The 13th Invest in ME Research Biomedical Research into ME Colloquium 2024
#BRMEC13
The Infectious Aetiology of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis
The 13th International Biomedical Research into ME Colloquium takes place at the Wellcome Genome Campus, UK,
in June - #BRMEC13.
The BRMEC* Colloquiums are closed symposiums for researchers - where views can be openly expressed, data can be
shared in confidence (even if not publicly available) and collaborations can be developed.
These sessions cover various aspects of ME research, facilitating in-depth discussions on Chronic Infection,
Nervous System and Neuroinflammation, Immune System, Metabolism, Epigenomes and Transcriptomes, Physiology,
Other Non-Infectious Trauma and Clinical trials.
This follows the output from the recent NIH Roadmap project.
For the last few years of arranging the Colloquiums we have been using more and more the expertise in EMERG to
form the agenda for these meetings.
This year we again have members of EMERG chairing the sessions.
The moderators for this year's Colloquium are presented on the left.
In 2017, for the BRMEC7 Colloquium, a new approach
for structuring the presentations was introduced in order to focus more effort in
determining the information that was relevant to making progress.
Session chairs were tasked with by asking presenters to consider the following
questions that had been created by
Professors Tom Wileman and Simon Carding -
leading on to how this relates to other strategies/research.
As the NIH roadmap provides a summary of a large area of ME research then we
will use them for structuring our Colloquium of 2024, and pose the
natural follow on question - What's Next?'
This year's theme, "Acknowledging the acceptance by both clinicians and researchers
of 'THE INFECTIOUS AETIOLOGY’ of ME/CFS' focuses on uncovering the complexities of ME, exploring acute infection,
chronic infection, and co-infection.
#BRMEC13 is structured using a collaborative format with sessions led by experts from the European ME Research Group.
It is hoped that all delegates become participants rather than just observers.
#BRMEC13 Session Moderators
These
same questions were used by the NIH to use for structuring their Roadmap of webinars during 2023.
More details here.
The colloquiums began in 2011, with BRMEC1, as a way of bringing existing ME researchers together in the
same meeting
as researchers from other disciplines in order to increase knowledge and generate more avenues for research into ME.
This would also then facilitate the increase in capacity for research and
improve the chances of finding funding opportunities, raising more awareness of biomedical research into ME.
This directly led to the initiation in London in 2015 of The European ME Research Group (EMERG)
concept
- that created a network of European biomedical
research collaboration to facilitate rapid advances in research and funding for ME.
Dr Vicky Whittemore
USA
Dr. Whittemore is a Program Director in the Synapses, Channels and Neural Circuits Cluster. Her interest is in understanding the underlying mechanisms of the epilepsies including the study of genetic and animal models of the epilepsies.
The major goal is to identify effective treatments for the epilepsies and to develop preventions. Dr. Whittemore received a Ph.D. in anatomy from the University of Minnesota, followed by post-doctoral work at the University of California, Irvine, and a Fogarty Fellowship at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.
She was on the faculty of the University of Miami School of Medicine in The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis prior to working with several non-profit organizations including the Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance, Genetic Alliance, Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy (CURE), and the National Coalition for Health Professional Education in Genetics (NCHPEG).
She also just completed a four-year term on the National Advisory Neurological Disorders and Stroke Council.
Other Links
Professor Ronald Davis
Professor of Biochemistry and Genetics at the Stanford School of Medicine in Stanford, California, USA
USA
Ronald W. Davis, Ph.D., is a Professor of Biochemistry and Genetics at the Stanford School of Medicine in Stanford, California.
He is a world leader in the development of biotechnology, especially the development of recombinant DNA and genomic methodologies and their application to biological systems.
At Stanford University, where he is Director of the Stanford Genome Technology Center, Dr. Davis focuses on the interface of nano-fabricated solid state devices and biological systems.
He and his research team also develop novel technologies for the genetic, genomic, and molecular analysis of a wide range of model organisms as well as humans.
The team's focus on practical application of these technologies is setting the standard for clinical genomics.
Research Leader, Quadram Institute Bioscience, Norwich Research Park, UK
Professor Simon Carding
UK
Upon completing postgraduate work at the Medical Research Council’s Clinical Research Centre in Harrow,
Professor Carding “emigrated” to the USA to take up a postdoctoral position at New York University School of Medicine,
and then at Yale University as a Howard Hughes Fellow in the Immunobiology Group at Yale University.
While
at Yale an interest in gamma-delta (γδ) T cells was acquired working closely with Adrian Hayday on molecular genetics and then
with Prof. Peter Doherty to establish their role in (viral) infectious disease.
He left Yale after five years to take up a faculty position at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia where he
developed a research interest in mucosal and GI-tract immunology, performing studies in germfree mice with Prof John Cebra
that helped establish
the role of gut microbes in the aetiology of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
After 15 years in the USA, he returned to the UK to take up the Chair in Molecular Immunology at the University of Leeds
where he established a new research
programme on commensal gut bacteria and Bacteroides genetics leading to the development of a Bacteroides drug
delivery platform that is being used
for developing new interventions for IBD and for mucosal vaccination.
In 2008 he was recruited by UEA and IFR to develop a gut research programme, taking up the Chair of Mucosal Immunology
at UEA-MED and the position of head
of the Gut Biology Research Programme at IFR, which later became part of the Gut Health and Food Safety (GHFS) Programme.
GHFS research covers a broad area of gut biology including epithelial cell physiology, mucus and glycobiology, mucosal immunology,
commensal microbiology, foodborne bacterial pathogens, and mathematical modelling and bioinformatics.
The success of this programme has led to the establishment of the Gut Microbes and Health research programme
that is integral to the research agenda of The Quadram Institute.
Dr Avindra Nath
USA
Dr. Nath received his MD degree from Christian Medical College in India in 1981 and completed a residency in Neurology from University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, followed by a fellowship in Multiple Sclerosis and Neurovirology at the same institution and then a fellowship in Neuro-AIDS at NINDS.
He held faculty positions at the University of Manitoba (1990-97) and the University of Kentucky (1997-02).
In 2002, he joined Johns Hopkins University as Professor of Neurology and Director of the Division of Neuroimmunology and Neurological Infections.
He joined NIH in 2011 as the Clinical Director of NINDS, the Director of the Translational Neuroscience Center and Chief of the Section of Infections of the Nervous System.
His research focuses on understanding the pathophysiology of retroviral infections of the nervous system and the development of new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for these diseases.
Institute for Virology and Immunobiology, University of Wuerzburg
Dr Bhupesh Prusty
Germany
Bhupesh Prusty currently works at the Institute for Virology and Immunobiology, University of Wuerzburg. Bhupesh does research in Microbiology and Virology. His current research focuses on ciHHV-6 reactivation and its clinical consequences.
