Center Investigators Attend Invest in ME Research 2026 Conference Week; Early Career Researcher Wins Outstanding Presentation Award

Center investigators recently participated in the Invest in ME Research 2026 conference week at the Wellcome Genome Campus in Cambridge, UK, attending both the 15th Biomedical Research into ME Colloquium (BRMEC15) and the 18th International ME Conference. This annual gathering represents one of the most significant forums for ME/CFS research collaboration, bringing together international researchers, clinicians, and patient advocates to advance understanding of myalgic encephalomyelitis. Our Center’s continued participation reflects our commitment to fostering global partnerships and contributing to the growing body of biomedical research addressing this complex disease.

Erin Wissink, PhD

We’re particularly proud that one of our early career investigators, Dr. Erin Wissink, received 1st place for the Outstanding Oral Presentation Award from Young EMERG for her talk entitled “Cytotoxic T cell dysregulation in ME/CFS.” The presentation outlined a hypothesis that metabolic differences in T cells in ME/CFS cause changes in mTOR signaling and mRNA translation, based on findings from our recent single-cell genomics dataset. This recognition highlights the innovative research emerging from our Center and the importance of supporting early career scientists in ME/CFS research, particularly as the field continues to expand with growing recognition of post-viral illness connections.

Call for Proposals: Pilot Projects for ME/CFS Research

The Cornell Center for Enervating NeuroImmune Disease invites applications for pilot funding to advance ME/CFS research. Eligible PIs must hold appointments on the Cornell Ithaca campus (including graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and research associates, as well as others who meet Cornell’s PI eligibility requirements); co-investigators from Weill Cornell Medicine are welcome. Proposals (as a single PDF) are due by 5 PM ET on November 15, 2025, and should be emailed to the Center’s manager, Carl Franconi, at carl.franconi@cornell.edu. A complete description of the program, including formatting, award amounts, and reporting requirements, can be found on the Pilot Projects page.

Center Graduate Student Researcher Wins Award at International Conference

Anne Gardella, a graduate student researcher in the Cornell Center for Enervating NeuroImmune Disease, has been awarded the Research Insight prize at the 2025 ME Research UK Virtual Poster Competition hosted by IACFS/ME. Gardella’s winning poster focused on cell-free RNA research in ME/CFS at the International Association for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis’s virtual conference held October 22-25, 2025. This recognition highlights the cutting-edge ME/CFS research being conducted at Cornell and demonstrates the Center’s commitment to advancing our understanding of ME/CFS through innovative biomarker discovery and molecular research approaches.

Interested in viewing the poster? Click here to see the poster in full detail.

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