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Category: News

A Mother’s Gift of Hope

As a mother, there is no greater calling than to care for your child—and when my daughter Amy fell ill with ME/CFS nearly eight years ago, I knew I would do whatever it took to support her. Watching her go from a vibrant young woman to being house-bound was heartbreaking. Despite her physical suffering, Amy’s […]

From Ronald W. Davis, PhD: Community Symposium on the Molecular Basis of ME/CFS

Photo of Dr. Ron Davis standing in front of the microphone. He wears a warm brown blazer over a black shirt.

In 2016, Open Medicine Foundation (OMF) hosted the first of four in-person ME/CFS Research and Community Symposiums at Stanford University, each drawing strong attendance. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Research Symposium transitioned to a virtual format, expanding access for researchers worldwide. This year marks the 9th Annual Stanford Working Group Meeting on the Molecular Basis of ME/CFS. […]

🧬Science Wednesdays: Types of Biosamples

A close-up image of a laboratory setting shows a rack of blood collection tubes in the background, sorted by cap color. In the foreground, part of a printed clinical report is visible, listing cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) parameters such as “Quantitative culture” and associated median values under “Baseline CM diagnosis.”

Types of Biosamples From the Desk of Dr. Danielle Meadows,Vice President of Research Programs & Operations Last month I talked more in depth about ethics review as a critical part of the first stage of the research process when conducting any study on human subjects. So this month, let’s move forward to the “Recruitment, Data […]

Now Available: IIMEC17 Conference Presentations

The 17th Invest in ME Research International ME Conference (IIMEC17) took place on May 30, 2025, in Cambridge, United Kingdom, marking the final event of International ME Conference Week 2025—a series of collaborative events featuring workshops, strategic meetings, and scientific sessions. As a major international forum, IIMEC17 brought together researchers, clinicians, and patient advocates dedicated […]

Steroid Dynamics in ME/CFS: New Publication

Today, we are pleased to share a new publication, Steroid Dynamics in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Case-Control Study using Ultra Performance Supercritical Fluid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry. The Heart of the Matter OMF’s research centers in Uppsala and Melbourne published a study of steroid hormones—molecules that control a lot of important systems in the […]

🎥 Video Presentations: Insights from Dr. David Systrom

The Director of OMF’s Ronald G. Tompkins Harvard ME/CFS Collaboration, Dr. David Systrom, recently attended the International ME/CFS Conference 2025 held in Berlin, Germany. As part of the conference, he gave two presentations—one on circulatory dysfunction, and another on a randomized controlled trial of low-dose naltrexone and Mestinon in ME/CFS. In his presentation on circulatory […]

New Publication: OMF’s Collaborative Center at Montreal

We’re excited to share a new publication from OMF’s Collaborative Center at Montreal titled: “SMPDL3B a novel biomarker and therapeutic target in myalgic encephalomyelitis.” The Heart of the Matter The team at OMF’s Collaborative Center at Montreal published a paper that talks about their study of a molecule called SMPDL3B, which works differently in some […]

Update: Patient-Reported Treatment Outcomes in ME/CFS and Long COVID

From the Desk of Dr. Danielle MeadowsVice President of Research Programs & Operations In the past, I’ve shared some information about the peer-review publication process—the last stage of the research process—and the concept of a preprint. We recognize that the publication process takes a long time, and we want to provide results and helpful information […]

🧬Science Wednesdays: What is an IRB or Ethics Board?

Two healthcare professionals are reviewing a document on a clipboard. One is wearing teal scrubs, and the other is in a white lab coat over blue scrubs with a stethoscope visible around their neck.

What is an IRB or Ethics Board? From the Desk of Dr. Danielle MeadowsVice President of Research Programs & Operations The IRB plays a central role in the first stage of the research process—linked here again if you missed it—so it’s probably about time I talk about what an IRB (or the non-US equivalent) actually is […]

Update: A Muscle Biopsy Study to Understand the Molecular Mechanisms of PEM

From the Desk of Dr. Danielle MeadowsVice President of Research Programs & Operations Today, I’m happy to share another update on a study that I introduced back in November 2024 in an interview with Dr. Systrom. The study is still going on, but in this case, we’re able to share some exciting preliminary data. We […]

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Microvesicles and viral sequencing
Microvesicles are a type of extracellular vesicle that is released from the cell membrane. Vesicles are small, fluid-filled sacs or vacuoles within the body. Sequencing is a technique used to determine the exact sequence of bases (A, C, G, and T) in a DNA (or viral) molecule.
NMR Metabolomics
NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) is an instrument/tool used to perform metabolic studies, metabolic profiling, and metabolomics in biofluids and tissues for more than 40 years using magnetic fields. There is a very close connection between metabolic measurements and NMR. This connection has flourished because of NMR’s many unique strengths for characterizing complex mixtures’ chemical composition.
Proteomics
The large-scale study of proteins, which are large, complex molecules that are required for structure, function, and regulation of the human body's tissues and organs.
Autoantibodies
Antibodies that react with self-molecules and that occur in healthy individuals and are referred to as natural antibodies or autoantibodies.
Extracellular DNA for viral reactivation and Mitochondrial DNA
exDNA (extracellular DNA), exDNA is often secreted actively and is used to perform several tasks, thereby offering an attractive target or tool for biotechnological, medical, environmental, and general microbiological applications. Viruses are intracellular parasites that rely to a significant extent on the host cell for replication. Viral reactivation occurs when an active replication of the viral genome results in a lytic (degradation of the cell) infection characterized by the release of new progeny (descendant) virus particles.
Immune cell profiling
The immune system has many important regulatory roles in disease development and progression. Given the emergence of effective immune therapies, reliable predictors of response are needed. Immune cell profiling determines response by evaluating immune cell populations from treated and untreated samples. For our purposes, we will evaluate the white blood cell response to the viral infection using a process called “Cytof.”
Leukocyte Genomics
A leukocyte is a colorless cell circulating in the blood and body fluids and is involved in counteracting foreign substances and disease. A genome is all genetic material of an organism. Genomics is a biology field focusing on the structure, function, evolution, mapping, and editing of genomes. Therefore, leukocyte genomics is the study of all genetic material of leukocytes.
Metabolomics
Metabolomics is a way to study metabolism – that is, through measuring amounts of the metabolites (small molecules) produced by our bodies as we convert food into energy and other molecules that our cells need to survive. Metabolomics technology is ‘large-scale,’ meaning that several thousand metabolites can be measured from a single sample of e.g., blood or urine.
Micro RNA
Cells use Micro RNA to control whether a particular gene is making too much, too little or the normal amount of its protein at a particular time.