Agenda
Symposium for Promoting the Advancement of Research Knowledge in ME/CFS Early Career Researchers

December 11, 2023

Clinical Center (Building 10), FAES Classrooms 6 & 7 and Terrace, NIH Campus, Bethesda, MD

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9:00 – 9:05 am   Welcome
Vicky Whittlemore, PhD – NINDS
9:05 – 9:15 am   Introduction and Welcome
Walter Koroshetz, MD – Director, NINDS
9:15 – 10:00 am  

Building Your ME/CFS Research Career
Moderator: Jessica Maya, PhD – Cornell University

  • Perspective from Brent Williams, PhD – Columbia University
  • Perspective from Xiang Xu, PhD – Mt. Sinai
10:00 – 10:30 am  

Overview of Grant Writing for Young/Early Career Investigators
Moderator: Brent Williams, PhD

  • Vicky Whittemore, PhD – NIH/NINDS
  • Joe Breen, PhD – NIH/NIAID
10:30 – 10:45 am   BREAK
10:45 – 11:30 am  

Panel of ME/CFS Non- Profit Partners

Moderator: Agostina Casamento-Moran, PhD – Johns Hopkins University

  • H. Timothy Hsiao, PhD – Solve ME/CFS Initiative
  • Jamie Seltzer – #MEAction
  • Richard Simpson – Invest in ME Research
  • Linda Tannenbaum – Open Medicine Foundation
11:30 am – 12:15 pm   Networking Breakout Groups
12:15 – 1:15 pm   LUNCH (Sponsored by Nova Southeastern University) and Poster Session
1:15 – 3:00 pm   Short Research Presentations by Young/Early Career Investigator Participants
Moderator: Chloe Jones, University of Alabama, Birmingham
1:15 – 1:30 pm   Developing a mouse model of myalgic encephalomyelitis
Madeleine Uys – North-West University (Presenting via Zoom)
1:30 – 1:45 pm   Antibody Reactivity to the Intestinal Microbiome in Severe Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Patients
Katharine Seton, PhD – Quadrum Research Institute (Presenting via Zoom)
1:45 – 2:00 pm   Identification of biomarkers for ME/CFS from metabolites and proteins in blood
Katie Glass, PhD – Cornell University
2:00 – 2:15 pm   Effect of Physical Exertion on CNS Oxidative Stress and Metabolism in ME/CFS
Nicholas Hampilos, MD – Weill Cornell Medicine
2:15 – 2:30 pm   Epigenetic Reprogramming of CD8+ T cell Populations Drives Exhaustion in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS)
David Iu – Cornell University
2:30 – 2:45 pm   UpTime: A Digital Biomarker for ME/CFS
Bella Rond – Bateman Horne Center
2:45 – 3:00 pm   ME/CFS Pathophysiology Investigated by Invasive Cardiopulmonary Exercise Test (iCPET) and Autonomic Function Testing
Johanna Woodward Squires – Brigham & Women’s Hospital
3:00 – 3:15 pm   BREAK
3:15 – 4:30 pm   Short Research Presentations by Young/Early Career Investigator Participants
Moderator: Katie Glass, PhD – Cornell University
3:15 – 3:30 pm   Augmentation of Anaerobic Pentose Phosphate Pathway Triggers Tetrahydrobiopterin Biosynthesis in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) patients with Orthostatic Intolerance: A Pilot Study
Sarojini Bulbule – Simmaron Research Institute
3:30 – 3:45 pm   Tracking Peripheral Immune Cell Infiltration of the Brain in ME/CFS
Chloe Jones – University of Alabama, Birmingham
3:45 – 4:00 pm   Evidence for the contribution of hemolysis to post-exertional malaise pathophysiology in myalgic encephalomyelitis
Atefah Moezzi – University of Montreal (Presenting via Zoom)
4:00 – 4:15 pm   Exercise capacity in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) treated with long-term pyridostigmine
Sarra Maan Al-Zayer – Brigham & Women’s Hospital
4:15 – 4:30 pm   Single-cell transcriptomics of ME/CFS circulating immune system before and after symptom provocation
Tien Luyen Vu – Cornell University
4:30 – 5:00 pm   Young/Early Career Investigator Network – discussion of ways the young investigators can network, collaborate across labs, countries, and continents
Co-Moderators: Agostina Casamento-Moran, PhD – Johns Hopkins University and Karen Giménez-Orenga, Universidad Católica de Valencia San Vicente Mártir/EMERG
5:00 pm   Adjourn

