Ivy League Cornell U collaborating with WPI

[parvofighter]

Great teams attract great players. Ivy League Cornell University has joined the illustrious list of respected institutions collaborating with WPI. This from:http://www.upstatenyherc.org/c/job.cfm?str=1&site_id=671&sort=date_&max=25&jb=6316632

Post Dr Assoc
Cornell University
Cornell University, located in Ithaca, New York, is an inclusive, dynamic, and innovative Ivy League university and New York's land-grant institution. Its staff, faculty, and students impart an uncommon sense of larger purpose and contribute creative ideas and best practices to further the university's mission of teaching, research, and outreach.

The Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics seeks a postdoctoral research associate to study the role of the newly discovered retrovirus XMRV in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Blood from a cohort of CFS patients and controls in upstate New York will be examined for the presence of virus, viral proteins, and antibodies to viral proteins. Sequences of XMRV from different patients will be obtained in order to characterize the diversity of viruses in the population. Whether virus sequences correlate with functional status of CFS patients will be determined. This project will be undertaken in collaboration with the Whittemore-Peterson Institute in Reno, Nevada and the Columbia University Center for Infection and Immunity as well as with several physicians treating CFS patients. For more information regarding the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, visit http://mbg.cornell.edu/.

Qualifications:
PhD degree in an area of Molecular Biology and/or Biochemistry or Virology. Prior experience with mammalian cell culture and/or retroviruses is desirable but not required. (MY COMMENT: NOTE HOW A DEGREE IN PSYCHIATRY WITH SPECIALIZATION IN CBT/GET IS ASTONISHINGLY ABSENT)

Please send cover letter and CV with names of three references to Prof. Maureen Hanson, Dept of Molecular Biology and Genetics, 323 Biotechnology Bldg., Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 or to cfs.study@gmail.com. Applications will be received for consideration until a suitable candidate is identified.

God bless WPI

 

[Katie]

Now this is one to watch!

Oh my goodness this is good news!

I'm very optimistic that this one will certainly be done right, whatever the outcome.

 

[fresh_eyes]

Sweet! Great news.

 

[CBS]

Cornell joins WPI

This is great news. Prestigious research institutions running towards CFS research. Who'd have thunk it?

My wife is a Dartmouth grad and her best friend ('Maid of Honor' at our wedding) is a doc at Dartmouth's Hitchcock Medical Center. I'm forwarding this to her and going to do a little ribbing as to Dartmouth being behind the times and now having to play catch up. Those Ivy's are so competitive amongst one another (but I guess they're all great if you couldn't get into Stanford).

 

[MEKoan]

Great teams attract great players. Ivy League Cornell University has joined the illustrious list of respected institutions collaborating with WPI. This from:http://www.upstatenyherc.org/c/job.c...=25&jb=6316632

I seriously doubt that Cornell, Columbia et al would still be planning on spending money on something which, many would have us believe, is not a goer!

I know, of course, that this does not mean it is but if I am going to speculate, I'd rather speculate as to why, or why not, various institutions are putting money, or not, into this endeavour rather than speculate on unsubstantiated rumours.

I understand I may be in the minority but I am simply endeavouring to stay in a place of stability until this is settled. And, I'm not saying that people shouldn't pass on what they hear, that's up to them, but we cannot judge the motives of the orignal source of rumours because we don't know who is starting them.

This is encouraging news! Thanks Parvofighter!

 

[MEKoan]

(but I guess they're all great if you couldn't get into Stanford).

I think I detect a Stanford grad in our midst.

(I wish that didn't say "rolleyes" because it's so much more useful as "looking up there" )

 

[mezombie]

Yay!

 

[CBS]

All I know

All that really guarantees is that I can probably tell you where to find a bathroom on campus. And do not underestimate the value of that small piece of information.

 

[MEKoan]

CBS,

Little nuggets like that are gold! But, I suspect there is much, much more.

 

[CBS]

Seriously, let's use this

On a much more serious note, we can use this.

Medicine is a hugely conservative and hierarchical endeavor. At the same time, no one wants to be the last kid on the block to know.

In grad school I was taking a course on best practices and the research showed that the largest determinant of a given doctor's methods was what was cutting edge when they were in medical school. Many docs either worship the ground that their mentors walked on or they are too frightened to ever disagree with what they were taught by their mentor (I left out never having cracked a journal since graduation).

That said, interest by institutions like this can open minds.

My father in-law is a wonderful guy that just keeps filling his retirement by volunteering. Right now he is the co-director of a board for the local community clinic. That clinic is funded by a huge regional provider and he has a great relationship with some of their VPs. You had better believe that I am on the phone with him to make sure that this provider's vp's are aware of what's going on. My aim right now is to get the provider to send a few docs to an upcoming conference on the latest XMRV findings (OFFER Utah in April or May).

I may not be able to make that happen alone but I know others are pushing them to do the same thing.

 

[fresh_eyes]

Shane, related to what you're saying - Kim was talking on the Re-Brand thread about putting together a powerpoint presentation on CFS aimed at med students (she is pre-med now & has a related assignment). Creating educational materials for *future* doctors seems like something that could potentially have a huge impact, for the reasons you point out.

