NIAID funding to Jackson Laboratory researcher to investigate chronic fatigue syndrome

[Kati]

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-06/jl-nft060716.php

Professor Derya Unutmaz, M.D., of The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine, will receive five years of funding -- totaling $3,281,515 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases -- to find better ways to diagnose and treat myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), the debilitating and mysterious condition more generally known as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, between 836,000 and 2.5 million Americans suffer from ME/CFS. Symptoms include profound fatigue, cognitive dysfunction, sleep abnormalities and pain.

Researchers have identified several potential environmental triggers and faulty immune system components associated with ME/CFS, but the immunological basis for the disease remains murky. Moreover, the symptoms and severity of ME/CFS vary widely among patients.

Unutmaz proposes to undertake a major study of ME/CFS patients, screening blood samples for potential immunological biomarkers of the disease, and using the results to develop better diagnostic tools and personalized treatments for the disease.

###

The Jackson Laboratory is an independent, nonprofit biomedical research institution with more than 1,700 employees. Headquartered in Bar Harbor, Maine, it has a National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center, a facility in Sacramento, Calif., and a genomic medicine institute in Farmington, Conn. Its mission is to discover precise genomic solutions for disease and empower the global biomedical community in the shared quest to improve human health.

 

[Invisible Woman]

Wow!

Nope I'm gonna have to read that again to try to find the catch.

 

[duncan]

Unutmaz proposes to undertake a major study of ME/CFS patients, screening blood samples for potential immunological biomarkers of the disease, and using the results to develop better diagnostic tools and personalized treatments for the disease

"Better diagnostic tools" AND "personalized treatments"? My BS meter just went off like an air raid alarm.

 

[greeneagledown]

This is great, but every time I see a new CFS grant from NIH, I think, "More money that could have gone to Ron Davis."

 

[Kati]

"Better diagnostic tools" AND "personalized treatments"? My BS meter just went off like an air raid alarm.

Why Duncan? Personalized medicine is one booming field. It doesn't mean quack.

My comment about the article is this physciain is completely unknown in the ME world. Why would NIAID fund someone who has no idea about case definition and the issues surrounding ME and not fund Dr Davis group?

It has a bitter sweet flavor.

 

[mango]

Derya Unutmaz, M.D.

Researches the mechanisms of human T cell differentiation, activation and regulation in the contexts of normal immune response, diseases and aging.

Immune Disorders. Genetics and Genomics

Our research primarily focuses on decoding the differentiation, activation and regulation of human T cells for optimal immune responses to infectious diseases and their perturbations during chronic diseases or aging. We have contributed to the understanding of how T cell subsets are disrupted during human diseases, especially during HIV infection. Our lab has made several seminal discoveries about the diversity and mechanisms of immune suppression mediated by regulatory T cells and effect or functions of human Th17 cell subsets.

https://www.jax.org/research-and-faculty/faculty/derya-unutmaz

 

[mango]

A bit more info about him here:

Immunologist, HIV expert Derya Unutmaz, M.D., joins Jackson Laboratory faculty
November 19, 2014

https://www.jax.org/news-and-insigh...-unutmaz-m-d-joins-jackson-laboratory-faculty

 

[A.B.]

My comment about the article is this physciain is completely unknown in the ME world. Why would NIAID fund someone who has no idea about case definition and the issues surrounding ME and not fund Dr Davis group?

We do need new researchers entering the field. I do think Davis will receive more funding eventually. Perhaps after he has formally published his findings.

 

[mango]

He's on Twitter too:

https://twitter.com/derya_

 

[duncan]

Why Duncan? Personalized medicine is one booming field. It doesn't mean quack.

They are writing checks against a bank account with close to a zero balance, @Kati. I am wary of grandiose promises in general, but from the NIH, even more so.

Maybe the pr dept just got carried away.

 

[Denise]

My comment about the article is this physciain is completely unknown in the ME world. Why would NIAID fund someone who has no idea about case definition and the issues surrounding ME and not fund Dr Davis group?