SPARK ME Workshop and ME/CFS Conference Poster Presentations

  1. Exercise capacity in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) treated with long-term pyridostigmine

Sarra Al-Zayer; Brigham & Women’s Hospital

  1. Circulating FGF-21 levels are associated with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis disease severity

Ghazaleh Azimi; University of Montreal

  1. Role of soluble sphingomyelin phosphodiesterase acid-like 3B (SMPDL3B) in myalgic encephalomyelitis

Rostami-Afshari Bita; University of Montreal

  1. Using [11C]PBR28 positron emission tomography to assess neuroinflammation in ME/CFS and PASC

Hannah Bues; Massachusetts General Hospital

  1. Augmentation of Anaerobic Pentose Phosphate Pathway Triggers Tetrahydrobiopterin Biosynthesis in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/ Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) patients with Orthostatic Intolerance: A Pilot Study

Sarojini Bulbule; Simmaron Research Institute

  1. Understanding the Behavioral Features of Fatigue in Long COVID

Agostina Casamento-Moran; Johns Hopkins University

  1. Comprehensive plasma metabolomic analysis in ME/CFS with exercise tolerance test

Xiaoyu (Jason) Che; Columbia University

  1. Participant Recruitment for ME/CFS Research

Luke Collings; Bateman Horne Center

  1. Comparison ofT-cell Receptor Diversity of People with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis versus Controls

Joshua Dibble; Harvard University

  1. Cell-free RNA signatures of myalgic encephalomyelitis/ chronic fatigue syndrome

Anne Gardella; Cornell University

  1. Proteomic adjustments following induction of post-exertional malaise

Arnaud Germain, Cornell University

  1. Extracellular vesicle protein cargo in ME/CFS cases and controls following maximal exercise

Ludovic Giloteaux; Cornell University

  1. HERV activation segregates ME/CFS from fibromyalgia and patients fulfilling both clinical criteria

Karen Giménez-Orenga, Universidad Católica de Valencia San Vicente Mártir

  1. Identification of four clinical subgroups of ME/CFS patients using model-based clustering

Katherine (Katie) Glass, Cornell University

  1. Epigenetic Reprogramming of CD8+ T cell Populations Drives Exhaustion in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS)

David Iu, Cornell University

  1. Post-Exertional Malaise Provocation Induces Different Profiles of Cognitive Impairment in ME/CFS

Corrine Leveau; University of Montreal

  1. Blood brain barrier permeability is increased in ME/CFS: an MRI study

Sheryl Liu, Mt. Sinai

  1. Tracking Peripheral Immune Cell Infiltration of the Brain in ME/CFS

Chloe Jones; University of Alabama, Birmingham

  1. Investigating T cell populations for immune cell dysfunction in ME/CFS

Jessica Maya; Cornell University

  1. Investigating the role of iNOS in endothelial dysfunction in ME/CFS

Claire McNally; Cornell University

  1. Predicting Trajectories and Long-Term Sequelae in Long COVID: An Exploratory Pilot Study

Diana Petre; University of Montreal

  1. Impact of age and sex on microbial susceptibility and immune activation in ME/CFS

Amit Ranjan; Columbia University

  1. UpTime: A Digital Biomarker for ME/CFS

Bella Rond; Bateman Horne Center

  1. Objective sleep and pupillometry measurements in participants with ME/CFS and controls

Deena Saadi; Massachusetts General Hospital

  1. The Role of Irisin in the Pathogenesis of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis

Bernard Souma; University of Montreal

  1. High circulating miR-29a-3p and miR-150-5p levels are associated with vascular instabilities in myalgic encephalomyelitis

Yasaman Vahdani, University of Montreal

  1. Single-cell transcriptomics of ME/CFS circulating immune system before and after symptom provocation

Tien Vu; Cornell University

  1. ME/CFS Pathophysiology Investigated by Invasive Cardiopulmonary Exercise Test (iCPET) and Autonomic Function Testing

Johanna Woodward Squires; Brigham & Women’s Hospital

  1. 7T MRI showed hippocampal Subfield Volume differences in ME/CFS and Long COVID

Kiran Thapaliya; Griffith University

  1. A Software for Integrating Multiple Methylation Studies: Feature Selection and Classification

Tao Xu; Texas Tech University

  1. Structural and Oxygen Metabolic Magnetic Resonance Imaging of long-COVID and ME/CFS

Xiang Xu; Mt. Sinai