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

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Melbourne ME/CFS Collaboration

Precision research program to identify the unique biology of individuals and the unifying biological pathways of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS)

Core Aims

What we hope to achieve
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Our Philosophy

Our fundamental philosophy
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Science Team

List of scientific collaborators
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The Research

Current research projects
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About the Melbourne ME/CFS Collaboration

Established in 2020, the Melbourne ME/CFS Collaboration is directed by Christopher W. Armstrong, PhD.

The Melbourne ME/CFS Collaboration seeks to characterize the unifying biological pathways of ME/CFS that relate to the shared disease experience between patients while also understanding each patients unique biology that create variation in disease experience and severity.

About Chris Armstrong, PhD

Chris Armstrong, PhD, is most well known for his research using metabolomics to observe biochemical in ME / CFS patients. He began his work in this field at the University of Melbourne, beginning a PhD project to apply metabolomics to study Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME / CFS) and published his first ME / CFS metabolomics study on blood and urine in 2015.

Since then Chris has set up collaborative efforts to apply metabolomics to immunological experiments on ME / CFS, observing how metabolism may relate to immune cell function. He has also focused on longitudinal research in ME / CFS while looking to extend metabolic capabilities across the field of ME / CFS to help collate different patient groups.

Core Aims

Develop
methods to understand the biology of the individual with ME/CFS.
Translate
understanding of the disease into practical treatment approaches.
Determine
the unifying biology between ME/CFS patients.
Understand
the development of ME/CFS in children and teenagers.
Reveal
the biology underlying ME/CFS symptoms.
Build
tools for research and treating ME/CFS.

Fundamental Philosophy

  • Every individual is biologically unique.
  • Disease biology is dynamic, not static.
  • Metabolism is strongly associated to symptom expression.
  • Define research questions and develop a research plan to answer them.
  • Measure the biology as it occurred in the body where possible.
  • Use of extensive observations and data to generate hypotheses.
  • Translate research to tools that can be accessible to other researchers and clinicians.
  • Bring young scientists and clinicians into the research field.
  • Collaborate with experts out of our field and use their expertise.
  • Research biology at many layers, from biochemistry to cells to tissues.

Current Studies Under Review

Nitrogen Hypothesis

Nitrogen Metabolism and Testing Nitrogen Hypothesis in ME/CFS STUDY AIM This project aims to test the nitrogen hypothesis, which is that damaging, nitrogen-containing by-products of …

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Pediatrics ME/CFS Deep Omics Profiling and Longitudinal Study

Pediatrics ME/CFS Deep Omics Profiling and Longitudinal Study STUDY AIM This proposal seeks to understand pathological mechanisms of paediatric ME/CFS (13 to 18 years old) …

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Characterizing B cells in ME/CFS

Characterizing B cells in ME/CFS STUDY AIM This study aims to broadly evaluate B cell subsets, metabolism, viability, receptors, and antibodies in people with ME/CFS. …

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Developing Condensed Precision Medicine Protocol for ME/CFS

Developing condensed precision research protocol for ME/CFS PROTOCOL AIM Establish a condensed personalized research protocol that can be used to characterize ME/CFS in individual patients …

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Developing Rapid System for Outlier Analysis in ME/CFS

Developing Rapid System for Outlier Analysis in ME/CFS PROTOCOL AIM Establish an analytical workflow for outlier analysis in ME/CFS to identify disease or symptom exacerbators …

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CRC Collaborators

To carry out these ambitious projects, Dr. Armstrong is establishing networks and collaborations extending to USA, UK, Sweden, and other Australian institutions. 

University of Melbourne, Australia

Christopher Armstrong, PhD

Paul Gooley, PhD

Neil McGregor, PhD

David Ascher, PhD

Elisha Josev, PhD

Sarah Knight, PhD

Adam Scheinberg, MD

David Stroud, PhD

Stanford University, USA

Ronald Davis, PhD

Robert Phair, PhD

Laurel Crosby, PhD

Julie Wilhelmy

Amit Saha, PhD

Layla Cervantes

Anna Okumu

Mike Snyder, PhD

Uppsala University, Sweden

Jonas Bergquist, MD, PhD

Massachusetts General Hospital, USA

Ronald Tompkins, MD, ScD

Wenzhong Xiao, PhD

Michael VanElzakker, PhD

University of Montreal, Canada

Alain Moreau, PhD

Open Medicine Foundation

Linda Tannenbaum

UC San Diego, USA

Robert Naviaux, MD, PhD

University of Alabama Birmingham, USA

Jarred Younger, PhD

University College London, UK

Jo Cambridge, PhD

La Trobe University, Australia

Sarah Annesley, PhD

Paul Fisher, PhD

Daniel Missailidis

Learn about Our Other OMF Funded Collaborative Research Centres

Stanford
Harvard
Uppsala
Montréal
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.