bullybeef
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Looks like Imperial College (Wessely) is becoming more interested in XMRV: http://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/ABI315/laboratory-manager
Imperial College London - Laboratory Manager wanted
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pollycbr125
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good find Bully , so at least according to this Kings does believe XMRV exists lol just not in the UK
sorry couldnt resist 
Does the successful applicant have to wear an eye patch on the eye that looks through the microscope, & repeatedly say 'I see no pathogens'( a bit like Admiral Nelson saying 'I see no ships')?
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...l=en&client=ubuntu&sa=N&channel=fs&tbs=isch:1
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...l=en&client=ubuntu&sa=N&channel=fs&tbs=isch:1
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Suzy Chapman Owner of Dx Revision Watch
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Prof Wessely does not work at Imperial College, London.
Prof Wessely* is Kings College London but had provided stored samples for the Imperial College XMRV study that had been collected for previous, KCL studies.
*Department of Psychological Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, Camberwell, London, United Kingdom
Extracts from published paper:
The study recruited 186 patients (62% female, age range 19–70, mean 39.6611.3years) from consecutive referrals to the CFS clinic at King’s College Hospital, London.
The patient set studied is a well-characterised and representative sample of CFS patients who have been described previously: all were routine clinic attendees, referred within the UK National Health Service, who had taken part in prior studies of neuroendocrine functioning [11] and/or of cognitive behaviour therapy [12].
[...]
Acknowledgments
The assistance of Sarah Bull in data collection and processing is gratefully acknowledged.
Author Contributions
Conceived and designed the experiments: SK MM. Performed the experiments: OWE SK. Analyzed the data: SK MM. Contributed reagents/materials/analysis tools: SK GW DC SW AC. Wrote the paper: SK MM. Facilitated the study by setting up the collaboration: JW. Responsible for providing samples and associated data from a well characterised and valuable cohort of subjects: SW.
[...]
References
11. Roberts AD, Charler M, Papadopoulos AS, Wessely S, Chalder T, et al. (2009)
Does hypocortisolism predict a poor response to cognitive behavioural therapy in chronic fatigue syndrome? Psychological Medicine. In press.
12. Quarmby L, Rimes KA, Deale A, Wessely S, Chalder T (2007) Cognitive behaviour therapy for chronic fatigue syndrome: comparison of outcomes within and outside the confines of a randomised controlled trial. Behaviour Research & Therapy 45: 1085–94.
taniaaust1
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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20066031 for any which are not aware. This is study the Imperial collage put out in which they said XMRV wasnt found in the UK (in CFS patients), it lists wessely as part of the study.
"CONCLUSION: XMRV or MLV sequences were not amplified from DNA originating from CFS patients in the UK. Although we found no evidence that XMRV is associated with CFS in the UK, this may be a result of population differences between North America and Europe regarding the general prevalence of XMRV infection, and might also explain the fact that two US groups found XMRV in prostate cancer tissue, while two European studies did not."
"The study recruited 186 patients (62% female, age range 19–70, mean 39.611.3years) from consecutive referrals to the CFS clinic at King's College Hospital, London." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2795199/
Does that mean Wessely picked the patients which were going to be in the study! i suppose it does. Ive no doubt in my mind he played a big part in this study
........
So i find it really interesting that they deny XMRV in CFS and in prostate cancer in the UK... while they advertise for someone to do research in XMRV which they keep saying isnt even in their country.
"CONCLUSION: XMRV or MLV sequences were not amplified from DNA originating from CFS patients in the UK. Although we found no evidence that XMRV is associated with CFS in the UK, this may be a result of population differences between North America and Europe regarding the general prevalence of XMRV infection, and might also explain the fact that two US groups found XMRV in prostate cancer tissue, while two European studies did not."
"The study recruited 186 patients (62% female, age range 19–70, mean 39.611.3years) from consecutive referrals to the CFS clinic at King's College Hospital, London." http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2795199/
Does that mean Wessely picked the patients which were going to be in the study! i suppose it does. Ive no doubt in my mind he played a big part in this study
........