University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre CRCHUM · Biochemistry and molecular medicine
Professor Alain Moreau
Canada
Since October 2000, Dr. Moreau has been Director of the Laboratory of Molecular Genetics of Musculoskeletal Diseases/malformations. His team is interested in the molecular genetics of musculoskeletal diseases in children (scoliosis) and adults (osteoarthritis). Their work mainly focuses on musculoskeletal diseases that affect children (congenital malformations, bone and cartilage tumours), adolescents (idiopathic scoliosis) and adults (osteoarthritis and joint cartilage degeneration). In addition, his team studies the molecular mechanisms involved in the inflammation and regeneration of musculoskeletal tissues. Dr. Moreau is an active member of the Bone and Periodontium Research Center (a consortium of researchers working in the field of bone) set up by McGill University, the American Society of Bone and Mineral Research and the Scoliosis Society of Quebec. He is also the thematic leader of the Molecular Biology and Genetics Axis of the Scoliosis Quebec Network.
Full Chair Professor in Analytical Chemistry and Neurochemistry at the Department of Chemistry, Uppsala University, Sweden
Professor Jonas Bergquist
Sweden
Professor Begquist has a background as MD, Associate Professor of Clinical Neuroscience , Sahlgrenska University Hospital and the University of Gothenburg. Since 1999 , he has been a researcher in Uppsala, Sweden, and in 2005 was appointed professor of analytical chemistry and neurochemistry at the Department of Chemistry - BMC , Uppsala University. From 2011 he worked also as an adjunct professor of pathology at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
Research Director, Coordinating Research Centre, Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg Hospital, Denmark
Co-chair European ME Research Group
Dr Jesper Mehlsen
Denmark
Dr Jesper Mehlsen graduated as a medical doctor in 1979 and finished his specialist training in 1990.
He has published more than 140 scientific papers in peer reviewed journals, mainly on the autonomic nervous system and more recently
on complex diseases possibly resulting form HPV-vaccination.
For more than 35 years, he has worked clinically and in research with dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system.
Such dysfunction may lead to symptoms from a number of different organs often dominated by diminished control of blood pressure
and heart rate.
Over the past 5 years, he has worked clinically and in research with patients who suspect side effects due to HPV vaccination to
be the cause of a number of symptoms, common to those seen in chronic ME.
Dr Mehlsen is co-chair of the European ME Research Group (EMERG).
Assistant Professor of Medicine. Institution. Brigham and Women's Hospital
Dr David Systrom
USA
Dr. David M. Systrom is a physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital. He is also an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. He received his medical degree from Dartmouth Medical School (now known as Geisel School of Medicine).
Nova Southeastern University, Florida, USA
Professor Nancy Klimas
USA
Director, Institute for Neuro Immune Medicine, Nova Southeastern University.
Director, Clinical Immunology Research, Miami VAMC
Professor of Medicine, Department of Clinical Immunology, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Nova Southeastern University
Chair, Department of Clinical Immunology, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Nova Southeastern University
Professor Emerita, University of Miami, School of Medicine
n for her research and clinical efforts in multi-symptom disorders, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS),
War Illness (GWI), Fibromyalgia, and other Neuro Immune Disorders. She is immediate past president of the International Association
for CFS and ME (IACFS/ME), a professional organization of clinicians and investigators, and is also a member of the VA Research Advisory
Committee for GWI, the NIH P2P CFS Committee, and the Institute of Medicine ME/CFS Review Panel. Dr. Klimas has advised three Secretaries
of Health and Human Services, including Kathleen Sabelius, during her repeated service on the Health and Human Services CFS Advisory Committee.
Dr. Klimas has been featured on Good Morning America, in USA Today and the New York Times.
Associate Professor Rikke Katrine Jentoft Olsen
Research Unit for Molecular Medicine, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Denmark
Our research group has a longstanding interest in inborn errors of mitochondrial metabolism with special focus on fatty acid oxidation disorders. We integrate genetic diagnostics of affected families with research into cell pathological mechanisms and novel treatment modalities in the form of mitochondrial vitamins/co-factors and anaplerotic compounds for the tricarboxylic acid cycle. In recent years, we have initiated research programs to understand the role that mitochondria may play in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS).
Besides science, Rikke KJ Olsen is an active member of the Neonatal Screening Program for inborn errors of metabolism in Denmark and board member of international scientific organisations within fatty acid oxidation disorders and ME/CFS.
University of Oslo and EMERG
Professor Ola Didrik Saugstad
Norway
Ola Didrik Saugstad is a Norwegian pediatrician and neonatologist, who is internationally recognized for his research on resuscitation of newborn children. Since 1991, he has been Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Oslo and Director of the Department of Pediatric Research at the National Hospital.
Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Cornell University, New York, USA
Professor Maureen Hanson
USA
Maureen Hanson is Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor in the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. Previously she was on the faculty of the Department of Biology at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville and an NIH NRSA postdoctoral fellow at Harvard, where she also completed her Ph.D. degree. While most of her prior research has concerned cell and molecular biology in plant cells, she began a research program on ME/CFS after noting at a 2007 IACFS meeting the paucity of molecular biologists studying the illness. Her lab was part of the 2012 multicenter study organized by Ian Lipkin's group at Columbia University to assess the actual role of XMRV in ME/CFS. Dr. Hanson has a current project to examine the microbiome of ME/CFS patients and controls, in collaboration with Dr. Ruth Ley (Cornell Microbiology) and Susan Levine, M.D. (Manhattan, NY). Dr Levine is also collaborating with Dr. Hanson on an immune cell gene expression project that involves Dr. Fabien Campagne and Dr. Rita Shaknovich at Weill Cornell Medical School in New York City. Dr. Hanson's third project concerns analysis of blood samples from individuals performing a two-day cardiopulmonary exercise test at Ithaca College under the supervision of Dr. Betsy Keller.
Professor Kristian Sommerfelt
Norway
Kristian Sommerfelt is a paediatrician. He completed his medical degree at the University of Bergen in 1981 and specialist in paediatrics in 1994. Dr degree in 1997 with the theme of premature children and later development. Since 1987, he has worked at the Children's Clinic (now the Children's and Adolescent Clinic) at Haukeland University Hospital, now as senior physician at the section for pediatric neurology and habilitation. Kristian has adjunct position as professor at the Department of Clinical Medicine 2, University of Bergen. He specialises in headaches, epilepsy and ME/CFS, but has broad experience in the entire field of child neurology. For the past 12 years, he has had a special interest in children and young people with ME/CFS, both directly with patient work and in research. He is particularly concerned with investigation, diagnosis and the transfer of knowledge to the first-line service and school. He has broad scientific experience with articles in international journals and authorship of chapters in several medical textbooks. He is a member of the European ME Research Group (EMERG) and European ME Clinicians Council (EMECC).
Professor Tom Wileman
USA
Tom Wileman took his first degree at the London School of Pharmacy, now part of University College. This was followed by a PhD at John Moore’s University Liverpool where he gained a keen interest in cell biology and immunology. A postdoctoral fellowship followed at Washington University in St Louis to study endocytosis and the macrophage mannose receptor with Philip Stahl. In 1986 he moved to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute at Harvard Medical School to work with Cox Terhorst cloning genes for the signaling complex of the T-cell antigen receptor. He was appointed to Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School in 1991 and performed some of the first experiments on T-cell antigen receptor assembly and ER-stress related protein degradation. In 1994 he returned to the UK to the Institute for Animal Health (The Pirbright Institute, UK) as Head of Immunology to study how viruses such as foot and mouth disease virus and African swine fever virus use cellular organelles to facilitate replication and how this affects immune responses. In 2005 he moved to UEA where his lab studies how viruses activate autophagy during cell entry and replication.
