Dr Vince Lombardi

Dr Vince Lombardi

of the Whittemore-Peterson Institute

 

An article which appeared in the Journal of IiME of May 2009

Dr. Lombardi was introduced to the field of ME/CFS as an undergraduate research assistant for Dr. Daniel L. Peterson, in Incline Village, NV.

While working with Dr. Peterson, he was responsible for routine laboratory work, patient interviews, statistical and epidemiological data analysis.

He began his graduate studies in the laboratory of Dr. Robert Suhadolnik at Temple University in 1999 studying the role of RNase L dysfunction in ME/CFS. He finished his graduate work at the University of Nevada, Reno in the field of neuro-peptides and protein chemistry, receiving his PhD in Biochemistry in 2006. Prior to completion of his PhD, he co-founded Redlabs USA Inc., a CLIA certified clinical specialty laboratory the focus of which is the diagnosis of chronic immune disease. He served as the Director of Operations and Laboratory Supervisor at Redlabs prior to joining WPI in 2007 but left to continue his research on the RNase L pathway and the development of chronic disease.

Dr Lombardi brings to WPI, expertise in the fields of protein chemistry and purification, mass spectrometry and molecular modeling.

www.wpinstitute.org

 

From the Journal of IiME Volume 3 Issue 1

 

I was originally exposed to the world of CFS research, while taking a class in Biostatistics, as an undergraduate.

My professor was a patient of Dr. Daniel Peterson and she approached him with the idea to conduct a research project using his CFS patient data, to which he agreed.

Although the semester ended prior to completing the work I continued with the project on my own and ultimately we determined the value of CD4/CD8 ratios in diagnosing CFS and published and present these data at the meeting of the American Mathematics Society in Eugene Oregon.

It was during this time that I became acquainted with several CFS patients and truly understood their frustration regarding the lack of quality CFS research.

I continued to work with Dr. Peterson on an informal level conducting other research but eventually I left the Tahoe area and began my Graduate work at Temple University.

After a short time on the East Coast things took me in a different direction and I found myself back in Nevada. Shortly after returning I entered Graduate school at the University of Nevada, Reno and that is where I concluded my Graduate work, receiving a Ph.D. in Biochemistry in 2006.

Although my Graduate work was conducted in Neuropeptide chemistry, I never lost contact with the CFS community and my desire to help the patients drew me back into the field; to this day I continue the work that started many years ago in the medical office of Incline Village.

Although there are many directions a new investigator can take when he or she decides what area of research to pursue, ultimately, my decision was most greatly influenced by the CFS patients I met in Dr. Peterson’s office.

I often imagined what it must be like to have a disease where the cause is unknown, the treatment is dubious and the mainstream medical community questions the validity of your disease.

With this thought in mind it was an easy decision to continue down the path of CFS research, even thought the path is not always so easy.

I have never been the kind of  person that takes the easy road but the patients appreciate my work and that is enough for me.



Last Updated: 29 October 2009

Last Update 29 October 2009

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