So i find it really interesting that they deny XMRV in CFS and in prostate cancer in the UK... while they advertise for someone to do research in XMRV which they keep saying isnt even in their country.
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Suzy Chapman Owner of Dx Revision Watch
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@ taniaaust1
The issue of Wessely's involvement in this study; the provision of stored samples from previous KCL studies; patient selection; the offering, then withdrawal of XMRV testing in CFS; the offering of testing for prostate cancer; the three FOIs that I and two others submitted to Imperial College, London around XMRV testing; the issue of ICL and current prostate cancer research have all been covered in previous ICL threads but I'm sorry I don't have time to find the links for you.
The FOI responses are here:
http://meagenda.wordpress.com/2010/...lar-diagnostics-unit-imperial-college-london/
A copy of the complete text of the Molecular Diagnostics Unit, Imperial College, London XMRV Detection Testing web pages, which were taken offline on Monday, 8 February, has been archived on ME agenda site at this posting:
http://wp.me/p5foE-2K1
The issue of Wessely's involvement in this study; the provision of stored samples from previous KCL studies; patient selection; the offering, then withdrawal of XMRV testing in CFS; the offering of testing for prostate cancer; the three FOIs that I and two others submitted to Imperial College, London around XMRV testing; the issue of ICL and current prostate cancer research have all been covered in previous ICL threads but I'm sorry I don't have time to find the links for you.
The FOI responses are here:
http://meagenda.wordpress.com/2010/...lar-diagnostics-unit-imperial-college-london/
A copy of the complete text of the Molecular Diagnostics Unit, Imperial College, London XMRV Detection Testing web pages, which were taken offline on Monday, 8 February, has been archived on ME agenda site at this posting:
http://wp.me/p5foE-2K1
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Suzy Chapman Owner of Dx Revision Watch
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@ taniaaust1
Prof Wessely's involvement in the Imperial College, London study is not disputed.
What I have done is to point out that Prof Wessely does not work for Imperial College, London but for Kings College London. He was one of a number of collaborators in the ICL study and the paper acknowledges his involvement and also references where the samples had originated.
Wessely provided stored samples originally collected for two previous KCL studies (one already published, one unpublished at the time the PLOS One paper was published). These studies are referenced at [11] and [12] in the paper.
Extracts from one of these papers have been posted in previous threads, here on PR in discussions on patient selection.
The offering of XMRV testing by the Molecular Diagnostic Unit of Imperial College, London in addition to their existing tests is not new.
The Molecular Diagnostic Unit of Imperial College, London is not Wessely's purview. He does not work for ICL, but was a collaborator with ICL in the PLOS One study.
ICL's Molecular Diagnostic Unit was offering an XMRV test in February.
There was a debacle over why ICL's MDU was apparently offering an XMRV test when it had just published a negative study into the association of XMRV with CFS.
The MDU webpages were withdrawn amid much confusion about which disease(s) the test was intended for and whether the test facility was intended for researchers, for clinicians or for patient use. (Though it had stated on the webpages, at the time, that the test was for clinicians' use and not for patients to access directly.)
ICL withdrew the webpages, issued a statement of clarification, then an amended notice and this issue is recorded on my site and in PR threads with copies of the orginal webpage text archived as the cached pages are no longer available.
The test was said to be for researchers and intended for prostate cancer.
Before ICL issued a notice on its website, a member of the public approached Wessely for a clarification and his response is published on my website.
Since he does not work for ICL nor their MDU it was not considered his place to be offering a clarification on behalf of another insititution's diagnostic unit; nevertheless, he took it upon himself to do so, prior to the issuing of a notice by ICL on their MDU webpages in the next few days.