Dr Wenzhong Xiao
USA
Dr. Xiao is assistant professor of Bioinformatics at Harvard Medical School and director of the Inflammation & Metabolism Computational Center at Massachusetts General Hospital. He also leads a Computational Genomics Group at Stanford Genome Technology Center. He holds a doctorate degree in chemistry and structural biology from University of California at Berkeley and a master’s degree in statistics
Dr Lutz Schomburg
Germany
Prof. Dr. Lutz Schomburg received his training in biochemistry at the University of Hanover, Germany. He completed internships at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry in Munich, the Waite Agricultural Research Institute, Adelaide, Australia, and King's College London, UK. He worked at the Max Planck Institute for Experimental Endocrinology in Hannover, Germany, and received his PhD in 1994. As a postdoctoral fellow, he worked at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA, with Prof. William W. Chin and at Julius Maximilians University, Würzburg, Germany, with Prof. Josef Köhrle. He is currently President of the International Society for Selenium Research and Deputy Director of the Institute for Experimental Endocrinology at Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin.
Associate Professor Julia Oh
USA
Postdoc, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health
Ph.D., Stanford University
B.A., Harvard University
Read more
Associate Professor Brent Williams
USA
Brent L. Williams, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Clinical Pathology and Cell Biology at Columbia University.
Dr. William’s research focuses on the role of the microbiome in human health and disease.
The human body harbors ten times as many microbial cells as human cells, and these complex, symbiotic microbial
communities play a fundamental physiological role in maintaining human health through various mechanisms relating to digestion, metabolism,
immunity, protection from infections, and development.
Dr. Williams applies state-of-the-art sequencing and computational techniques to gain
mechanistic insights into how disruption of the human symbiotic microbial consortium contributes to disturbed host-microbe relationships and
development of pathophysiological states.
His research relating to these topics is broad in scope ranging from investigations into the role of the microbiome
in neurodevelopment and autism; mechanisms by which microbial metabolites influence epigenetic changes in colorectal cancer; identification of vaginal
microbial community states that contribute to inflammation, adverse pregnancy outcomes and HIV risk; and evolutionary factors governing the structure of
our microbiome through investigation of our closest living primate relatives.
Read more
Professor James Stewart
Chair of Molecular Virology, Infection Biology & Microbiomes
International renounded in the field of virus-host interactions he trained as a molecular biologist,
applying molecular techniques to study virus/host interactions, specifically the immune response.
A large part of his career has been spent studying pathogenesis and virus-host interactions, with a particular focus on the herpesvirus family.
Established the link between active EBV infection and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and showed that this a consequence of the normal biology of this group of viruses.
With Tony Nash, developed murine gammaherpesvirus in mice as a means of studying authentic host-virus interactions, exploiting the power of virus reverse genetics and KO mouse technology.
More recently research has moved to focus on virus-host interactions in the respiratory tract, using other respiratory pathogens such as influenza A virus and RSV. Developed an integrative toolkit and pathway with which to do this using conventional and molecular techniques to analyse the course of virus infection combined with big data techniques and informatics to relate the function of viral determinants with host defence responses. The ultimate aim is to translate this into novel interventions and vaccines.
Dr Kiran Thapaliya
Australia
Research Fellow in the area of Neuroimaging with the National Centre for Neuroimmunology and Emerging Diseases (NCNED).
Main research interest lies in the development of medical imaging methods for the direct in vivo mapping of tissue microstructure in
Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and Long COVID.
Kiran's research focuses on understanding how changes in tissue microstructure influence MRI signals and the
development of new neuroimaging methods to identify biomarkers for ME/CFS and Long COVID.
Read more
Professor Lubov Nathanson
USA
Dr. Lubov Nathanson is an experienced, versatile and multidisciplinary trained scientist with over 20 years of work experience in basic
and translational genomics and proteomics research.
She has a combined expertise in bioinformatics, molecular biology, biochemistry and systems biology.
As an Associate Professor for the Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine, her work involves analysis of gene expression data of microarrays
and RNA-seq experiments, analyzing systems biology including metabolic pathways and gene ontology,
building gene interaction networks, creating custom pathways, and searching for upstream and downstream gene interactions.
Additionally, she is an Adjunct Professor of the Master's of Science in Nutrition Program in the Dr. Kiran C. Patel College
of Osteopathic Medicine and an Adjunct Professor of the Math, Science, and Technology Division in the Halmos College of Natural
Sciences and Oceanography.
Read more
Professor Hatice Tankisi
Denmark
Department of Clinical Medicine - Department of Clinical Neurophysiology
Hatice Tankisi is a consultant in Clinical Neurophysiology at Aarhus University Hospital and professor at Aarhus University, Denmark. She is serving as the secretary and treasurer of ExCo Europe-Middle East-Africa Chapter, International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology (EMEAC-IFCN) since 2018 and Co-chair of the Clinical Neurophysiology Panel, European Academy of Neurology (EAN) since 2020.
She was born and studied medicine and trained as a neurologist in Turkey and then moved to Denmark in 2000, trained as a neurophysiologist and did her PhD in Denmark. Her main research interests are peripheral nerve, muscle and cortical excitability tests with threshold tracking and motor unit number estimation methods for diagnosis and understanding disease pathophysiology in neurological disorders particularly ALS and polyneuropathy. She has more than 90 peer-reviewed papers and 6 book chapters. Hatice Tankisi has been a member of the European Multicenter EMG network, ESTEEM since 2000 and is serving as the leader of ESTEEM since 2020. She is also a member of the International Diabetic Neuropathy Consortium (IDNC), multicentre IMI-PainCare project and the QTMS Research Group.
Associate Professor Jos Bosch
Netherlands
In 2012 he was appointed associate professor in the Department of Psychology, section Clinical Psychology.
His research investigates the psychobiology of medical disorders, with the aim to understand and mitigate the impact of disease.
His dual expertise in psychology and biology allows him to approach this topic in a genuinely interdisciplinary manner,
by integrating methods and concepts from both fields, and apply these to experimental laboratory studies,
clinical investigations, and epidemiological analyses. More recently hsi work has expanded to include Data Science and Artificial
Intelligence (AI) as a source of novel approaches to the analysis and modification of human biology and behaviour.
The latter program of research is funded by two H2020 consortium grants, of which he isa lead and a coordinator,
and involves intensive collaborations with groups accross continental Europe, the UK, and the US.
Since 2019 he became Associate Editor of Health Psychology Review, having previously acted as associate/senior editor for Brain, Behavior & Immunity (2011-2014), Psychological Bulletin (2010-2013), and Health Psychology (2010-2015).
