Did NIH Director Collins stay on at XMRV conference?

[Rrrr]

cort wrote this on the xmrv buzz page: http://www.aboutmecfs.org/Rsrch/XMRVBuzz.aspx
"The Director Drops In and Stays.... - Dr. Vernon was astonished to see the Director of the NIH drop into the Conference and then STAY. She said he was there in the front row and asking questions for 75 percent of the Workshop. She has been to many many conferences over the years and she's never seen that before.?"

is this true? i had not heard that collins stayed at the conference at all past his opening remarks. if he stayed for 75% of the conference, this is HUGE. just HUGE.

is it true? i have not been able to be on the forums much this past week, so if this has already been discussed, just tell me (and tell me where?)

best
rrrr

 

[Michelle]

I was wanting to hear more about this too! I kept thinking this should have been Cort's TOP point in his quick summary (though understand it may well have been a more stream of conscious sort of summary).

 

[Sean]

As I said before, having the director of the NIH not only open the conference but also stay on for many of the sessions, is a huge political boost to our cause.

 

[Michelle]

My understanding is that Cort said Collins attended the OFFER conference that was just held in Salt Lake City...unless I misunderstood him, which god knows is very very possible. Especially as I've been online for 3 straight hours and normally get off after an hour.

 

[Rrrr]

if this is true, and collins stayed for the xmrv conference, we have an amazing opportunity now. with that type of interest from the director of the NIH, we need to now ask for an ME/CFS point person to be appointed within the director's office. now is the time to act on this! people should write him to ask for this.

fancis.collins@nih.gov

 

[CBS]

My understanding is that Cort said Collins attended the OFFER conference that was just held in Salt Lake City...unless I misunderstood him, which god knows is very very possible. Especially as I've been online for 3 straight hours and normally get off after an hour.

Michelle,

I was at the OFFER Conference (I sat down with Cort when he spoke with both Drs. Singh and Vervon). I did not see Dr. Collins at the conference and I would be quite surprised if he were there. If I remember correctly, Dr. Vernon told us that Dr. Collins stayed through much of the XMRV conference (I wasn't taking notes).

 

[George]

Hey all it was tweeted by Cleveland Clinic and I think another person that Collins was present at the XMRV conference for part of the first day and almost all of the second day. To my knowledge it is true that he was asking questions as well of the posters and presenters. Double Check with Mindy or Hilliary but yeah, it's a really, really big deal. Stay happy folks the smoke is starting to clear.

 

[Michelle]

George --

Ah, that makes much more sense. I think I was confused because in the paragraph above Cort mentioned Dr. Vernon at the OFFER conference.

Should not even be on the computer today. Had to cancel my INR check because I was too sick to get to the clinic even with a medical transportation cab. So I'm closing my laptop now and going back to sleep.

 

[Cort]

I was wanting to hear more about this too! I kept thinking this should have been Cort's TOP point in his quick summary (though understand it may well have been a more stream of conscious sort of summary).

I agree that it was a key point and it was stream of consciousness - done rather quickly and I did not specify that it was the XMRV Int Workshop not the OFFER Conference. Here's a corrected version.

The Director Drops In and Stays.... - Dr. Vernon was astonished to see the Director of the NIH drop into the XMRV International Workshop and then STAY. She said he was there in the front row and asking questions for 75 percent of the Workshop. She has been to many many conferences over the years and she's never seen that before.

 

[Rrrr]

Hey all it was tweeted by Cleveland Clinic and I think another person that Collins was present at the XMRV conference for part of the first day and almost all of the second day. To my knowledge it is true that he was asking questions as well of the posters and presenters. Double Check with Mindy or Hilliary but yeah, it's a really, really big deal. Stay happy folks the smoke is starting to clear.

thank you, george, for that info. this second confirmation makes me one thrilled puppy!