There are some threads here which may be of interest:
http://www.forums.aboutmecfs.org/showthread.php?2856-Imperial-College-now-offering-PCR-XMRV-testing
Imperial College now offering PCR XMRV testing 4 Feburary 2010
http://www.forums.aboutmecfs.org/sh...ular-Diagnostics-Unit-Imperial-College-London
FOI responses: XMRV testing by Molecular Diagnostics Unit, Imperial College, London 8 March 2010
http://www.forums.aboutmecfs.org/sh...cer-and-CFS-quot&p=68272&viewfull=1#post68272
ABC Australia: McClure (ICL) "Virus linked to prostate cancer and CFS"
Transcript ABC McClure 12 April 2010 Post # 53 13 April 2010
There will also be earlier threads dating from the publication date of the ICL paper and also threads recording the exchanges that took place on the comment facility of PLOS One between advocates and Dr McClure.
Suzy
Prof Wessely's involvement in the Imperial College, London study is not disputed.
What I have done is to point out that Prof Wessely does not work for Imperial College, London but for Kings College London. He was one of a number of collaborators in the ICL study and the paper acknowledges his involvement and also references where the samples had originated.
Wessely provided stored samples originally collected for two previous KCL studies (one already published, one unpublished at the time the PLOS One paper was published). These studies are referenced at [11] and [12] in the paper.
Extracts from one of these papers have been posted in previous threads, here on PR in discussions on patient selection.
The offering of XMRV testing by the Molecular Diagnostic Unit of Imperial College, London in addition to their existing tests is not new.
The Molecular Diagnostic Unit of Imperial College, London is not Wessely's purview. He does not work for ICL, but was a collaborator with ICL in the PLOS One study.
ICL's Molecular Diagnostic Unit was offering an XMRV test in February.
There was a debacle over why ICL's MDU was apparently offering an XMRV test when it had just published a negative study into the association of XMRV with CFS.
The MDU webpages were withdrawn amid much confusion about which disease(s) the test was intended for and whether the test facility was intended for researchers, for clinicians or for patient use. (Though it had stated on the webpages, at the time, that the test was for clinicians' use and not for patients to access directly.)
ICL withdrew the webpages, issued a statement of clarification, then an amended notice and this issue is recorded on my site and in PR threads with copies of the orginal webpage text archived as the cached pages are no longer available.
The test was said to be for researchers and intended for prostate cancer.
Before ICL issued a notice on its website, a member of the public approached Wessely for a clarification and his response is published on my website.
Since he does not work for ICL nor their MDU it was not considered his place to be offering a clarification on behalf of another insititution's diagnostic unit; nevertheless, he took it upon himself to do so, prior to the issuing of a notice by ICL on their MDU webpages in the next few days.
There are some threads here which may be of interest:
http://www.forums.aboutmecfs.org/showthread.php?2856-Imperial-College-now-offering-PCR-XMRV-testing
Imperial College now offering PCR XMRV testing 4 Feburary 2010
http://www.forums.aboutmecfs.org/sh...ular-Diagnostics-Unit-Imperial-College-London
FOI responses: XMRV testing by Molecular Diagnostics Unit, Imperial College, London 8 March 2010
http://www.forums.aboutmecfs.org/sh...cer-and-CFS-quot&p=68272&viewfull=1#post68272
ABC Australia: McClure (ICL) "Virus linked to prostate cancer and CFS"
Transcript ABC McClure 12 April 2010 Post # 53 13 April 2010
There will also be earlier threads dating from the publication date of the ICL paper and also threads recording the exchanges that took place on the comment facility of PLOS One between advocates and Dr McClure.
Suzy
taniaaust1
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Thanks for all that info Suzy. There is so so much which has gone on that it's hard to get ones head around it.
One can ask why is it being offered for prostate cancer when it's been said that no XMRV is being found in UK and hasnt been found in the prostate cancer group there either ... It's a form of discrimination (thou i wouldnt like them to test my blood there for XMRV anyway).
One can ask why is it being offered for prostate cancer when it's been said that no XMRV is being found in UK and hasnt been found in the prostate cancer group there either ... It's a form of discrimination (thou i wouldnt like them to test my blood there for XMRV anyway).
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Suzy Chapman Owner of Dx Revision Watch
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The notice as it currently stands at 4 July 2010 on the webages of ICL's Molecular Diagnostics Unit:
XMRV testing
The MDU offers XMRV testing for research purposes only. If you are a researcher who is interested in XMRV testing, please contact the unit with an outline of your requirements.