In 2018 he was appointed Program Leader of the AMC/VUmc research institute ‘Amsterdam Public Health' (APH), Divsion of Mental Health (https://www.amsterdamumc.org/research/institutes/amsterdam-public-health.htm). In 2020 I was reappointed for 2 more years.
In 2023 Jos was awarded a grant of more than seven million euros to commence new biomedical research into ME/CFS.
Further reading:
Amsterdam UMC leads international consortium in the search for treatment for ME/CFS
Assistant Professor Bradlee Heckman
University of South Florida, Health, Neuroscience Institute, Byrd Alzheimer's Center, USA
Bradlee L. Heckmann is an American biologist and neuroimmunologist who is currently an investigator at the Byrd Alzheimer's Center and USF Health Neuroscience Institute and assistant professor in molecular medicine at the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine. Prior to his faculty appointment, Heckmann held the John H. Sununu Endowed Fellowship[1] in immunology at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Heckmann's research is focused on understanding the regulation of inflammatory processes in the central nervous system, with particular emphasis on neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's Disease[2] and the role of the autophagy machinery in this setting. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradlee_Heckmann
Dr Thomas Vogl
Austria
Group Leader, Medical University of Vienna
Thomas Vogl studied Molecular Microbiology at the University of Graz and completed his PhD in "Molecular Biomedical Sciences and Biotechnology’" at Graz University of Technology. International placements have taken him to Queensland University of Technology (Australia) and the Weizman Institute of Science (Israel). Most recently, he worked as a senior postdoc at the Diagnostics & Research Center for Molecular BioMedicine at MedUni Graz. Since August 2022, he has been leading a research group at the Center for Cancer Research at MedUni Vienna.
Dr. Thomas Vogl and his multidisciplinary team of molecular biologists, biochemists, and bioinformaticians are investigating which microbial and tumor factors are crucial for successful cancer therapies. Dr. Vogl's expertise lies in the combination of biological experiments with computer-assisted analyses. In this context, the immune system is analyzed in the laboratory using blood samples from patients alongside novel high-throughput methods.
Professor Qasim Aziz
UK
Professor Aziz after completing his undergraduate medical training in his native Pakistan he came to the UK in 1988 for higher medical training. After completing core medical training in Manchester, he started his research career at the University of Manchester as a Digestive Disorders Foundation (currently GUTS UK) clinical research fellow and obtained his PhD in 1996. He held posts of Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, and Professor of Gastroenterology at the University of Manchester, and is now Professor of Neurogastroenterology and Director of The Wingate Institute of Neurogastroenterology at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry at Queen Mary, University of London.
He has previously been a Medical Research Council (MRC) Clinician Scientist and has held the MRC Career Development Award. Throughout his career has held numerous prestigious research grants. His research interests are focused on understanding the neurophysiological basis of human gut sensory and motor function in health and disease and he has pioneered the use of a number of neurophysiological techniques to study the human brain gut axis. He is a keen educator for undergraduate and post graduate students and a frequent speaker at national and international conferences.
Professor Aziz has obtained national and international awards for his research the two most important being the British Society of Gastroenterology Research Gold Medal and the American Gastroenterology Association, Janssen Award for Basic and Clinical Research. He has published numerous original articles in reputed medical journals such as Nature Medicine, Nature Neuroscience, Lancet and Gastroenterology. He has held the position of Chairman, Neurogastroenterology and Motility Section of the British Society of Gastroenterology, Executive committee member of the European Society of Neurogastroenterology and Motility and member of the United European Gastroenterology Federation Education Committee. He has been the co-lead for World Health Organisations ICD-11 coding for visceral pain and past Chair of the Abdominal and Pelvic Pain Special Interest Group of the International Society for the Study of Pain. He has been a member of Rome III, Rome IV and now Rome V Committees for development of diagnostic criteria for Disorders of Brain Gut Interaction. He has until recently been the gastroenterology speciality lead for North Thames Clinical Research Network and is the current president of the European Society of Neurogastroenterology and Motility.
From https://www.qmul.ac.uk/blizard/all-staff/profiles/qasim-aziz.html
Dr Marte Viken
Department of Medical Genetics,
Oslo University Hospital, Norway
European ME Research Group
Dr Tamas Korcsmaros
Department of Medical Genetics, Oslo University Hospital, Norway
Tamás Korcsmáros started his research work as a high-school student in a biochemistry laboratory and for five years he worked on the experimental analysis of redox adaptation. He graduated as a molecular biologist (Eotvos Lorand University, Budapest, Hungary) and as a PhD student developed a gap-filling signalling network database, SignaLink. In Budapest, he established the NetBiol - Network Biology group, which focuses on signalling and regulatory networks. The group has been developing novel databases and web-services to meet key scientific community needs.
In March 2014, Tamás moved to Norwich and works as a Computational Biology Fellow at the Earlham Institute and Quadram Institute Bioscience (QIB). His multi-disciplinary group focussed on combining computational and experimental approaches to predict, analyse and validate host-microbe interactions in the gut, especially in relation to the regulation of autophagy by microbes and upon disease conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease and cancer. Tamás also took major part in the organisation of eight international conferences (each with more than 1000 participants), he is the co-founder of two network analysis companies and coordinated 3 innovation grant programs. Since 2001, Tamás has been participating as a volunteer in Hungarian and international talent support organizations. He is currently the Chairman of the Research Student Foundation supporting 5000 high-school research students.
Tamas is now Senior Lecturer in Intestinal Epithelial Biology at Imperial College London.
Dr David Andersson
Reader In Physiology, Kings College London, UK
David Andersson has been at the Wolfson Centre for Age-Related Diseases in London since 2011.
Research in David Andersson’s laboratory is centred on sensory transduction mechanisms
His research is focused on how sensory neurons control pain and nociception. He is particularly interested in two areas that we are convinced will improve understanding of acute and chronic pain:
1) His team is unravelling the mechanisms responsible for chronic pain in fibromyalgia, complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), and pain caused by the chemotherapeutic drug oxaliplatin.
2) They are exploring interactions between TRP ion channels and neuronal G-protein coupled receptors and we have demonstrated that these interactions can exert powerful influence over the activity of sensory neurons, thereby controlling pain.
In 2009, he was awarded the first KCL/London Law Trust Medal and fellowship (now the Professor Anthony Mellows Medal).
Key publications:
Andersson et al., 2011. TRPA1 mediates spinal antinociception induced by acetaminophen and the cannabinoid Delta(9)-tetrahydrocannabiorcol. Nature Communications. Peier et al., 2002. A heat-sensitive TRP channel expressed in keratinocytes. Science. Zygmunt et al., 1999. Vanilloid receptors on sensory nerves mediate the vasodilator action of anandamide. Nature.
Key collaborators:
Professor Stuart Bevan, King's College London
Dr Andreas Goebel, University of Liverpool
Professor Camilla Svensson, Karolinska Institute
Dr Emanuele Sher, Eli Lilly
More information:
https://www.kcl.ac.uk/people/david-andersson
Presenter to be announced
Details will be announced shortly.
Presenter to be confirmed
Details will be announced shortly.
