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Continuing the Research: New Changes Announced for OMF

Continuing the Research:
New Changes for OMF Announced

In an effort to continue the tremendous legacy of OMF’s Late Chief Medical Officer, Ronald G. Tompkins, MD, ScD, we would like to share new developments with the community.

We are honored to announce that Jonas Bergquist, MD, PhD, has accepted the role of OMF Chief Medical Officer along with expanding his efforts in his role as Director of the OMF funded ME​/​CFS Collaboration at Uppsala University. 

Additionally, we are excited to announce that David Systrom, MD will join Wenzhong Xiao, PhD, as a Co-Director of the newly named Ronald G. Tompkins Harvard ME​/​CFS Collaboration at the Harvard Affiliated Hospitals. Dr. Xiao will gratefully continue as the Director of the OMF Computational Research Center for Complex Diseases as well. We also welcome Dr. Systrom to our Scientific Advisory Board.


 

About Jonas Bergquist, MD, PhD: 

 Dr. Jonas Bergquist is a Full Chair Professor in Analytical Chemistry and Neurochemistry in the Department of Chemistry at Uppsala University, Sweden, Adjunct Professor in Pathology at the University of Utah School of Medicine, and Distinguished Professor in Precision Medicine at Binzhou Medical University in Yantai, China.

Dr. Bergquist has studied numerous conditions, including neurodegenerative disorders. His research into ME/CS is focused on characterizing the neuroimmunological aspects of the disease using proteomics and metabolomics, with a special interest in cerebrospinal fluid studies and autoantibodies.

In 2017, Jonas Bergquist joined OMF’s Scientific Advisory Board, and subsequently launched the OMF funded ME​/​CFS Collaboration at Uppsala University in 2019.


 

About David Systrom, MD 

Dr. David Systrom is a member of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital pulmonary and critical care faculty and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School where he directs the Dyspnea Clinic and the Advanced Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing Program.

He has been on the Harvard faculty for over 35 years during which time he has received NIH, AHA, Department of Defense, Dysautonomia International and OMF funding to study various forms of exercise intolerance.

Over the past five years, he has used invasive cardiopulmonary exercise testing to investigate mechanisms underlying fatigue, shortness of breath and orthostatic intolerance in ME​/​CFS and Long COVID. His recent work suggest commonality between the two, in particular neurovascular dysregulation and related hyperventilation underlying symptoms during exercise. He is the Principal Investigator of an ongoing $8 million study of limb skeletal muscle mitochondrial dysfunction.

 


 

We are deeply grateful to have Dr. Bergquist, Dr. Xiao, and Dr. Systrom along with our other remarkable Collaborative Research Center Directors helping us to carry out our mission. Like Dr. Tompkins, these extraordinary individuals are driven by their passion for improving the lives of this underserved patient population. We know they will continue Dr. Tompkins’ critical work with grace, expertise, and incredible dedication.

 


 

If you are able, please consider donating to help support the continuation of our mission to end ME​/​CFS and related multi-system chronic, complex diseases (msCCD). Each contribution, of any amount, helps us get closer to our goal of finding treatments and a cure.