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Medpage: NIH Program Director Talks Team Work to Tackle ME-CFS

Kati

Patient in training
Messages
5,497
http://www.medpagetoday.com/Neurology/GeneralNeurology/61447

Medpage Today interviews Vicky Whittemore. Here is an exerpt:

MPT: What did you learn at the IACFS/ME conference?

Whittemore: My main takeaways from the conference are:

  • There are now several potential mechanisms and hypotheses for the etiologies and pathophysiology of ME-CFS that need to be expanded, replicated, and further explored.
  • We need more young investigators in ME-CFS research who will develop a pipeline of researchers to continue to explore new avenues in ME-CFS research.
  • It will be difficult to develop a case definition until we have objective measures for ME-CFS. It is likely that there are subtypes of the disease, and it is this heterogeneity that makes developing one case definition so difficult.
  • Discussion and collaboration between U.S. investigators, and investigators around the world, at international meetings such [IACFS/ME] will help coordinate efforts to bring the best scientists to the table to do research.
 

Never Give Up

Collecting improvements, until there's a cure.
Messages
971
Can you share any more details about the consortium?

Whittemore: Information will be contained in the RFAs that will be released in December. The funding that will be available will also be released in the RFAs.

That's what I thought, the $15 million funding announced for 2017 is separate from the RFA funding, which is separate from the amount they are spending on the in house study, and separate from the amount they are offering to researchers who will add ME/CFS as comparison groups in existing studies. They are ramping up.
 

Gamboa

Senior Member
Messages
261
Location
Canada
Excellent article.

Great to see this one, along with the three by Miriam Tucker that have just come out in Medscape.

I know people are very upset with the NIH over so many things but at least they and we are moving in the right direction. $15 million is peanuts but is better than any previous years so it is a start.