United Kingdom: ME Research Collaborative (MERC) [was CMRC] news

I wonder if the substantial funding received by the LSHTM Biobank from the NIH last year has helped to bring about this change. Especially given the failure of the MEGA projects to secure funding.

 

Sounds probably positive. Although, I'd wrongly thought that five years ago when the CMRC was first set up.

Wouldn't they want to see how things pan out first? They can't be oblivious to the concerns about her work. Promoting her to a position like that at this point seems a needless risk.

 

Bristol must be so embarrassed by her already. Surely they can't have promoted her?

I'm cautiously optimistic. But could/would they get involved with NICE? If they have significant clout and truly want to promote biomedical approaches, they can start by asking for a warning against GET in the current guideline and for a total removal of the same from the future guideline. It's a barrier if they don't want funding to continue to be swallowed up by cheap and easy biopsychosocial studies.

 

Do you have a list of UK researchers? Neil Harrison is a new CMRC board member.

 

Here are minutes from a meeting in F 2018eb

https://www.actionforme.org.uk/uploads/images/2018/03/cmrc-draft-minutes-060218.pdf

 

I think Neil Harrison gave a talk at IiME a few year ago, but his latest study in Sussex has raised some doubts re his aims.

https://www.bsms.ac.uk/about/contact-us/staff/dr-neil-harrison.aspx

 

So, Chris Ponting will be deputy Chair from April

They are talking about the BACME conference and BACME joining forces with CMRC, do they know that Per Fink is talking at BACME/

 

The people who need to be brought in, having previously been told to get stuffed, are the Biobank and CureME at LSHTM. They have by far the best people in the field in the UK. Eleanor Riley has moved but there are other good people for the team to mix with there and they know exactly what they are doing. The biggest mistake from CMRC was to try to duplicate what the Biobank had already achieved.

 

The CMRC minutes often feel really evasive to me. The rest of what I've seen today looks good, but reading the minutes always makes me think 'why are you telling us what you're doing?'

eg:

What narrative? To what individual?

Are those minutes getting Ponting and Pariante mixed up [as @Nellie just pointed out]?

Quite big difference there!

eg:

"A new Deputy is required and, at SH’s invite, CP agreed to take on the role from April."

Carmine Pariante (CP) Chris Ponting (CPP)

"GM stated that BACME has a conference on 14-15 March and there will be a vote at the conference about joining forces with the CMRC for a joint conference. Should this be positive, discussion would be needed with the CMRC membership."

I don't see much to be gained from the CMRC joining with BACME - unless BACME wanted to offer some grovelling apologies.

 

Cautiously optimistic

Chris Ponting looks good!

Wow, can’t believe EC has gone!

 

Oh NO!

But CP was not at the meeting

 

Well his bio talks about the 'common mental illness' he calls 'chronic fatigue'. I doubt he got top marks at school for accuracy or thoroughness... It's not a great indication of his intentions (or capabilities).

 

Language is a bit vague. From AfME's article

So Chris Ponting is replacing Crawley while the others are joining the board. Suggests that he is vice-chair but doesn't explicitly say so.

 

Apparently AfME apply their own rules on Facebook and I'm not sure why they are still so keen to protect Crawley either.

 

Prof. Chris Ponting will be deputy chair. The minutes confirm this - although as has been pointed out the initials should have been CPP for Chris Ponting and not CP.

 

That, and other comments from people who should know who the deputy chair is, makes me think (hope) it's just an error in the minutes. [edit - as has just been confirmed above].

 

They don't want you to post things that will have a harmful impact on someone's reputation? What a weird idea.