Driving research of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME / CFS),
Post Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome (PTLDS), Fibromyalgia and Post COVID .

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Computational
Research Center
for Complex Diseases

From Data to Disease Mechanism and Treatments

Core Aims
Philosophy
Research

About the research center

Each OMF funded study is selected, with oversight from our Scientific Advisory Board, for its ability to provide meaningful data that will fuel the search for treatment and diagnosis. This data is essential to develop diagnostic technologies, understand the molecular basis of the diseases, and uncover effective diagnostic tools and treatments. Under the direction of Wenzhong Xiao, PhD,  the Computational Research Center for Complex Diseases analyzes and integrates the data from OMF funded studies, an essential step in developing diagnostics and treatments.

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Dr. Xiao is a world expert in computational genomics and the Director of the Immuno-Metabolic Computational Center at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Harvard Medical School. He also leads a Computational Genomics Group at Stanford Genome Technology Center (SGTC). His research is at the interface of computation, genomics and medicine. In collaboration with Open Medicine Foundation, his lab has analyzes studies on ME / CFS and compares ME / CFS with other diseases.

Core Aims

Provide

expertise on bioinformatics and computation essential to research projects

Perform

statistical and bioinformatic analyses of collaborative research studies

 

Develop

and apply of state-of-the-art algorithms to uncover ME/CFS disease mechanisms and drug targets

Establish

and maintain ME/CFS Data Center platform for data sharing and online collaboration
 
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Fundamental Philosophy

  • Work collaboratively with OMF funded research centers to analyze and integrate the data from their studies
  • Use the most advanced technology to provide expert computation of OMF funded research projects, from study design, to performing the research, to interpretation of the results
  • Utilize the power of OMF’s collaborative and open research strategy by hosting and sharing data through a common data center

View our latest news

Announcing our sixth Research Center!

Triple Giving Tuesday starts today: Announcing our sixth Research Center! From the desk of Linda Tannenbaum Chief Executive Officer, Open Medicine Foundation Open Medicine Foundation Canada (OMFCA) is pleased to

ME/CFS Research Data: the heart of the matter

ME/CFS Research Data: the heart of the matter With your support, Open Medicine Foundation funds open, collaborative research so that, as soon as possible, precise diagnostic tools and life-changing treatments

Sample studies

Severely iIl Patient

The goal of the Severely ill Patient Study was to conduct a comprehensive “Big Data” analysis on severely ill ME/CFS patients in order to begin an exploration to find the molecular basis of ME/CFS.

Autoimmunity and Autoantibodies

The aim is to investigate potential differences in adrenergic and muscarinic receptor autoantibody levels in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid samples between ME/CFS patients and healthy controls.

Neuro Inflammation

This study is designed to explore the hypothesis that deranged flow of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) due to craniocervical obstructions and/or instability may cause deranged intracranial pressure (ICP), neuroinflammation and cardinal symptoms of ME/CFS.

Stress-Activated MicroRNAs

Studying microRNAs could help to bridge the conceptual gap between genetic predisposition and environmental factors causing ME/CFS or exacerbating specific symptoms.

Condensed Precision Medicine Protocol for ME/CFS

The study aims to establish a condensed personalized research protocol that can be used to characterize ME/CFS in individual patients as it pertains to all their unique biological aspects, interacting with a complex chronic disease.

Skeletal Muscle Dysfunction

This project aims to explore the biological changes that occur in the muscles during Post-exertional Malaise (PEM).

OMF Data Center

The purpose of the OMF Data Center is to house raw data and processed results, which is shared with our research network through the web-based data portal.

iCPET Omics Studies of ME/CFS

This Harvard study evaluates the different explanations of heart preload failure in ME/CFS patients to determine which is active in many, if not all, ME/CFS patients. The Computation Center is now seeking to better understand the causes of ME/CFS (PLF, the high flow type) as well as to identify potential drug targets for future therapies.

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Learn about Our Other OMF Funded Collaborative Research Centers

Stanford
Harvard
Uppsala
Montréal
Melbourne

Consent management

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Data Subject Access Request (DSAR) Form 

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.
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.
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.