Dr Robert Phair
Chief Scientific Officer, Integrative Bioinformatics, Inc., USA
Dr. Robert Phair, a systems biologist whose Ph.D. is in Physiology, is an internationally known expert in the area of kinetic modeling, with over 35 years of experience in the modeling of complex biological systems. He started his academic life with a degree in Electrical Engineering at MIT with the intention to apply engineering analysis to complex biological systems. He was a professor at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine for 16 years before co-founding Integrative Bioinformatics, Inc (IBI), a scientific consultancy in Silicon Valley, with a focus on cellular and molecular systems,where a systematic approach has been developed to model biological systems that allows effective testing of complex hypotheses against available experimental data.
Dr Robert Phair
Professor of Neuroscience, Institute of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Brain Sciences, UCL, UK
Professor Jeffery's lab works on ageing and age related retinal disease in humans and animal models and
asseses how the impact of these can be avoided using a range of cellular, molecular and optical techniques.
They examine and manipulate mechanisms of inflammation, mitochondrial decline, cell death and extra-cellular deposition including that of
amyloid beta, and map these retinal changes onto shifts in visual performance, linking structure with function in normal ageing and disease.
The lab has basic scientists, clinical ophthalmologists and optometrists and translates studies on cellular mechanisms in model systems
into clinical trials for inflammatory diseases and macular degeneration at Moorfields Eye Hospital.
Dr Marte Viken
Department of Medical Genetics,
Oslo University Hospital, Norway
European ME Research Group
Medical specialist in Immunology,
Head of Gastrointestinal Immunology research group
Department of Pathophysiology and Allergy,
Medical University of Vienna, Austria
Associate Professor Eva Untersmayr-Elsenhuber, MD, PhD
Austria
Dr. Eva Untersmayr-Elsenhuber Associate Professor of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research
at The University of Vienna.
Her research interests are
Immunology and Microbiology, Comparative Immunology and Oncology, Pathophysiology.
In 2011, Dr.in Eva Untersmayr-Elsenhuber completed her specialist training.
Since then, Dr.in Untersmayr-Elsenhuber has worked as a specialist
and associate professor at the ” Institute of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research at the Medical University of Vienna.
In 2012, Dr.in Eva Untersmayr-Elsenhuber completed her part-time doctoral studies in natural sciences at the University of Salzburg and received
her doctorate (Dr. rer. nat.).
She is the author of more than 40 internationally acclaimed articles published in renowned journals, which have so far been
cited more than 1000 times by other authors in publications.
For her work in the field of food allergy, Dr.in Untersmayr-Elsenhuber has received numerous prizes such as the Pirquet Prize,
the most important prize in the field of allergy research of the Austrian Society for Allergology and Immunology,
the Theodor Billroth Prize of the Medical Association of Vienna and the Vienna Chamber of Commerce Prize 2014.
In addition, Dr Eva Untersmayr-Elsenhuber has led and managed numerous competitively funded research projects on food allergy, gastrointestinal
immunology and oncology since 2005. She is a member of national and international committees such as the Austrian and European Societies for
Allergolgy and Immunology and the Collegium Internationale Allergologicum.
Dr. Untersmayr-Elsenhuber has participated in numerous science communication activities for years, such as the production of information brochures,
the Children’s University, the Long Night of Research and Science at the VHS Vienna.
(with grateful thanks to https://www.praxis-neustift.com/en/prof-ddr-eva-untersmayr-elsenhuber/)
Links:
Researchgate
Dr Jon Brooks is Associate Professor of MRI Physics and the Head of MRI at the University of East Anglia Wellcome-Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre (UWWBIC) in Norwich Research Park, UK.
Jon Brooks
UK
Dr Jon Brooks is Associate Professor of MRI Physics and the Head of MRI at the University of East Anglia Wellcome-Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre (UWWBIC) in Norwich Research Park, UK.
His main role is Head of MRI in supporting researchers/students from across the University to make use of the MRI scanner
at the UEA Wellcome Wolfson Brain Imaging Centre.
The scanner is a whole-body imaging system capable of imaging any part of the body.
However the main focus within School is in the field of Neuroscience.
Dr Brooks' main research focus is on the study of pain, both as perceived by healthy controls and in patients suffering
from chronic pain conditions.
In particular, he focuses on studying how the brain,
brainstem and spinal cord work in conjunction to control the flow of pain-related information to and from the brain.
A recent article by former PhD student Valeria Oliva (now at the Italian National Institute of Health),
demonstrating how we leveraged advanced neuroimaging techniques to simultaneously study the entire central
nervous system's involvement in attentional control of pain, can be found here.
His biographical details are available on the UEA web site at this link.
Other Links:
https://uwwbic.uea.ac.uk/home
Assistant-Professor Muscle Metabolism at Vrije University in Amsterdam
Rob Wüst
Netherlands
Rob Wüst is currently assistent-professor at the Department of Human Movement Sciences at the VU University Amsterdam.
He received a PhD in Physiology from the Manchester Metropolitan University and VU University Amsterdam, and completed postdoctoral training at the University of Leeds and Amsterdam University Medical Center. His research interest is in cardiac and skeletal muscle metabolism and mitochondrial physiology, in health and disease.
Rob uses research methods, ranging from MR imaging and spectroscopy, fluorescence microscopy and cellular and molecular techniques.
Universidad Católica de Valencia “San Vicente Mártir”, Spain
Elisa Oltra
Spain
Dr. Elisa Oltra is a professor of Cell and Molecular Biology at the Universidad Católica de Valencia “San Vicente Mártir” where she also
works as a researcher in the area of stem-cell and cancer.
She obtained an M.S. degree in Biochemistry at the Universitat de Valencia (Spain) and later earned her PhD in Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology at the
University of Miami, FL (USA) where she stayed for her post-doctoral training and later, as Senior Scientist till 2006 when she moved
back to Spain. During her studies at the University of Miami she identified alternative 5´UTR sequences involved in regulating cell-cell
communication through mechanisms of differential connexin43 expression in the heart.
She also isolated a novel essential protein (Ini) and demonstrated its participation in mechanisms of transcription and splicing.
In 2009 she started a project to investigate the molecular basis of Fibromyalgia having identified at present irregularities
in RNAseL expression and miRNAs profile changes in the participating patients which could lead to a deeper understanding of the disease.
In 2012 she joined the IVP Valencian Institute of Pathology, also at the Universidad Católica de Valencia where she is currently studying a specific
type of vesicles: the exosomes, as mediators of stem-cell based therapies.
She is also academic director of the first officially accredited Master degree in Biobanking in Europe in collaboration with the Spanish Network
of Biobanking at the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid (Spain).
Dr Michael VanElzakker
USA
Dr. VanElzakker received a master's degree in behavioral neuroscience at the University of Colorado, working in Dr. Robert Spencer's neuroendocrinology laboratory, and a PhD in experimental clinical psychology at Tufts University, working in Dr. Lisa Shin's psychopathology neuroimaging laboratory. His postdoctoral fellowship is at Massachusetts General Hospital/ Harvard Medical School, at the Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, in the Division of Neurotherapeutics.