There has been some confusion around the availability of the XMRV test, for which we apologise. We would like to clarify that it is only available as part of an ethically approved research project. We emphasise that our laboratory does not deal directly with patients and we are not advising people who are concerned that they might have CFS, or who have been diagnosed with CFS, to request this test.
(No change from revised February notice.)
-------
08 March 2010 extracts from FOI responses:
http://meagenda.wordpress.com/2010/...lar-diagnostics-unit-imperial-college-london/
1] For what diseases/conditions/study domains is the XMRV test being made available to researchers?
R: Further to your request for information regarding the diseases/conditions/study domains for which the XMRV test was made available to researchers (below) which was received by us on 22 February 2010, any physician or laboratory scientist can request the test for any disease or condition as part of an ethically approved research study. Our group at Imperial College London is currently focused on neoplasms of the genital tract but the clinical implications of XMRV infection are not yet fully understood. Our group is no longer studying CFS.
-------------
6] If the XMVR Diagnostic Test was not being offered for people who are concerned that they might have CFS, or who have been diagnosed with CFS, what patient population was the test intended for?
R: Clinicians and clinical research scientists who are interested in the association of XMRV with prostate cancer.
-------------
R: Further to your request for information dated 9 February 2010 regarding the exact testing methods employed in XMRV testing carried out at the College (below) technical details associated with testing CFS tissue for the presence of XMRV are published in PLoS 1 January 6th 2010. Modifications of the assay for prostate cancer are not yet published and are not available to the public. The College hopes to publish this information before the end of the year.
----------
Interview on Australian radio 12 April 2010:
Transcript
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/healthreport/stories/2010/2867629.htm
Discussion and copy of transcript also here, on PR:
http://www.forums.aboutmecfs.org/sh...cer-and-CFS-quot&p=68272&viewfull=1#post68272
[...]
Myra McClure: Well we run here as part of our research department a diagnostic service so making the sort of tests that identify viruses is second nature to us and we're interested in retroviruses, all sorts of retroviruses. So we thought well let's see if this virus has now been identified in two different centres in the United States, if it's real it's going to revolutionise the treatment of prostate cancer. So we thought we'll develop a test which will tell us whether or not the archived samples, the samples we've had stored for many years here at St Mary's Hospital are actually showing evidence of the virus. So we had the test ready to do that and that's what we are doing.
Norman Swan: So you had if you like a bio-bank of samples from men with prostate cancer?
Myra McClure: Yes, that's exactly right. The urologist here Dr Anoop Patel had been very foreseeing ten years ago he started setting up this bio-bank when he had patients with cancer who had had a biopsy he sent it to the histopathologist and the histopagthologist here Dr Marjorie Walker kept the tissue in paraffin blocks so they've been here maintained over all these years. And we get a small slice of these and we looked to see if the virus is present.
Norman Swan: And at the time of doing this interview with you you're not allowed to tell me what the results were because you haven't published yet.
Myra McClure: Well I'd rather not because you know there's a huge controversy. This virus has been born into controversy. The Americans say they can find that the first studies said 40% of familial prostate cancer, the second study said 23% of all prostate cancers, then an Irish group and a Swedish group came out and said they may be finding it in the States but we can't find it in our prostate cancers. Then a German group looked at 500 prostate cancer patients and they couldn't find it either. So people were beginning to say well if it is a real virus it's not in Europe but we're actually finding it I have to say.
XMRV testing
The MDU offers XMRV testing for research purposes only. If you are a researcher who is interested in XMRV testing, please contact the unit with an outline of your requirements.
There has been some confusion around the availability of the XMRV test, for which we apologise. We would like to clarify that it is only available as part of an ethically approved research project. We emphasise that our laboratory does not deal directly with patients and we are not advising people who are concerned that they might have CFS, or who have been diagnosed with CFS, to request this test.
(No change from revised February notice.)
