Center for Enervating NeuroImmune Disease
America’s Hidden Health Crisis
To celebrate ME/CFS International Awareness Day on May 12, clinical core Co-Director Betsy Keller joins Maureen Hanson and faculty from the University of Rochester and a patient advocate on an expert panel for AMERICA’S HIDDEN HEALTH CRISIS: What Clinicians and Others Need to Know about ME/CFS — as Documented in the Award-Winning Film Unrest and Shared Experience with New York Experts. MORE INFO
Advancing the ME/CFS Research Agenda
The first Canadian Collaborative Team Conference held in Montréal, Quebec on May 3-5, 2018 brought together researchers, clinicians, patients and advocacy organizations to advance the ME/CFS research agenda from basic research to clinical practice. The conference was supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and other stakeholders to address one of the most pressing medical mysteries of our time, with millions of individuals afflicted by this devastating illness.
The agenda was organized and driven by a quest for increased collaboration, with hopes to leverage the collective knowledge and unite pockets of innovation to transform the research landscape in a commitment to improve the health of patients suffering from ME/CFS in Canada and around the world, according to Continue reading “Advancing the ME/CFS Research Agenda”
Regional Lecture Series at Cayuga Medical Center on ME/CFS
In her talk entitled “Current Clinical Diagnostic Criteria and Knowledge of the Biological Basis of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue (ME/CFS) Syndrome” @DrMaureenHanson shared recommendations to medical personnel, nurses and physicians, who received continuing education credit.
The participants, who attended in person and online, learned to utilize the clinical diagnostic criteria for ME/CFS recommended by the National Institute of Medicine. Dr. Hanson shed light on the current scientific information available about the causes and effects of the disease, and shared ongoing research to develop an objective diagnostic test and treatments for the disease. The audience engaged in lively discussion following the presentation.
A New Era of ME/CFS Research
The Solve ME/CFS Initiative gathered preeminent leaders from research centers, federal health agencies, ME/CFS clinics, and the biopharmaceutical industry in Washington DC in October 2017 to participate in SMCI’s Second Annual Discovery Forum. Fifteen presentations from Discovery Forum 2017 are now available to the public, including A New Era of ME/CFS Research with Dr. Maureen Hanson, Professor of Molecular Biology & Genetics at Cornell University.
Panel discussion follows “Unrest” film at Ithaca College
The movie “Unrest” will be shown in Hill Center Room 104 of Ithaca College on Tuesday March 27, 2018. No fee to attend. Professors Betsy Keller and Maureen Hanson will hold a panel discussion about ME/CFS after the movie.
Official NIH kickoff meeting brings together collaborators
The National Institutes of Health headquarters hosted the leads of the recently funded ME/CFS Collaborative Research Center awards and partner organizations. The purpose of this kickoff meeting was to get to know each other and to begin to discuss collaborative projects that could be undertaken that would leverage each institutional expertise. After introductions, each awardee institution presented an overview of the research proposed, and an executive committee was formed to establish the framework within which data will be shared. Continue reading “Official NIH kickoff meeting brings together collaborators”
Myalgic Encephalomyelitis article in ASBMB Today
The lengthy article features interviews with caregiver Amy Mooney, Hillary Johnson, Rivka Solomon, Linda Tannenbaum, Ron Davis, Mary Dimmock, NIH’s Joe Breen, and Maureen Hanson. Read the full article here.
Researchers take audience questions after Unrest film
Cornell ME/CFS collaborative research center researchers fielded audience questions after the showing of Jennifer Brea‘s documentary film “Unrest” at Cinemapolis in Ithaca.
Betsy Keller, Exercise and Sport Sciences Professor from Ithaca College and Maureen Hanson, Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor of Molecular Biology & Genetics at Cornell University shared clarifications and learned from the audience, comprised of patients, healthcare professionals, researchers and community members.
A local newspaper article provides more details. Seeking an Elusive Cure Continue reading “Researchers take audience questions after Unrest film”
Gut microbiome publication
On January 22, 2018, PeerJ published “Eukaryotes in the gut microbiota in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome”. The publication is work done by Center participants regarding the diversity of eukaryotes in the gut microbiomes of people with ME/CFS and in healthy controls.
A recent research highlight by the Solve ME/CFS Initiative provides a detailed summary of this article. SMCI’s research summary can be viewed here.
Figure 1: Individual relative taxa abundances in healthy controls and ME/CFS patients. (from publication)
Mandarano AH, Giloteaux L, Keller BA, Levine SM, Hanson MR. 2018. Eukaryotes in the gut microbiota in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome. PeerJ 6:e4282 https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4282
