With funding from the Open Medicine Foundation, our scientific advisory board director, world-renowned geneticist Ronald W. Davis, PhD, has brought together distinguished experts for a bold international collaborative research project coined “The End ME/CFS Project”.
The goal for this project is to develop diagnostic tools, deliver treatments, and ultimately find a cure and prevention for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS).
Three collaborative research centers
At the direction of Dr. Davis and OMF’s Scientific Advisory Board, OMF has funded the launch of three ME/CFS Collaborative Research Centers. Dr. Davis leads the Center at Stanford University, Ronald G. Tompkins, MD, ScD, and Wenzhong Xiao, PhD, co-direct the collaboration at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Harvard affiliated hospitals, and Jonas Bergquist, MD, PhD, directs the newest center at Uppsala University in Sweden.
A vital part of the End ME/CFS project is to financially support goal-directed research centers that work collaboratively with each other and the global research community of scientists and clinicians. The strategy is to constantly remain focused on fast-tracking research so that diagnosis, treatments, and a cure can be available to patients as soon as possible. This method for funding a research network ensures the persistence of a long-term, committed and multi-pronged research initiative, and maximizes the prospects for efficacious results in a timely manner.
Why we expect this project will be successful
Dr. Davis’s vision is to openly share data, as was done in the Human Genome Project, so as to speed the pace of research and minimize the need for researchers to collect data that has already been collected. To that end, an ME/CFS Data Center has been established at Stanford that is open to all researchers. Much of the data from the Stanford Collaborative Research Center is already available, and data from the other Centers will be added. Other researchers are also welcomed to add their data. Collectively, researchers from all over the world are building a repository of data using innovative analytical techniques and multi-omics platforms (genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, transcriptomics, etc.). Currently, this data is being used by researchers worldwide and has already begun informing the development of hypotheses, ideas for diagnostic technologies, and possible clinical trials.
Millions needed annually
Millions are needed annually to support the End ME/CFS Project. Dr. Davis estimates that $20 million per year would be needed so that funding was not the limiting factor for progress. Consequently, OMF has set an aggressive goal to raise $20+ million per year from grants and donations. Join the campaign to end ME/CFS by donating, ask your friends, family, and peers to donate to this ground-breaking research.
The End ME/CFS Project in the News:
- The End ME/CFS Project: History Taking Root (Phoenix Rising)
- End ME/CFS Severe Patient Study Turns to the Mitochondria (Health Rising)