Dr. VanElzakker is interested in uncovering the mechanisms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and of myalgic encephalomyelitis - also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).
His PTSD research uses functional and structural brain imaging, behavioral attention tasks, blood, and genetic data to investigate what makes some individuals vulnerable to PTSD following trauma. He is interested in using non-invasive electroceutical medical devices to enhance safety learning, which may eventually serve as an adjunct to enhance exposure-based therapy for PTSD.
His ME/CFS research uses functional and structural brain imaging to look for abnormal patterns in brain metabolism and inflammation in this patient population. This research focuses on dysfunction at the intersection of the nervous and immune systems and posits that ME/CFS may be what happens when the nervous system detects an exaggerated and ongoing innate immune response. He is interested in using non-invasive electroceutical medical devices to enhance the anti-inflammatory vagus nerve reflex.
From The Center for Surgery, Innovation & Bioengineering
REFERENCES
Tufts University Researchgate
Kristoffer Skaalum Hansen MD
Denmark
REFERENCES
Yilin Kang
Finland
Yilin Kang is a European Molecular Biology Organisation Researcher Fellow in Wartiovaara group. Her research focuses on understanding how mitochondria and immune system synergize in health and diseases. After completed her Ph.D. on exploring mitochondrial protein import and its role in diseases in Melbourne, Australia, Yilin took the opportunity to join Wartiovaara group in Finland in 2020.
REFERENCES
David Price
UK
Professor David A Price MRCP DPhil DTM&H FAoP FLSW FRSB graduated with double first class honours
in medical sciences and pathology at the University of Cambridge and completed his clinical training at
King's College Hospital London.
He practised internal medicine, specialising in infectious and tropical diseases,
before pursuing a doctorate in molecular immunology at the University of Oxford.
After further academic clinical appointments,
his research was conducted with fellowship support at the NIH Vaccine Research Center.
He was appointed as Chair of Infection
and Immunity at Cardiff University School of Medicine in October 2007.
His research program focuses on the development and
implementation of advanced biotechnologies to characterise immune responses against globally relevant pathogens, such as
HIV-1 and SARS-CoV-2.
REFERENCES
Markku Partinen
Finland
Professor Partinen is a neurologist and an internationally well-known opinion leader and expert in sleep research and sleep medicine.
He is currently working as Research Director of the Helsinki Sleep Clinic, Vitalmed Research Centre.
He works also at Haartman Institute, University of Helsinki, and at Akademiska Sjukhuset, University of Uppsala.
His expertise covers sleeping, nutrition (what to eat), and other aspects of modern life and well-being.
His current research projects include narcolepsy, Parkinson's disease, insomnia, traffic accidents and daytime sleepiness.
He has published more than 250 articles in peer-reviewed international journals, several books and chapters.
He was elected as the new President of the Finnish Parkinson Association. Professor Partinen is also a member of the European ME Research Group (EMERG)
REFERENCES
References
Tamas Korcsmaros
UK
Dr Tamas Korcsmaros is a systems biologist working with both computational and experimental approaches to study
signalling networks in the gut.
For 15 years, he has been been working in the field of intra- and inter-cellular signalling networks and the regulation of autophagy,
a key cellular process for maintaining health and fight diseases.
He is particularly interested in how cell-cell and cell-microbe interactions affect intestinal homeostasis,
and how one could use precision medicine to tackle current challenges to treat patients with inflammatory bowel disease.
In his group they have developed gap-filling computational resources and applied experimental novel systems,
such as organoids, to achieve these goals.
Besides leading his research group that focuses on improving our understanding on the pathomechanisms of IBD, he is also co-leading the
NIHR Imperial BRC Organoid Facility to establish patient-specific multi-omics studies for various complex diseases.
REFERENCES
References
Michelle James
USA
Michelle L James currently works at the Department of Radiology , Stanford University. Michelle does research in Neuroradiology, Neurology and Radiology. Her most recent publication is 'Imaging B Cells in a Mouse Model of Multiple Sclerosis Using 64Cu-Rituximab PET.'
The primary aim of the James Lab is to enable early detection and precision treatment of brain diseases by developing
translational molecular imaging agents for visualizing neuroimmune interactions underlying conditions such as Alzheimer’s
disease, multiple sclerosis, and stroke.
They are researching how the brain and its resident immune cells interact with the peripheral immune system at very early, through to
late stages of disease. Our approach involves the discovery, characterization, and validation of clinically relevant immune cell
biomarkers,
followed by the design of novel positron emission tomography (PET) radiotracers specifically targeting these biomarkers.
After preclinical
validation, we translate promising imaging probes to the clinic for monitoring disease progression and response to
immunomodulatory drugs.
REFERENCES
References
Dr Dezső Modos
Imperial College London, UK
Dr Dezső Modos is an Imperial College Research Fellow in the Systems Medicine division of the Department of Metabolism,
Digestion and Reproduction.
He completed his medical degree at Semmelweis University and a minor in bionics at the Pázmány Péter Catholic University.
Later he obtained his PhD at the Semmelweis University on network biology.
His primary focus was the intracellular signalling network in cancer and understanding the role of paralogues in signalling.
After his PhD he moved to Cambridge and learned cheminformatics. He used network biology to understand and predict compound synergy
in cancer. Here he also learned about various cheminformatic techniques, which he is adapting for his fellowship.
The current inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) therapies maintain remission only in around 30% of cases forming therapeutic celling.
His fellowship aims to find the right drug to the right patient in IBD.
Similarly, we can use the targets of IBD drugs as a source node and build a drug specific network footprint.
The comparison of patient-specific disease and drug networks, much like connectivity mapping, can aid in identifying the correct drug
for each patient.
Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in inflammatory bowel disease are often in the non-coding region of the genome.
He and his colleagues developed a tool called iSNP (https://github.com/korcsmarosgroup/iSNP)
which can map these single nucleotide polymorphisms to regulatory regions and through that SNP affected genes.
From the SNP affected genes, patient specific signalling networks, individual pathogenetic pathways and
patient specific network footprints can be constructed.
Already, he used this method to understand ulcerative colitis pathogenesis.
References
Dr Irina R Rozenfeld, DNP, MSHS, APRN, ANP-BC
Dr Violetta Renesca DNP, APRN, NP-C, IFMCP
Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine, Department of Clinical Immunology, Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine, Nova Southeastern University, USA
Irina Rozenfeld is a Board Certified Nurse Practitioner committed to the health of her patients. Irina emphasizes patient-practitioner relationships, critical thinking and patient education to develop an optimal treatment plan and achieve sustainable results. She obtained her Bachelor's of Science degree from Nova Southeastern University and a Master's of Science in Nursing Studies from Florida International University. Additionally, she has obtained a Master's degree in Integrative Medicine from George Washington University School of Medicine and a Doctoral degree at the University of North Florida. Before joining the INIM, Irina worked for more than twenty years as a physician assistant in Russia. After relocating to Florida, she worked as a Clinical Research Nurse at Nova Southeastern University. Irina obtained an international certification as a Clinical Research Professional and has been involved in research in many roles. Irina teaches at Nova Southeastern University College of Nursing as an adjunct faculty.
