Presentation Summaries from Solve ME/CFS Discovery Forum October 2017

[Sasha]

Short summaries of the presentations, including Zaher Nahle's intro, Hanson, Lipkin, Unutmaz (i.e. the leaders of the centres getting NIH funding) and others - Klimas, Rowe, plus people new to the field:

http://solvecfs.org/a-new-era-in-mecfs-research-presentation-summaries-from-discovery-forum-2017/

I believe the recordings will be going up on YouTube at some point:

http://solvecfs.org/a-new-era-in-mecfs-research-presentation-summaries-from-discovery-forum-2017/

 

[Andy]

Dr. Ian Lipkin: Perspectives on the History, Status, and Future of ME/CFS

Twenty minutes is a difficult time frame. It’s too long for an elevator pitch, but too short to do more than describe the organizational structure of our center, list our investigators and resources, and describe our research aims. This information is already described in granular detail in interviews we’ve all given to Cort Johnson and others and will shortly be available on our website.

Accordingly, I’ve decided to invest our time together in providing something that is not available elsewhere. My personal and professional perspectives on the history, current status, and future challenges of ME/CFS. Over an interval of close to forty years in medicine and science, I have been privileged to have a front row seat to view the evolution of molecular biology from the discovery of restriction enzymes to high throughput sequencing and synthetic biology.

Our tools have changed, but much has not. In 1977, I practiced medicine in an Indian Health Service clinic in Tishomingo, Oklahoma. In 2017, I practice public health in a hospital in Gorahkpur, India.

http://solvecfs.org/dr-ian-lipkin-perspectives-on-the-history-status-and-future-of-mecfs/

 

[Sasha]

It's rare that I learn a new word these days but I just learned 'antepenultimate' from that.

Edit: Actually, the next sentence is interesting and I hadn't been aware of this:

The antepenultimate paragraph of our paper proved prescient and provided early evidence that ME/CFS was associated with immunopathology. We noted that while three-fourths of patients had antibodies to BDV proteins they also had antibodies to a wide range of other proteins, including some not seen in nature.

Is that just going to be because antibodies get produced by a stochastic process, @Jonathan Edwards, or is there more to it?

 

[Sasha]

Very well worth reading the whole thing. Thanks for posting, @Andy.

Of special note to me and many others here:

We also deeply appreciate the support of the ME/CFS community. I think every day of Vanessa Li–the beautiful young woman who initiated our crowd funding initiative before taking her life in 2015.

 

[Andy]

Maureen Hanson's presentation


Vicky Whittemore's presentation

 

[BurnA]

I think the editing was a bit messed up in Maureen Hansons talk.
Will be interesting to see results of her latest work, she mentioned working with metabolon so hopefully they will be comparable with Ron Davis'results.

Vicky Wittemores talk was encouraging but the proof will be if that upward trajectory in funding continues or not.