 

[Martlet]

Creating educational materials for *future* doctors seems like something that could potentially have a huge impact, for the reasons you point out.

I could not agree more!

My daughter was at Guy's and no-one was doing anything on M.E. We were visiting once when she asked if some Canadian med students who were friends of hers could come and have a look at me. It was rather funny, crammed in her dorm room with a bunch of students asking a zillion questions. I never did learn what happened to them, but I'd like to think that they left Guy's a lot more informed than their peers.

 

[Martlet]

Parvofighter - Thanks for this news. I am trying not to get too excited about XMRV, but tidbits of news like this give me a lot of hope.

 

[parvofighter]

On hope - and kick-butt science

Me too Martlet, me too.

 

[shiso]

This is good news, parvofighter, thanks for posting it.

It's just a reality that prestigious brand names (Cornell, Columbia) do carry a lot of influence and instant credibility in the medical field and the public, and it's huge for us that they are doing what sounds like a very useful and informative study on XMRV and CFS with WPI.

Let's hope there's a snowball effect of more research interest by big name institutions!

 

[CBS]

Stanford & Montoya

I hope Stanford gets on board. Dr. Montoya is already there but he is not a lab guy.

That is one thing that is good about the CAA's currently funded researchers. Several are at big name universities.

This might sound a bit skewed (hopefully not defensive) but Stanford has been on board with CFS for a very long time. It has never appeared to me (as a patient) that they didn't take CFS seriously or that they wanted to distance themselves from CFS (and I've been dismissed at some of the worlds greatest centers of excellence - Mayo and Cleveland Clinic!)

I don't know what, if any specific XMRV plans are in the works right now. I'd hope there is something already underway.

CFS is not Dr. Montoya's only specialization (although I suspect it takes up a majority of his time). He directs the Toxoplasmosis Lab at SU Medical Center (a quick search of pubMed shows is author/coauthor of four CFS articles out of total of 53 articles, most of them on Toxoplasmosis). Given that (and the fact that I have a very unusual history with Toxo).

All of that said, I'd too would like to see Stanford open a CFS clinic and bring on more docs who's sole focus is CFS. I suspect that day is not far off.

 

[Sing]

Good subject CBS and Athene but maybe the toxoplasmosis subject ought to be a new thread. Also that way others can find the information--

About this one, Thanks, Parvofighter!! I am excited. Postdocs in biology, virology, etc. work hard to advance science, and by doing so, their careers, so I expect this could result in helpful research. I also wonder if Dr. David Bell and his Lyndonville Institute will be involved in any way, as he is also upstate NY?

Cecelia

 

[CBS]

New Toxo Thread

Good subject CBS and Athene but maybe the toxoplasmosis subject ought to be a new thread. Also that way others can find the information--Cecelia

A new thread on Toxo has just been started (now if I just knew how to link to it).

Shane

 

[kurt]

Great teams attract great players. Ivy League Cornell University has joined the illustrious list of respected institutions collaborating with WPI. This from:http://www.upstatenyherc.org/c/job.cfm?str=1&site_id=671&sort=date_&max=25&jb=6316632

Post Dr Assoc
Cornell University
Cornell University, located in Ithaca, New York, is an inclusive, dynamic, and innovative Ivy League university and New York's land-grant institution. Its staff, faculty, and students impart an uncommon sense of larger purpose and contribute creative ideas and best practices to further the university's mission of teaching, research, and outreach.

The Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics seeks a postdoctoral research associate to study the role of the newly discovered retrovirus XMRV in chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Blood from a cohort of CFS patients and controls in upstate New York will be examined for the presence of virus, viral proteins, and antibodies to viral proteins. Sequences of XMRV from different patients will be obtained in order to characterize the diversity of viruses in the population. Whether virus sequences correlate with functional status of CFS patients will be determined. This project will be undertaken in collaboration with the Whittemore-Peterson Institute in Reno, Nevada and the Columbia University Center for Infection and Immunity as well as with several physicians treating CFS patients. For more information regarding the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, visit http://mbg.cornell.edu/.

This is band-wagon hopping, and not in any way evidence for or against the validity of XMRV in CFS. This just shows that the interest in determining whether XMRV is important in CFS is serious. This is the type of challenge these people like. They would be just as happy to squash XMRV as confirm it, they should be unbiased and very thorough. And also, they likely do not want to get left out if XMRV turns into an important finding. I would not place too much value in this type of post-doc position, if XMRV fizzles those type of positions will just go away.

If people want to know what is going on with XMRV, look at the survey results for both WPI's and Cooperative's XMRV test, and also read carefully the multiple disclaimers about XMRV testing on the Cooperative website. They are very cautious about making claims, I wish others would be so careful. This is very early stage research still.

 

[CBS]

Hopping on and off

This is band-wagon hopping, and not in any way evidence for or against the validity of XMRV in CFS.

I'm not alarmed when they hop on (and right now I don't take this as confirmation of an XMRV/CFS link but as an apparent absence of damning evidence against such a link that has not yet been made public). It's when they all start to hopping off that you can start to make that assumption.