Irina's focus at the INIM includes myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic infections, vector-borne illnesses, metabolic syndrome, chronic pain, environmental issues, detoxification and auto-immune diseases.
Irina's research interests include neuroinflammation, biotoxin exposure, detoxification, immune dysfunction, the stress response, neuroendocrinology and implementation of integrative medicine modalities.
Violetta Renesca is a Board Certified Adult Nurse Practitioner focusing on functional and integrative approaches to treat patients
with complex neuro-inflammatory conditions. She obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from Nova Southeastern University
and worked as a staff nurse and charge nurse on the Progressive Care Unit at Broward Health.
After receiving her Master’s Degree from Florida International University as an Adult Nurse Practitioner, she joined a
large multi-specialty geriatric center in Fort Lauderdale. Violetta obtained a Doctorate in Nursing Practice from the University
of North Florida.
Violetta’s focus at the INIM includes myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, Gulf War illness, chronic infections,
metabolic syndrome, chronic pain, environmental illness, detoxification, and autoimmune diseases. As a certified practitioner
for the Institute for Functional Medicine, she works with patients to create personalized treatment plans that addresses root
causes of chronic illness. She is also the Director of the Veterans Clinic where she sees patients with Gulf War illness.
Additionally, she is a member of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners as well as the Institute for Functional
Medicine.
Professor Adrian Liston
University of Cambridge, UK
Professor Liston has worked extensively in the cellular control over immune/tolerance switches, and how molecular defects in these switches can lead to pathologies ranging from autoimmunity and primary immunology to diabetes and neuropathology. By researching a broad range of pathologies, and using both patient samples and animal models, his research is able to identifying the common cellular pathways to pathology.
Professor Liston is Professor of Pathology at the University of Cambridge's Department of Pathology. He trained at Adelaide University before a PhD at the Australian National University, and a post-doc at the University of Washington, with additional degrees in Higher Education and Public Health. He started his career as an independent researcher at the VIB and University of Leuven in Belgium, where he ran a lab with Dr James Dooley for 10 years (2009–18) before moving the lab to the Babraham Institute in 2019. Between 2019 and 2023, the Liston-Dooley lab worked on biotechnology developments in neuroinflammation, developing new therapeutic approaches and setting up a spin-off company Aila Biotech Ltd. In 2023, the Liston-Dooley laboratory relocated to the Department of Pathology, where he took up the position of Professor of Pathology.
Beyond his research interests, Professor Liston works on improving equality of opportunity within the scientific career structure. He writes extensively about science careers: how early career scientists can navigate the academic career pathway and succeed in starting their own lab, and what should be done to make scientific careers more equitable. He openly discusses his experiences as a scientist-parent, and works extensively on communicating science to children, with the online game VirusFighter and the illustrated children’s books “All about Coronavirus”, “Battle Robots of the Blood” and “Maya’s Marvellous Medicine”.
Professor Liston is also Editor-in-Chief of Immunology & Cell Biology and Honorary Group Leader at the Babraham Institute.
See https://www.caths.cam.ac.uk/directory/professor-adrian-liston
References
Professor Friðbjörn Sigurðsson
Dr Friðbjörn Sigurdsson is Program Director Internal Medicine, Landspitali University Hospital in Rejkjavik, Iceland.Friðbjörn
CURRENT POSITIONS
- Program Director Internal Medicine, Landspitali University Hospital (since October 1 2013)
- Attending Medical Oncology, Landspitali University Hospital (since April 1 2001)
- Attending Hematology, Landspitali University Hospital (part time since May 2009)
- Medical Oncology and Hematology, Akureyri Hospital (part time since June 2010)
PREVIOUS POSITIONS
- Chief Internal Medicine, Landspitali University Hospital
- Chief Medical Council Landspitali University Hospital, Iceland
- Attending, Oncology, Landspitali Hospital, Reykjavik, Iceland
- Attending, Internal Medicine, Reykjavik City Hospital, Iceland
- Læknasetrið – private practice, Reykjavik, Iceland
- Chief Internal Medicine, Neskaupstadur Hospital, Iceland
- Chief Internal Medicine Vestman Islands Hospital, Iceland
- Stykkishólmur, heilsugæsla og sjúkrahús.
References
Dr Gunnar Gottschalk
Gunnar Gottschalk Ph.D., CEO and Section Chief, Translational Science, Simmaron Research Inc., USA
Carl Gunnar Gottschalk completed his BS in biology at Sierra Nevada College and MS in Biotechnology at Rush
University Medical Center. He received his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Rush University Medical Center.
Dr. Gottschalk has been with Simmaron Research since its formation.
Prior to attending graduate school, Dr. Gottschalk was the lead research coordinator for Sierra Internal Medicine and was
responsible for the execution of several large multi-centered investigations in ME/CFS.
In 2020, he was named the Foundation’s Executive Director. Since then, Dr. Gottschalk has served a dual role in
the organisation as the Executive Director and Principal Investigator.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic,
Dr. Gottschalk led Simmaron’s Local Response to COVID-19 Program in collaboration with Konstance Knox, PhD member of
the Simmaron Scientific Advisory Board and CEO of Coppe Laboratories. This program provided free critical early access
to COVID testing for residents of North Lake Tahoe, supported the development of the Simmaron COVID-19 Biobank and initiated
a number of related research projects.
At present, Dr. Gottschalk is the PI for Simmaron’s multi-centered clinical trial of Rapamycin in ME/CFS. His laboratory is
located at the Indiana Center for Biomedical Innovation (ICBI) on the campus of the Indiana University Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, IN.
References
Professor Branislav Milovanović
Branislav Milovanović, Institute for cardiovascular diseases-Dedinje, Department of Cardiology, Serbia
- Head of Neurocardiological laboratory,
- President of Serbian Neurocardiological Society
- Full Professor of Internal medicine and Cardiology,Medical faculty,University in Belgrade,Serbia
- Professor of Internal medicine,University of Saransk,Russia
- Noninvasive electrocardiology
- Autonomic nervous system testing
- Syncope
- Chaos theory
- Placebo effect
- Neurocardiology
- Biosignal processing
- Artificial inteligence
- 27.6.1989-22.11.1989.-a clinical doctor at the Clinic for cardiovascular surgery –Dedinje,Belgrade,Universityof Belgrade
- 1989-1997 Specialist of Internal Medicine,University Clinical Center,Zemun,Internal Clinic
- From 1.9.1997.-2004 at CHC B.Kosa,Belgrade,School of Medicine,Belgrade,as a head of Coronary Care Unit
- From 1.3.1997.Assistant Professor at The School of Medicine ,University of Belgrade on Internal Medicine
- From November 2004-2022 Head of Neurocardiological laboratory,CHC Bezanijska Kosa
- From July 2006 Associate professor of Internal medicine at Medical faculty of Belgrade University
- From October 2022 Head of neurocardiological laboratory,Institute for cardiovascular diseases-Dedinje
- From January 2012 Professor of Internal Medicine and Cardiology,Medical faculty,University of Belgrade,Serbia
- From May 2014-2019 Director of Internal Clinic University Clinical Center Bezanijska Kosa
- From January 2016 Member of European Academy of Science and Arts,the leading scientific society in Europe (38 Nobel prize winners)
- 2019-Professor of Internal Medicine,University of Saransk,Russia
References
Dr Wenzhong Xiao
USA
Dr. Xiao is assistant professor of Bioinformatics at Harvard Medical School and director of the Inflammation & Metabolism Computational Center at Massachusetts General Hospital. He also leads a Computational Genomics Group at Stanford Genome Technology Center. He holds a doctorate degree in chemistry and structural biology from University of California at Berkeley and a master’s degree in statistics
Professor Leonard Jason PhD
USA
Professor Jason has been among the most prolific of all ME/CFS researchers.
