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Article: NIH Steps Up to the Plate - Picks Pathogen Ace to Lead Major XMRV/CFS Study

No coincidence?Dr. W. Ian Lipkin Named the Co-Chair of CDCs National Bio-surveillanc

Dr. W. Ian Lipkin Named the Co-Chair of CDC’s National Biosurveillance Advisory Subcommittee
check out the date below: coincidence ?!

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) named W. Ian Lipkin, MD, co-chair of its National Biosurveillance Advisory Subcommittee (NBAS). As the subcommittee to the CDC, NBAS provides counsel to the federal government on the broad range of issues impacting the development and implementation of a nationwide biosurveillance strategy for human health.

NBAS was established in May 2005, in response to the Homeland Security Presidential Directive recognizing the emergence of significant health-related threats to the nation, to "ensure that the Federal Government is meeting the goal of enabling state and local government public health surveillance capabilities."

Comprised of recognized experts in their fields that advise on key priority areas, the subcommittee is an innovative body for advancing nationwide biosurveillance capabilities. Serving as co-chair with Dr. Lipkin is Dr. Jeffrey Angle, state health director, North Carolina.

Dr. Lipkin, the John Snow Professor of Epidemiology, was selected co-chair by CDC Director Thomas Frieden, MD, MPH for his unique experience as director for the Mailman School of Public Health’s Center of Infection and Immunity. In particular, the CDC Advisory Committee cites his service as a Task Force Champion for NBAS, and his understanding of the importance of this subcommittee.

Dr. Lipkin’s work as a “microbe hunter” is at the frontiers of public health, creating and implementing state-of-the-art molecular tools in a global network to reduce the risks of acute and chronic diseases. His contributions include the first use of purely molecular methods to identify an infectious agent; implication of West Nile virus as the cause of the encephalitis in North America in 1999; first use of deep sequencing in pathogen discovery; and discovery of more than 200 viruses including rhinovirus C, Dandenong, and LuJo.

Dr. Lipkin served in Beijing as an intermediary between the WHO and the Chinese government during the SARS outbreak of 2003, and co-directed SARS research efforts in China with current Minister of Health Chen Zhu.

Over the course of his career, Dr. Lipkin has assisted the CDC, Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the U.S. Department of Defense in outbreaks of respiratory disease, hemorrhagic fever, meningoencephalitis, and vaccine safety investigations.

NBAS’ first report, "Improving the Nation's Ability to Detect and Respond to 21st Century Health Threats," was released in October 2009, and included five high-level, cross-cutting recommendations to be considered by federal leadership. This year the subcommittee's six task forces will undertake issues related to governance, healthcare and public health information, innovative information sources, biosurveillance collaboration, biosurveillance workforce, and integrated multi-sector information.
July 15, 2010
 
Woof - woof George!

He has a sterling record! Another major figure....Wow.

Someone a couple of months ago told me she heard he was working on XMRV but asked me not to say anything. She said he is one of the hottest pathogen detectives going and that he has detected new ways to find hard to find pathogens. I think this is very exciting.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) named W. Ian Lipkin, MD, co-chair of its National Biosurveillance Advisory Subcommittee (NBAS). As the subcommittee to the CDC, NBAS provides counsel to the federal government on the broad range of issues impacting the development and implementation of a nationwide biosurveillance strategy for human health.

Aruschima - NBAS was established in May 2005, in response to the Homeland Security Presidential Directive recognizing the emergence of significant health-related threats to the nation, to "ensure that the Federal Government is meeting the goal of enabling state and local government public health surveillance capabilities."

Comprised of recognized experts in their fields that advise on key priority areas, the subcommittee is an innovative body for advancing nationwide biosurveillance capabilities.

Dr. Lipkin, the John Snow Professor of Epidemiology, was selected co-chair by CDC Director Thomas Frieden, MD, MPH for his unique experience as director for the Mailman School of Public Health’s Center of Infection and Immunity. In particular, the CDC Advisory Committee cites his service as a Task Force Champion for NBAS, and his understanding of the importance of this subcommittee.

Aruschima - that bit on the CDC literally sent tingles up my spine. Friedan, the guy who got rid of Reeves - appointed Lipkin to co-chair that group. It must have happened very recently.......

It looks like things are maybe changing both at the NIH and the CDC....Exciting times indeed.
 
So full of exciting advances for ME now Cort and delighted to see this one for our friends across the pond. Momentum gathering all round.

By the time they get through with all the personell changes here, the evidence is going to be so overwhelming it's likely to hit the UK like a tidal wave. (here's hopin' some folks just get wasssshhhhed away. Grins)
 
In several interviews Judy hinted there could be a more virulent virus in China !
KDM hinted in August their are studies conducted behind closed doors testing prevalence in general population in China and prevalence is much higher !
Now here we are, a top virus hunter , who worked with the WHO in China on SARS has been made: “Dr. W. Ian Lipkin Named the Co-Chair of CDC’s National Biosurveillance Advisory Subcommittee’ ! On 15. July, just after the CDC released their study, but in between the FDA altered their paper for the PNAS.
Follow the time line of the events and you will understand my line of thought!