Not quite an unknown - Dr. Unutmaz has done work with the SolveME/CFS Initiative

• Derya Unutmaz, MD, Professor of Microbiology and Pathology, NYU Medical Center
  His laboratory has developed highly sophisticated and detailed profiling technology of the functional subsets of immune cells isolated from human blood. Unutmaz has completed immune profiling on 25 ME/CFS patient samples from the SolveCFS BioBank™ and is now in the process of analyzing the data, comparing it to immune profiles from other diseases as well as from healthy controls. (Please go to
  to watch a recent webinar led by Unutmaz on his work.) http://solvecfs.org/being-patient-centric/

Investigator Report: Decoding the Human Immune Response
HELD on Wednesday, October 1, 2014
Video Link

Derya Unutmaz, MD, is Professor of Microbiology, Pathology and Medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center. Unutmaz is using samples from the SolveCFS BioBank to understand the “Good, Bad and Ugly” aspects of the immune response in ME/CFS. Unutmaz hypothesizes that a disproportionate immune response leads to damage in ME/CFS. He will describe what the immune signature of ME/CFS looks like compared to a healthy immune response. http://solvecfs.org/mecfs-resources/patient-resources/solve-mecfs-initiative-2014-webinar-series/

 

[Kati]

Not quite an unknown - Dr. Unutmaz has done work with the SolveME/CFS Initiative

• Derya Unutmaz, MD, Professor of Microbiology and Pathology, NYU Medical Center
  His laboratory has developed highly sophisticated and detailed profiling technology of the functional subsets of immune cells isolated from human blood. Unutmaz has completed immune profiling on 25 ME/CFS patient samples from the SolveCFS BioBank™ and is now in the process of analyzing the data, comparing it to immune profiles from other diseases as well as from healthy controls. (Please go to
  to watch a recent webinar led by Unutmaz on his work.) http://solvecfs.org/being-patient-centric/

Investigator Report: Decoding the Human Immune Response
HELD on Wednesday, October 1, 2014
Video Link

Derya Unutmaz, MD, is Professor of Microbiology, Pathology and Medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center. Unutmaz is using samples from the SolveCFS BioBank to understand the “Good, Bad and Ugly” aspects of the immune response in ME/CFS. Unutmaz hypothesizes that a disproportionate immune response leads to damage in ME/CFS. He will describe what the immune signature of ME/CFS looks like compared to a healthy immune response. http://solvecfs.org/mecfs-resources/patient-resources/solve-mecfs-initiative-2014-webinar-series/

Thanks Denise, then I feel better

 

[Denise]

Thanks Denise, then I feel better

You are welcome!

We definitely need more researchers!!
We definitely need research funding (for appropriate research)!!

That said, it is nice to see that at least some of the SolveME/cfs Initiative seed grants continue to develop into larger project. Here's hoping this trend continues!

 

[Bob]

This is great, but every time I see a new CFS grant from NIH, I think, "More money that could have gone to Ron Davis."

Yes, an official $3m grant to Ron would be nice but, as enthusiastic as we are about Ron, it won't harm us to have a number of players in the field.
Actually, it's essential to have a number of capable scientists doing parallel projects. The more the better.
I need to read more about Unutmaz, but I provisionally think this is great news!

BTW, I'm with @A.B. on this - I think Ron will get official funding eventually - unfortunately the NIH need to sort out their bureaucracy first.

 

[Bob]

"Better diagnostic tools" AND "personalized treatments"? My BS meter just went off like an air raid alarm.

Any chance you've misread it, Duncan? It says he will use the results to develop better diagnostic tools and personalized treatments. Obviously that's an ambition, but it seems like a laudable ambition.

Unutmaz proposes to undertake a major study of ME/CFS patients, screening blood samples for potential immunological biomarkers of the disease, and using the results to develop better diagnostic tools and personalized treatments for the disease

 

[Sasha]

"Better diagnostic tools" AND "personalized treatments"? My BS meter just went off like an air raid alarm.

But it's essentially the same as what Ron Davis said in his IiME talk.

 

[Bob]

I find all this very interesting...

We are now using the knowledge we acquired from studying HIV to other chronic inflammatory disorders and to understand the aging of the immune system. JAX will be an ideal institution to continue our studies at the genomics level and translate them for clinical use.”

His laboratory’s discoveries include the role of cytokines (proteins produced by immune cells) in making CD4+ T cells more vulnerable to HIV infection; and how HIV preferentially infects and perturbs human T cell subsets, including NKT, regulatory T (Tregs) and IL-17-secreting (Th17) cells.

