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

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Remembering Ron

Remembering Ron:
A Champion of ME/CFS Research, and Friend to All

In Dr. Tompkins’ role as OMF’s Chief Medical Officer, he facilitated communication between the OMF funded Collaborative Research Centers and supervised OMF’s overall strategic plan. This includes patient care, access to treatment, and the development of innovative diagnostics. However, Dr. Tompkins innovative work spanned so much beyond this one title.

Dr. Tompkins was a kind individual, guided by his determination to help others. From his start on OMF’s Scientific Advisory Board in 2014, he brought a unique and compassionate perspective to the field of ME/CFS research. Today, we share with you just a few of the countless reasons why Dr. Tompkins was a pillar of hope in the ME/CFS community and a friend to all:

Dr. Tompkins was on a mission to transform the medical community’s understanding of ME/CFS and related diseases:

In 2018, OMF launched the Harvard ME/CFS Collaboration at the Harvard Affiliated Hospitals with Dr. Tompkins and Wenzhong Xiao, PhD, as Co-Directors. In addition to rigorous research, Dr. Tompkins set out on a tireless effort to educate other doctors within the Harvard community about ME/CFS and related diseases.

Word of Ron Tompkins’s transformative work spread within the worldwide ME/CFS community and beyond. Health blogger Cort Johnson aptly referred to Dr. Tompkins’s impact as the “Tompkins Effect,” publishing an article that highlighted Dr. Tompkins’ vision for the future of medicine:

“Tompkins and Xiao want to transform how people with ME / CFS within the Harvard hospital system are treated as well. They want patients to get the right tests and see the right specialists. They want the doctors they’re working with to be on the same page with regard to diagnostic protocols, standard testing protocols, referrals, etc.”

Dr. Tompkins brought his special clinical experience of injury and trauma to ME/CFS research:

Dr. Tompkins spent a large portion of his impressive medical career studying the genomics of injury. Specifically, he had experience working with patients who have survived life-threatening traumas and examined how the body responds to injury on a molecular level. This investigative process was facilitated through the NIH-funded “Glue Grant Program.”

This large-scale, in-depth data analysis provided Dr. Tompkins with a special understanding of inflammation and metabolic features of humans in response to severe stresses. He soon discovered that this knowledge was highly applicable to ME/CFS. Watch this illuminating interview with Ron, in which he explains the Glue Grant Program.

Dr. Tompkins always put the patient first:

As shared by a person with ME/CFS, “As an audience member who had heard Ron speak at a panel on ME/CFS, I decided to write to him with a question of a personal nature, not necessarily expecting a reply.  Without knowing me from a hole in the wall, Ron wrote back to me warmly and with great compassion. Such a rarity. His passing is a great loss.”

We invite you to read and contribute more touching memories, messages, and ways in which Ron Tompkins’ work inspired hope on our KudosBoard. We will share this board with Ron’s family so they can read how much Ron meant to so many.

Watch the Tribute Video.

In lieu of flowers, Ron Tompkins’ family asks that donations in Ron’s memory be made to Open Medicine Foundation. Your donation will continue Ron’s legacy by supporting research at the Ronald G. Tompkins ME/CFS Collaboration at the Harvard Affiliated Hospitals.

Watch the Tribute Video

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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.
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.