From an email to newsletter subscribers:
Jarred Younger said:Dear all, It has been a while since I last posted an update from the lab. We have been very busy this year. We’ve added eight new lab members: a graduate student, a full time research coordinator, four undergraduates, and two nursing students.
You can see some of the new faces in the lab picture above. I couldn’t get everyone together at the same time, but most of the team was there. We have an excellent group of researchers and trainees for 2016!
Our ongoing projects are going well. We are currently in the middle of our third group of daily blood draw participants. We’ve had difficulties with the traffic around Birmingham, but Kate, the team, and the participants have been incredible in their dedication to the project. I thank everyone involved and I’m very excited to see what results we get from the study.
We are also making good progress on our brain scan studies. We have a new scan that shows us brain temperature, and higher brain temperature indicates neuroinflammation. We have run a few individuals and are already seeing higher brain temperatures in people with pain and fatigue.
This scan may help with treatment development. We have ambitious plans for 2016. We will be adding several new clinical trials, and you will hear about those soon. There isn’t room to list everything, but here are a few of the things starting this year:
● A clinical trial of low dose naltrexone for chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).
● Online, live question and answer sessions. The first one will be held on March 2nd at 3pm Central Time. You can submit your questions in advance, or during the sessions. More info coming soon.
● A series of online videos where I explain our projects, and give new information on pain, fatigue and neuroinflammation.
● Two new studies for individuals with Gulf War Illness. One study involves daily blood draws, and one study is a clinical trial testing botanicals and herbal supplements that can decrease neuroinflammation.
● I am co-directing a large pain conference at UAB on October 14th and 15th of this year. All the major researchers and clinicians in the region should be there, and registration will be open to the community. The focus of the conference will be on pain, but there will be interesting information for people with ME/CFS and neuroinflammatory conditions.
I have two major goals for this year. The first is to conduct several high-impact research studies that will give us important information about the diagnosis and treatment of neuroinflammatory conditions. The second goal is to spend as much time as possible getting information out to the community, so you can see what were are doing in the lab.
My longer-term goal is to develop a “fast-track” clinical trial center for pain, fatigue and neuroinflammation that will test new treatments much faster than through the conventional routes. This center would give many of you access to the newest possible treatments.
I will talk about the center in a later update. There is much more to talk about, but I’ve run out of room. Keep an eye on email and facebook for more news soon!
Sincerely,
Jarred Younger
Director: Neuroinflammation, Pain and Fatigue Laboratory