The Jackson Laboratory is expanding its research faculty in immunology—including cancer immunobiology, autoimmunity and host response to infectious diseases—as well as cancer and other research areas, at both the headquarters campus of Bar Harbor, Maine, and the new JAX Genomic Medicine facility in Connecticut.

Jacques Banchereau, Ph.D., JAX professor and director of immunological sciences, says, “Derya’s expertise in the immunological changes that occur during HIV infection will be a vital part of the Laboratory’s program to understand the workings of the immune system in a wide range of human diseases and conditions, including cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, cardiovascular diseases and even aging.”

More here:
https://www.jax.org/news-and-insigh...-unutmaz-m-d-joins-jackson-laboratory-faculty

 

[duncan]

Any chance you've misread it, Duncan? It says he will use the results to develop better diagnostic tools and personalized treatments. Obviously that's an ambition, but it seems like a laudable ambition.

Yes, I could have misread it. Yes, it is a laudable goal.

In my mind, though, it is premature to such an extent as to be misleading. We have such a far way to go simply for accurate diagnostics. We haven't even identified what we are supposed to be diagnosing yet. And then personalized treatments?

These may not be responsible claims given the status of our current knowledge, at least imo.

But I get hype, and I appreciate getting excited and wanting to excite readers....wanting to generate hope. There is a lot to be said for that.

 

[duncan]

But it's essentially the same as what Ron Davis said in his IiME talk.

I think it is premature for anyone to be making such claims.

Like I said, though, hope can be a good thing.

 

[Simon]

Project Information - NIH RePORTER - NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools Expenditures and Results

Big cohort, detailed look at Natural Killer cells and T cell subsets, looks at long non-coding RNAs too

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) is a debilitating and mysterious chronic illness caused by diverse environmental triggers. Severe disruptions in several immune system components have been described and proposed as drivers of disease pathogenesis and symptoms.

However, there is no consensus on the immunological basis for ME/CFS development and sustenance. The two major barriers to progress are the significant patient heterogeneity in symptomatology and disease progression, combined with the lack of quantitative tools to stratify patients and probe the molecular immune underpinnings of disease.

The ability to stratify heterogeneous patient groups using reliable, clinically accessible immunological biomarkers would transform efforts to manage ME/CFS clinically and investigate the disease mechanistically. Development of robust multi-parameter biomarker sets would also impact efforts to develop personalized treatment options for ME/CFS patients.

The present proposal outlines a multi-disciplinary, systems-biology approach to investigate the immune mechanisms of ME/CFS and to develop ME/CFS-patient specific immune signatures from blood-derived immune cells. The guiding hypothesis is that immune perturbations, particularly to the effector functions of T cell and innate cell (natural killer and myeloid) subsets, contribute to pathogenesis of ME/CFS and that these immune signatures can be used as predictive biomarkers.

We will address this hypothesis using a cutting-edge immunogenomics approach based on integrated, high-resolution functional and transcriptomic profiling of immune cell subsets within the blood samples of a large, clinically characterized ME/CFS patient cohort and healthy controls.

We will then examine the transcriptional alterations associated with ME/CFS within T and innate cell subsets, with a focus on long non–coding RNAs, owing to their high cell- type-specificity and impact on immune cell development.

Our Specific Aims are:
1) To determine the frequencies of immune cell subsets in the blood of a clinically defined ME/CFS patient cohort;
2) To assess functional capacity of memory T cells, innate cells and the differentiation potential of naive T cells during ME/CFS; and
3) To determine the T cell and innate cell subset–specific gene and lncRNA transcripts in ME/CFS patient blood samples.

Our goal is to develop a detailed functional and genetic immunological framework that can be used to
i) decode the mechanisms of ME/CFS [hah, ambitious!] and
ii) to develop robust, quantitative immune-biomarker sets for predicting disease susceptibility, stratifying patients and guiding treatment strategies.

We have assembled a unique team of experts in human immunology, clinical ME/CFS biology for well-defined patient samples, non-coding RNAs, transcriptomics and bioinformatics, together will contribute to the deep and complimentary expertise necessary to bring about this goal.