-------
08 March 2010 extracts from FOI responses:
http://meagenda.wordpress.com/2010/...lar-diagnostics-unit-imperial-college-london/
1] For what diseases/conditions/study domains is the XMRV test being made available to researchers?
R: Further to your request for information regarding the diseases/conditions/study domains for which the XMRV test was made available to researchers (below) which was received by us on 22 February 2010, any physician or laboratory scientist can request the test for any disease or condition as part of an ethically approved research study. Our group at Imperial College London is currently focused on neoplasms of the genital tract but the clinical implications of XMRV infection are not yet fully understood. Our group is no longer studying CFS.
-------------
6] If the XMVR Diagnostic Test was not being offered for people who are concerned that they might have CFS, or who have been diagnosed with CFS, what patient population was the test intended for?
R: Clinicians and clinical research scientists who are interested in the association of XMRV with prostate cancer.
-------------
R: Further to your request for information dated 9 February 2010 regarding the exact testing methods employed in XMRV testing carried out at the College (below) technical details associated with testing CFS tissue for the presence of XMRV are published in PLoS 1 January 6th 2010. Modifications of the assay for prostate cancer are not yet published and are not available to the public. The College hopes to publish this information before the end of the year.
----------
Interview on Australian radio 12 April 2010:
Transcript
http://www.abc.net.au/rn/healthreport/stories/2010/2867629.htm
Discussion and copy of transcript also here, on PR:
http://www.forums.aboutmecfs.org/sh...cer-and-CFS-quot&p=68272&viewfull=1#post68272
[...]
Myra McClure: Well we run here as part of our research department a diagnostic service so making the sort of tests that identify viruses is second nature to us and we're interested in retroviruses, all sorts of retroviruses. So we thought well let's see if this virus has now been identified in two different centres in the United States, if it's real it's going to revolutionise the treatment of prostate cancer. So we thought we'll develop a test which will tell us whether or not the archived samples, the samples we've had stored for many years here at St Mary's Hospital are actually showing evidence of the virus. So we had the test ready to do that and that's what we are doing.
Norman Swan: So you had if you like a bio-bank of samples from men with prostate cancer?
Myra McClure: Yes, that's exactly right. The urologist here Dr Anoop Patel had been very foreseeing ten years ago he started setting up this bio-bank when he had patients with cancer who had had a biopsy he sent it to the histopathologist and the histopagthologist here Dr Marjorie Walker kept the tissue in paraffin blocks so they've been here maintained over all these years. And we get a small slice of these and we looked to see if the virus is present.
Norman Swan: And at the time of doing this interview with you you're not allowed to tell me what the results were because you haven't published yet.
Myra McClure: Well I'd rather not because you know there's a huge controversy. This virus has been born into controversy. The Americans say they can find that the first studies said 40% of familial prostate cancer, the second study said 23% of all prostate cancers, then an Irish group and a Swedish group came out and said they may be finding it in the States but we can't find it in our prostate cancers. Then a German group looked at 500 prostate cancer patients and they couldn't find it either. So people were beginning to say well if it is a real virus it's not in Europe but we're actually finding it I have to say.
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Suzy Chapman Owner of Dx Revision Watch
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Job spec
http://workspace.imperial.ac.uk/emp...ger, Prof 3b, Infectious Diseases (ID) JD.doc
Imperial College London
Job Description
Job Title: Laboratory Manager
Section/Division: Infectious Diseases
Department: Medicine
Job Family/Level: Professional Services, Level 3b
Salary Range: 31,340 - 38,930 per annum
Responsible To: Professor Myra McClure
Location: St Marys campus, Paddington
http://workspace.imperial.ac.uk/emp...ger, Prof 3b, Infectious Diseases (ID) JD.doc
Imperial College London
Job Description
Job Title: Laboratory Manager
Section/Division: Infectious Diseases
Department: Medicine
Job Family/Level: Professional Services, Level 3b
Salary Range: 31,340 - 38,930 per annum
Responsible To: Professor Myra McClure
Location: St Marys campus, Paddington