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OMF funds Harvard Collaborative Center and expands Data Center!!!

Ben H

OMF Volunteer Correspondent
Messages
1,131
Location
U.K.
Hi guys,

Some massive news!

OMF%20End%20MECFS%20logo%20.jpg

OMF creates Harvard ME/CFS Collaborative Research Center and expands Stanford Data Center

Dear all,

ME/CFS Collaborative Research Center at Harvard:

We are proud to announce that OMF has funded $1.8 million for the establishment of a new ME/CFS Collaborative Research Center at the Harvard Medical School affiliated hospitals, which includes Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

The new Harvard Center will be led by OMF Scientific Advisory Board members Ronald G. Tompkins, MD, ScD, and Wenzhong Xiao, PhD, of Harvard University and will work synergistically with the ME/CFS Collaborative Research Center at Stanford led by Ronald W. Davis, PhD, of Stanford University, also funded by OMF. All science funded by OMF continues to be under the overall direction of our Scientific Advisory Board, directed by Ron Davis.

The goals for this new Harvard Collaborative Center are twofold. First is a basic research goal: to collect molecular data on muscle and other tissues affected by ME/CFS. Studies will include evaluation of patient muscle biopsies as compared to controls including genomics, proteomics, and ultrastructural analysis. Dr. Tompkins has extensive experience with such analysis on tissue from burn patients. He will be able to perform muscle biopsies, and possibly biopsies of other tissue types, greatly expanding the research, which has so far involved the analysis of blood cells. One focus of this new work will be to investigate the etiology of Post-Exertional Malaise (PEM).

The second goal is to establish a Clinical Trials Network to facilitate multi-center clinical studies on potential effective treatments for ME/CFS. The clinical resources at the MGH under Ron Tompkins, MD, are very extensive, making this an ideal site for overseeing and conducting clinical studies. This is a great opportunity to establish standards and the infrastructure for rigorous clinical trials.

Stanford ME/CFS Data Management and Coordination Center:

OMF is also funding the expansion of the Stanford Data Center for the Severely Ill Patients (SIPS) Study to encompass all the data from the Stanford and Harvard ME/CFS Collaborative Research Centers, as well as data from any other research we are funding.

The clinical results from the SIPS are currently already open to researchers with access via our website. This expanded data center will give researchers quick access to massive amounts of research data.

I would like to extend a huge personal thank you to all of our tremendous supporters who continue to make this urgent research possible and for being our partners in this great effort to put an end to ME/CFS. We truly could not do this without you; together we will find a cure.

With hope for all,

linda%20signature%20001.jpg

Linda Tannenbaum
CEO/President

P.S. For OMF friends living outside the U.S., if you would like to continue receiving OMF's exciting news in your inbox and have not yet re-registered, please sign-up today or we will have no choice, due to GDPR rules, to remove you from our mailing list after May 25th.



www.omf.ngo


B

@Janet Dafoe (Rose49) @AshleyHalcyoneH @marilynbsg
 
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ljimbo423

Senior Member
Messages
4,705
Location
United States, New Hampshire
ME/CFS Collaborative Research Center at Harvard:

Nice to have Harvard onboard!!!:jaw-drop: The more the merrier!:)

The second goal is to establish a Clinical Trials Network to facilitate multi-center clinical studies on potential effective treatments for ME/CFS.

The clinical resources at the MGH (Massachusetts General Hospital) under Ron Tompkins, MD, are very extensive, making this an ideal site for overseeing and conducting clinical studies.

Jim
 
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Diwi9

Administrator
Messages
1,780
Location
USA
I saw VanElzakker mention on Twitter that a big announcement was coming...I'm guessing this is it. It feels really good to see research universities like Stanford, Cornell, Columbia and Harvard all having ME/CFS biomedical research.

The NIH claims it cannot provide grants with the current dearth of applications. The private sector is bringing in more and more researchers; hopefully this means more grant applications. Will the NIH finally step up and really fund these premier research institutions that ARE INTERESTED in ME/CFS???!!!

Thank you OMF for taking the lead!
 

Murph

:)
Messages
1,799
1. Good for OMF for funding more than just Stanford. Spending money is hard - ramping up / expanding can be inefficient - so it is smart to spread it around.

2. If the Stanford brand name helped draw attention to our cause the Harvard brand oughta do even more!

3. seeding interest in MECFS into more research institutions should give us a bigger chance of attracting the next generation of researchers.

tl;dr good job.
 

Ben H

OMF Volunteer Correspondent
Messages
1,131
Location
U.K.
1. Good for OMF for funding more than just Stanford. Spending money is hard - ramping up / expanding can be inefficient - so it is smart to spread it around.

2. If the Stanford brand name helped draw attention to our cause the Harvard brand oughta do even more!

3. seeding interest in MECFS into more research institutions should give us a bigger chance of attracting the next generation of researchers.

tl;dr good job.

Totally agree @Murph . Though I believe Stanford rates higher than Harvard academically, interestly. Maybe Harvards brand name is stronger, im not in the US. I maybe wrong, but either way having them both have collaborative research centres is beyond brilliant.

tl;dr bloody fantastic news


B
 

Diwi9

Administrator
Messages
1,780
Location
USA
Totally agree @Murph . Though I believe Stanford rates higher than Harvard academically, interestly. Maybe Harvards brand name is stronger, im not in the US. I maybe wrong, but either way having them both have collaborative research centres is beyond brilliant.

tl;dr bloody fantastic news


B
@Ben H - It's an East Coast/West Coast thing. The East has old roots that are long established and close proximity to the federal center of power in Washington D.C., so "status" in that respect. Stanford is at the epicenter of so much booming research in tech, with a lot of Pacific Rim influence, it's location provides a different sort of advantage when it comes to innovation and investment. That's why it's too bad the NIH didn't fund Ron...we need diverse and creative approaches to target this disease as we are still looking for the mechanism.
 

Janet Dafoe

Board Member
Messages
867
Totally agree @Murph . Though I believe Stanford rates higher than Harvard academically, interestly. Maybe Harvards brand name is stronger, im not in the US. I maybe wrong, but either way having them both have collaborative research centres is beyond brilliant.

tl;dr bloody fantastic news


B
Stanford's reputation is now #1 for technology, innovation, and biotechnology, and interdisciplinary collaboration (e.g., bio and engineering, which is what Ron does a lot of). The genetics dept at Stanford is ranked #1 in the world. Stanford has largely generated Silicon Valley. Boston is considered #2. Having both working on ME/CFS is fantastic!
 

Ben H

OMF Volunteer Correspondent
Messages
1,131
Location
U.K.
@Ben H - It's an East Coast/West Coast thing. The East has old roots that are long established and close proximity to the federal center of power in Washington D.C., so "status" in that respect. Stanford is at the epicenter of so much booming research in tech, with a lot of Pacific Rim influence, it's location provides a different sort of advantage when it comes to innovation and investment. That's why it's too bad the NIH didn't fund Ron...we need diverse and creative approaches to target this disease as we are still looking for the mechanism.

Makes sense. I was being pretty reductive, based off charts and various research.


B
 
Messages
90
I am SO EXCITED! This is happening less than 5 miles from my house! I get care at these hospitals already. I hope that - at the very least - it means I'll have an easier time finding specialists who are ME/CFS literate.

(And, coincidentally, I work at Harvard, although I know nothing about the medicine side of things - I'm in a rare books library.)
 

MEPatient345

Guest
Messages
479
The other good thing is that outside of academia, the Boston area is a world leader in biotech, pharmaceuticals and healthcare industry. Just having a center there is huge for collaboration options and PR around the disease.

Am so excited about this!