The ME / CFS Collaborative Research Center, established in 2020 at CHU Sainte-Justine /Université de Montréal, increases OMF’s international collaborative efforts through the End ME/CFS Project. Directed by Alain Moreau, PhD, the Quebec, Canada-based laboratory has been researching ME / CFS for several years.
Alain Moreau, PhD, is a Full Professor in the Department of Stomatology, Faculty of Dentistry and Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, at Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada. Additionally, Dr. Moreau is the Director of Network for Canadian Oral Health Research. He is the Scientific Director of the Viscogliosi Laboratory in Molecular Genetics of Musculoskeletal Diseases, Sainte-Justine University Research Center, Montréal, Québec.
Dr. Moreau’s chief interests of study are pediatric scoliosis, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis. Dr. Moreau is a member of the Open Medicine Foundation Scientific Advisory Board and is the Director of the Interdisciplinary Canadian Collaborative Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Research Network, a national research network funded by the Canadian Institute of Health Research.
We used a specific stress-test to identify possible biomarkers that could be involved in the onset and/or progression of the symptoms associated with specific vascular instabilities including brain fog, orthostatic intolerance and postural orthostatic tachycardia (POTS) in ME / CFS.
Stress-Activated MicroRNAs in ME / CFS Pathogenesis The Problem ME / CFS is a multi-systemic complex chronic disease exhibiting a clinical heterogeneity as main symptoms vary between affected individuals …
From the desk of Dr. Alain Moreau, PhD Director of the Collaborative Research Center at the CHU Sainte-Justine/Université de Montréal #TripleGivingTuesday Research Update Montréal ME/CFS
From the desk of Dr. Alain Moreau, PhD Director of the Collaborative Research Center at the CHU Sainte-Justine/Université de Montréal #TripleGivingTuesday Research Update Promising Research
Dr. Alain Moreau joins the OMF Scientific Advisory Board OMF is honored to welcome Canadian researcher, Dr. Alain Moreau, to our Scientific Advisory Board (SAB,)
To carry out these ambitious collaborations, Dr. Moreau has assembled a team of superb clinicians and scientists with expertise in a wide variety of areas directly relevant to Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME / CFS) research.
Alain Moreau | Scientific Director |
Anita Franco, MSc | Lab coordinator |
Yaned Gaitan MSc | Research assistant- |
Viorica Lascau MSc | Research coordinator – certification manager |
Sophie Perreault, RN | Clinical research nurse |
Valerie Tremblay, RN | Clinical research nurse |
Iurie Caraus, PhD | Postdoctoral fellow |
Wesam Elremaly, PhD | Postdoctoral fellow |
Corinne Leveau BSc | PhD student |
Evguenia Nepotchatykh BSc | PhD student |
Lynda Chalder MSc | PhD student |
Marie-Yvonne Akoume PhD
Invited professor – ICanCME Research Network investigator
Valérie Marcil PhD
Associate Professor – ICanCME Research Network investigator
Dawei Li, PhD
Associated Professor – ICanCME Research Network investigator
Jason Kost BSc
Assistant Professor – ICanCME Research Network investigator
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Averting a second pandemic:
Open Medicine Foundation leads groundbreaking international study of
Long COVID’s conversion to ME/CFS
AGOURA HILLS, CALIF. — Open Medicine Foundation (OMF) is leading a large-scale international collaborative study investigating the potential conversion of Post-Acute Sequelae SARS-CoV-2 infection — more commonly known as Long COVID or Post-COVID Syndrome — to Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), a chronic, life-altering disease with no known cause, diagnostic test or FDA approved treatments available.
Up to 2.5 million people in the U.S. alone suffer from ME/CFS; the COVID-19 pandemic could at least double that number. An estimated 35 percent of Americans who had COVID-19 have failed to fully recover several months after infection, prompting many to call it “a potential second pandemic.”
OMF recognized a familiar health crisis emerging, one with eerie similarities to ME/CFS. This crisis presented a unique opportunity to understand how a viral infection — in this case COVID-19 — may develop into ME/CFS in some patients. The goal is to find targeted treatments for ME/CFS patients and ultimately prevent its onset in people infected with SARS-CoV-2 or other infections.
The federal government is only now investing in Post-COVID research, with no focus on its connection to ME/CFS. OMF has already engaged researchers for the largest-scale study of its kind, solely supported by private donors who have contributed over one million dollars to date. When fully funded, the five million dollar, three-year study will be conducted across the globe at OMF funded Collaborative Research Centers, led by some of the world’s top researchers and ME/CFS experts.
BACKGROUND
In a significant percentage of patients, infections preceded their development of ME/CFS. For example, according to the CDC about one in ten infected with Epstein-Barr virus, Ross River virus, or Coxiella burnetti develop symptoms that meet the criteria for ME/CFS.
THE STUDY
The ability to follow the development of ME/CFS from a known viral infection is unprecedented to date and crucial to researchers’ understanding of the disease. The focus of this study is to find the biological differences between persons returning to good health after COVID-19 and persons who remained ill more than six months after infection and developed ME/CFS. Understanding these alterations in key pathways can lead to groundbreaking discoveries including new biomarkers, drug targets, and prevention and treatment strategies.
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About Open Medicine Foundation
Established in 2012, Open Medicine Foundation leads the largest, concerted worldwide nonprofit effort to diagnose, treat, and prevent ME/CFS and related chronic, complex diseases such as Post Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, and Post COVID. OMF adds urgency to the search for answers by driving transformational philanthropy into global research. We have raised over $28 Million from private donors and facilitated and funded the establishment of five prestigious ME/CFS Collaborative Research Centers around the world. To learn more, visit www.omf.ngo.
CONTACT:
Heather Ah San
Development and Communications Manager
1-650-242-8669
