permitted by The Big Give."

https://www.meresearch.org.uk/big-give-christmas-challenge-2021/

 

Funding announcement.

"Cell-type specificity, molecular scope and epigenetic basis for mitochondrial and cellular dysfunction in ME/CFS
....
This is the main question that Dr Annesley hopes to answer in her new study, in which she will determine if these abnormalities in mitochondrial energy production are also present in fibroblasts, which are cells found in the skin. She will also evaluate whether the alterations correlate with the severity of ME/CFS.

In addition, the team will look at whether other cellular pathways are involved, and whether the persistence of these abnormalities is due to epigenetic changes (how specific genes are turned on or off).

A better understanding of mitochondrial dysfunction in ME/CFS may help in the development of diagnostic tests for the disease, and the identification of effective pharmacological treatments."

https://www.meresearch.org.uk/research/mitochondrial-and-cellular-dysfunction/

 

https://twitter.com/user/status/1447516645556109312

 

The Autumn edition of ME Research's newsletter is available here, https://www.meresearch.org.uk/research/breakthrough-magazine/

 

https://twitter.com/user/status/1465652787040161796

 

"Vacancies – Science Writer

ME Research UK is a research-focused charity with big ambitions to build upon success and we are seeking a full-time science writer who can help us make a positive difference in communicating ME/CFS at a very exciting time.

If your passion is making science and research accessible to a range of audiences and you relish the chance of working with a small team to build our future, we would love to hear from you."

https://www.meresearch.org.uk/vacancies/

 

Very surprised they need someone full-time for that position!

 

Newly funded PhD genetics research

"We are delighted to announce ME Research UK’s first award for PhD-level research. This is for a project being conducted at the University of Edinburgh by PhD student Gemma Samms under the supervision of Professor Chris Ponting."

https://www.meresearch.org.uk/newly-funded-phd-genetics-research/

Detail on the award here, https://www.meresearch.org.uk/research/genetic-risk-factors/