These are not coincidences!
There is a lot more going on behind closed doors than we know and a lot more behind this move than meets the eye .

(I think i have to get of the computer now, may be i am in a cytokine storm)

31 December 2009 15:20

THE PREVALENCE OF XENOTROPIC MURINE LEUKEMIA VIRUS-RELATED VIRUS IN
HEALTHY BLOOD DONORS IN JAPAN
the Japanese Red Cross issued a disturbing report that XMRV has been detected in nearly 2 percent of Japan’s blood supply. In the U.S., the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is investigating the blood supply; results are expected by the fall.

May 11, 2010
UNITED STATES FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION
CENTER FOR BIOLOGICS EVALUATION AND RESEARCH

EMERGING INFECTIOUS DISEASES: EVALUATION TO IMPLEMENTATION FOR TRANSFUSION AND TRANSPLANTATION SAFETY
(DAY 1)
EVALUATING EMERGING INFECTIOUS DISEASES (EIDs) FOR TRANSFUSION SAFETY

“From a public policy point of view, I think there's a lot of pressure, there's a lot of pressure particularly from people with CFS, which is a disease of considerable concern, and their belief is that if this is -- does have an infectious cause, and that's a very open question, shouldn't we be reducing the risk of transmitting this to other people. But the problem of transmission of XMRV if it is a problem, it's going to be very much bigger than I think CFS alone. “


DR. ALTER: "Yeah, well, I was going to say something very similar to Roger. I think this theoretical formula that I would have -- you can do the same by logic and eyeball (phonetic). But if you had a formula and you took XMRV we know a rough donor prevalence that we'd be okay there but we haven't yet proven it's blood transmissible. That information should probably be coming out soon. But we don't have a disease. So I think -- so that would turn your formula right now to zero but -- so that puts it into a very low priority based on science. That's where maybe perception would come in and then the perception would say well, maybe we should do something but something mild. You know, maybe ask a question or give more information to the donors. Those are mild interventions which are commensurate with the risk. If it turns out that it really causes chronic fatigue syndrome that it moves up the ladder on your priority list. "

http://www.forums.aboutmecfs.org/entry.php?481-How-do-we-react-to-the-recent-events

June 14th in "Blood Feud: Part 2."

German study published June 16 found XMRV in the respiratory tracts of 2 to 3 percent of 168 healthy controls and 10 percent of 161 patients with compromised immune systems, lending credence to the hypothesis that the retrovirus flourishes in areas other than the blood.
JUNE 22, 2010
"Gendringen, NL (MMD Newswire) June 22, 2010 -- The FDA and the NIH have independently confirmed the XMRV findings as published in Science, October last. This confirmation was issued by Dr. Harvey Alter of the NIH during a closed workshop on blood transfusion held on May 26-27 in Zagreb [Croatia]. Two journalists from the Dutch magazine for health professionals, ORTHO, who have been working on XMRV stories for several months, were able to obtain a copy of the Alter lecture."
http://www.cfscentral.com/2010/06/nih-and-fda-confirm-xmrv-in-mecfs.html

JUNE 30, 2010
Chronic-Fatigue Link to Virus Disputed
One Research Group Finds Virus XMRV in the Blood of Syndrome Sufferers, One Does Not; Papers Held From Publication

1.July 2010
CDC study released
Absence of evidence of Xenotropic Murine Leukemia Virus-related virus infection in persons with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and healthy controls in the United States.

JULY 12, 2010

Dr. Randy Schekman, editor-in-chief of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), where the FDA/NIH XMRV ME/CFS paper had been accepted, gave CFS Central an update. The NIH's Dr. Harvey Alter, one of the authors of the study, told Schekman that he'll be returning the paper to the journal "within weeks." After that, the PNAS editorial board will consider the paper, which, Schekman says, is "standard procedure." The FDA/NIH study found the retrovirus XMRV in the majority of ME/CFS patients that it tested.

July 15, 2010
Dr. W. Ian Lipkin Named the Co-Chair of CDC’s National Biosurveillance Advisory Subcommittee
Dr. Lipkin served in Beijing as an intermediary between the WHO and the Chinese government during the SARS outbreak of 2003, and co-directed SARS research efforts in China with current Minister of Health Chen Zhu.
Over the course of his career, Dr. Lipkin has assisted the CDC, Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the U.S. Department of Defense in outbreaks of respiratory disease, hemorrhagic fever, meningoencephalitis, and vaccine safety investigations.

AUGUST 10, 2010

"The Alter paper is now in press, but I don't know when it will go online and until then there will be a press embargo," says Dr. Randy Schekman, editor of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, where the FDA/NIH XMRV paper on ME/CFS patients had been accepted and then pulled by higher-ups in the department of Health and Human Services.
 
Washed Away

By the time they get through with all the personell changes here, the evidence is going to be so overwhelming it's likely to hit the UK like a tidal wave. (here's hopin' some folks just get wasssshhhhed away. Grins)

And we look forward to the idiots being "washed away" for all the suffering caused by their ignorance. Nearly there.
 
Cort, any idea what definition they will be using for CFS/M.E. patient group???

