The Cornell Center for Enervating Neuroimmune Disease brings together researchers, clinicians, trainees, and patient advocates to advance understanding of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).

Our Mission

The Cambridge Dictionary defines enervating as causing you to feel weak and lacking in energy.

Foremost among cryptic neuroimmune diseases is one variously known as myalgic encephalomyelitis, chronic fatigue syndrome, or systemic exertion intolerance disease. The Center’s mission is to promote research to identify its causes, biomarkers, and pathophysiology in order to support prevention and effective treatments.

A Collaborative Research Center

The Cornell Center for Enervating Neuroimmune Disease encompasses a variety of projects on ME/CFS supported by federal grants, foundations, and private donors. The Center spans several programs at Cornell University, the Hospital for Special Surgery , and the medical practice of Dr. Susan Levine.

Input into the Center’s efforts is provided by patient advocates. Past efforts from the Center included collaborations with Weill Cornell Medicine, Ithaca College, the Boyce Thompson Institute , the Workwell Foundation , EVMED Research , and the medical practices of Dr. John Chia and Dr. Geoffrey Moore.

NIH-Funded Research

The Center’s previous U54 award, U54NS105541, supported research from 2017 through April 2023 and was co-funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the NIH Office of the Director, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and the National Human Genome Research Institute.

In 2023, Cornell University received five years of funding from the National Institutes of Health to maintain the Cornell ME/CFS Collaborative Research Center through the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (U54AI178855).

The award supports research projects focused on participant interactions, muscle tissue, immune cell dysfunction, cell-free RNA, extracellular vesicle cargo, endothelial function, and multiomics.

Data integration is facilitated by the Center’s Research Core, led by Jen Grenier at Cornell University, and by the NIH ME/CFS Data Management and Coordination Center at RTI International .

People and Partnerships

The Center’s work is driven by an interdisciplinary community of investigators, clinicians, trainees, staff, and patient advocates.

• Center Leadership — Meet the investigators guiding the Center’s scientific direction.
• Researchers and Clinicians — Meet the researchers and clinicians contributing expertise across neuroimmune disease, molecular biology, clinical care, data science, and related fields.
• Graduate Students — Learn about the trainees contributing to the Center’s research and the future of ME/CFS science.
• Patient Advocates — Learn how patient advocates contribute lived-experience perspectives that help inform and strengthen the Center’s work.

Research Network and Data Resources

The Cornell NIH ME/CFS Center is part of the ME/CFS Research Network. Learn more about network activities through the ME/CFS Research Network website .

Researchers can access published Center data through mapMECFS , an interactive data portal for ME/CFS research data.

Explore the Center

• Research — Explore the Center’s current projects, research areas, and Research Core.
• Center News — Read research updates, publications, events, awards, and announcements from the Center.
• Study Participation — Learn about current ME/CFS research studies and opportunities to participate.
• Donate — Support research advancing understanding of ME/CFS and related neuroimmune disease.