For more than a decade, Professor Jason and his team at DePaul University's Centre for Community Research in Chicago have worked to
define the scope and impact of ME/CFS worldwide.
Professor Jason was Vice President of the International Association for Chronic
Fatigue Syndrome (now the IACFS/ME) and has been a key driver of CFS research since 1991, and is uniquely positioned to support
collaboration between CFS researchers, patients, and government decision makers.
His studies have shown that the direct and indirect costs of ME/CFS amount
to $20 billion in the U.S. each year, and more than 1 million people suffer from ME/CFS as opposed to
the estimated 20,000 people originally reported by the
CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).
Dr Elizabeth Unger
USA
Elizabeth (Beth) Unger, PhD, MD, received an undergraduate degree in Chemistry at Lebanon Valley College, Annville, PA. She then earned her PhD and MD in the Division of Biologic Sciences at the University of Chicago where she also began a residency in pathology. Her residency and fellowship was completed at Pennsylvania State University Medical Center. During this time, Dr. Unger developed a practical method of colorimetic in situ hybridization. This work led to interest in tissue localization of HPV and ultimately to her initial appointment to CDC in 1997 to pursue molecular pathology of HPV and CFS.
Dr. Unger has served as the Acting Chief of CVDB since January 2010 and has 13 years of experience in CVDB, where she has participated in the design and implementation of CFS research and HPV laboratory diagnostics. During this time, she was co-author on 25 peer-reviewed manuscripts related to CFS, including the often-cited descriptions of the Wichita and Georgia population-based studies. In addition, Dr. Unger has been instrumental in efforts by WHO to establish an HPV LabNet and serves as lead of a WHO HPV Global Reference Laboratory. She is co-author of 142 peer-reviewed publications and 24 book chapters and serves on the editorial board of six scientific journals. In 2008, for her HPV research accomplishments, she received the Health and Human Services (HHS) Career Achievement Award.
Dr Unger has been selected to serve as the Chief of the Chronic Viral Diseases Branch (CVDB) in the Division of High-Consequence Pathogens and Pathology (DHCPP), National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Other Links
Johanna Rohrhofer
Austria
Johanna did her Bachelor's Degree in Biology and Master's Degree in Molecular Biology at the University of Vienna. In 2021, she joined the Immunology PhD-program and the YSA. She works in the Gastrointestinal Immunology working group under the supervision of Eva Untersmayr-Elsenhuber at the Institute of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research. Her group aims to elucidate the crosstalk between these barrier-layers and to evaluate the impact of nutrition in health and disease. Currently, she deals with altered barrier functionality in diseases with fatigue-associated symptoms, such as known from the Long-COVID syndrome.
Other Links
Karen Gimenez-Orenga
Spain
Biotechnologist with experience in research of stem cells, cell reprogramming and transdifferentiation, neurodegenerative and autoimmune diseases combined with a taste for communicating scientific advances through publications, seminars or conferences.
Currently focused on the study of HERVs in chronic autoimmune diseases such as ME/CFS and FM and their interplay with genetic expression.
Other Links
Professor Benedicte Alexandra Lie
Norway
Professor Benedicte Lie's group's research is focused on understanding the genetic mechanisms of autoimmune diseases (including rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis), diseases with a putative autoimmune component (CSF/ME and low back pain with modic changes) through studies of DNA, RNA, epigenetics, proteins and cells. We investigate large and well-characterized patient cohorts to unravel genetic predisposition, as well as the influence of genetic risk factors on clinical outcome. Additionally, we explore the relationship between genetic risk polymorphisms and environmental risk factors, all the way down to single cell level and also by screening the extracellular vesicles. Furthermore, the genetic studies are complemented by functional studies of RNA expression, epigenetic modifications or protein profiles to shed light on the role of the genes in the pathogenesis. We utilize high throughput sequencing in our studies, and we are continuously implementing the newest molecular methods to reveal the genetic dispositions of autoimmunity. Research projects
- Immunogenetic studies of ME/CFS and autoimmune diseases with particular focus on HLA and KIR genes
- Single cell profiling of immune cells in thymus to understand the establishment of self-tolerance and development of myasthenia gravis
- Single immune cell phenotyping of blood and cerebrospinal fluid in ME/CFS and narcolepsy
- Multiomic studies of immune cells with regards to disease activity and treatment response in rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune phenotypes
- Exploring the phenotype of the immunological cells infiltrating the joint tissue and synovial fluid of the juvenile idiopathic arthritis patients by single cell technologies
- Characterizing extracellular vesicles and their protein cargo in immunological diseases
- Revealing biomarkers in blood for autoimmune diseases and treatment response
- Functional genomic studies of chronic low back pain patients with modic changes and response to antibiotic treatment
See https://www.ous-research.no/home/lie/Group+members/6638
See https://ous-research.no/lie/
Researchgate Benedicte Lie
https://www.med.uio.no/klinmed/personer/vit/balie/index.html
Professor Andrew Grimson
USA
Andrew Grimson is a Professor in the Department of Molecular Biology & Genetics. Dr. Grimson is a member of the Graduate Field of Biochemistry, Molecular and Cell Biology and the Graduate Field of Genetics, Genomics and Development. The Grimson lab focuses on post-transcriptional gene regulation, in particular the identity and function of animal microRNAs and other small RNAs.
Further Information
See https://cals.cornell.edu/andrew-william-grimson
Rowan Gardner
UK
Rowan has over 30 years of experience working in innovative businesses applying computational methods to life science and patient data to understand disease and find new medicines and treatments for unmet medical needs. She is an experienced entrepreneur and advisor to fast growing companies and is a Co-founder and Chief Business and Investment Officer of PrecisionLife, expanding precision medicine in chronic disease. She is also on the board of Digital Health and Care Wales a strategic health authority tasked with the digital transformation of NHS in Wales, and is responsible for oversight of the digital governance and safety committee. Rowan holds a Masters in biochemistry from the University of Oxford and played a part in one of the university's first spinouts, Oxford Molecular Group, when it listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1994. She collaborated with the pioneering team at CERN to disseminate the applications to cloud computing frameworks in healthcare and pharmaceutical research.
