What are we waiting for?
I'm stepping out on a bit of a limb (so what's new?) and I know that this might not sit well with everyone here but it is not my opinion that we are waiting for the WPI (or even the Cleveland Clinic or the NCI).
In the world of research, the WPI has already come up with a very big hit but many questions have been raised (many by studies with minimal attention to design and the WPI has responded/engaged with the authors of those studies in ways that have generated a lot of heat from both sides - and no, I'm not blaming the WPI for feeling frustrated but I think that they need to trust the scientific process as much as the rest of us).
So, will the next great study that moves us closer to an answer on what role, if any, XMRV plays in CFS come from the WPI? I seriously doubt it. What more can they say that they haven't already said? A study (or series of studies) from independent groups (Columbia Univ. Univ of Utah, Emory, Abbott, GSK, ARUP, University of Montreal - Dr. Jolicoeur, HHS, or even the CDC) would be far more powerful.
So support these groups and push federal officials to devote resources to the problem. But also know that right now we are in a period where a huge amount of money has been spent (probably as much if not more in the last 6 months than has been spent on CFS in the last 6 years). Our present problem with XMRV isn't funding, it is patience and, while I don't think this is likely; what do we do if XMRV doesn't turn out to be a central issue (perhaps another co-infection) in CFS?