Cort, do you have any idea or have you read anything about how they will define their CFS/ME patient group?
I think this might be really important - patient selection. I'm just super curious how they will define and gather their CFS/M.E. cohort.
 
Cort, do you have any idea or have you read anything about how they will define their CFS/ME patient group?
I think this might be really important - patient selection. I'm just super curious how they will define and gather their CFS/M.E. cohort.

I haven't heard anything about that. With the suggestions from all corners that patient cohorts could play a role in the findings I imagine it will be one of the knottiest and most discussed aspects of the study...
 
If Ian Lipkin is so damn smart, why wasn't he put on this trail back in the mid 1980s

Dr. W. Ian Lipkin Named the Co-Chair of CDCs National Biosurveillance Advisory Subcommittee
check out the date below: coincidence ?!

He Ladies and Germs, if little Ian Lipkin was playing the flute with Jethro Tull back in the day, then why the hell didn't little Stevie Ray Strauss and Tony "the screwup" Fauci put him on the trail of all the supposed NON Chronic Epstein barr Virus patients who couldn't get out of bed way back in the early to mid 1980's?. ms. Gidget Faubion amassed more than 400 support groups all across America from 1976 to 1987 or so, with NO Internet and quite expensive long distance phone calls. When i first collapsed in 1984, CEBV was getting all the press. If little Ian was the boy wonder back then, why wasn't he put on the case then? I don't get it...
July 15, 2010
any other info from the XMRV meeting at NIH today?
 
I'm thrilled to read about Dr. Ian Lipkin's new role as head microbe hunter for XMRV. My image of him was immediately that of the early British explorers of the Dark Continent, with pith helmet and khaki shorts, venturing fearlessly into the Interior. I am expecting him to be succcesful!
 
I'm quickly trying to get up to speed on the day's events.

My question- Seeing as how this study is yet another replication study- does it put us any closer to clinical trials?

Actually after today I'm beginning to think more studies is the only way we are going to get to clinical trials...the research community needs to get how to find XMRV nailed down first - so this is part of that. The good news is that he seems to be so respected that if he can find it that will help calm the controversy considerably. I imagine that he's the kind of guy that could unlock the problems others are having as well.

I wonder if the study has started and when it is expected to end?
 
Actually after today I'm beginning to think more studies is the only way we are going to get to clinical trials...the research community needs to get how to find XMRV nailed down first - so this is part of that. The good news is that he seems to be so respected that if he can find it that will help calm the controversy considerably. I imagine that he's the kind of guy that could unlock the problems others are having as well.

I wonder if the study has started and when it is expected to end?

I didn't see any of the video so maybe the situation's more complex than I know. But it seems crazy to keep delaying trials to figure out why researchers couldn't find the disease when they were looking in the wrong patients- ridiculous actually- Now we need a Virus Hunter to sort it out? Alter found it. Mission Accomplished. Move on to pathogenesis- stop making us suffer on the sidelines.

This equates to 9 months more of being sick.
 
Its a well designed set of tests in my opinion. Pleased the WPI are involved and can have their results verified even if they are the only ones to find it in the tests.

Also very good that Lipkin is involved, and Fauci because they are well respected (well the first of them anyway) and basically medical world celebrities, as Alter is, and thats really useful in getting more interest and drive forward.

So Cort, you got any rough guess as to when we can expect some findings to be published?
 
This study looks very helpful...
I'm assuming that the FDA and the WPI will be looking for all HMRV's, not just XMRV... and the CDC will be looking for zero positive results, as usual.
I wonder if the FDA will be able to find any XMRV in this set of samples, and will the WPI be able to detect all the P-MLV-RV's? There's many questions to be answered as usual.
The great thing about this study is that the WPI's results will be verified and validated whether or not the FDA and CDC find any positives.
I'm assuming that the study will be designed such that the collection and storage methodology will not destroy the viruses... with Lipkin on board I am hopeful about that, as he will be serious about getting results, and will heavily consult with Judy Mikovits.
This will hopefully put to rest any questions regarding cohorts vs methodology... The collection and storage methodology will be the same for each of the samples (healthy and ME patients) in all of the geographical regions.
What's great about this study is that if the CDC find zero positives again, then they will be proven to be incompetent.

I think this is really good news. Actually, I'm bowled over by the level of interest that has gripped the higher levels of the scientific community. I mean, these are the top scientists in the world (i.e. Alter, Lipkin and Collins). We've not seen anything like this before for our community... I think it's going to take a few days to sink in for me, to understand the full implications for our community.

And not only that, but Mikovits gets to sit at the top table at the first international conference on XMRV - representing our community, which she does so brilliantly, and bravely.
 
Well spotted Aruschima. Dr Lipkin was appointed to the CDC in July during the delay of the Alter/Lo paper publication in PNAS. ie. Drs Lo & Alter, the CDC and FDA/NIH would all have known of the positive results from the paper at the time of Dr Lipkin's appointment.

Yes, would be most interesting to know if that was just a very happy coincidence - but I guess we never will and hopefully it doesn't matter now. Just roll on the biomedical research and the appropriate & effective treatments - it is all we have ever asked for.