Collaborations

CureME strives to encourage and develop collaboration between researchers and enhance the opportunity for breakthrough discoveries. We aim to work in collaboration to lead research efforts in the UK and around the globe. Below are our current active collaborations.

EUROMENE – EUROMENE is the acronym for the European Network on ME/CFS, which is a COST Action project. The network promotes multidisciplinary ME/CFS research throughout Europe and aims to develop much-needed treatment and prevention strategies for improving patients’ quality of life. Dr Eliana Lacerda is the vice chair of the Scientific Committee and the CureME team have been active in EUROMENE’s work, including providing clinical and research expertise on the potential biomarkers, clinical diagnosis and management, and the standardisation of data collection. We recently attended the Global Conference in Riga, Latvia. http://www.euromene.eu/index.html

EMERGE AUSTRALIA –A $1million grant was awarded from philanthropic trust, the Mason Foundation, to establish the first Australian ME/CFS Biobank and patient registry. Both will be led by Emerge Australia and partnered with the Australian Red Cross​, SOLVECFS in the US, and the UK ME CFS Biobank, making this a global project. Led by Professor Paul Fisher from La Trobe University, this project will use the blood samples stored in the biobank, combined with the data from the patient registry, for ME/CFS research in Australia. The CureME team will be providing expertise on the creation and the establishment of an ME/CFS-specific biobank.

SOLVECFS, LA –The Solve ME/CFS Initiative (https://solvecfs.org/) in the US hosts the You + M.E. Registry and Biobank (https://solvecfs.org/you-m-e-registry/), a resource of detailed health information and biological samples from people living with ME/CFS, as well as controls without the disease. You + M.E. is a web platform and an app designed to make data collection online and easier to complete. In turn, this will facilitate data sharing and comparability, as well as an increased collaboration between all those who contribute to ME/CFS research: patients, healthy controls, clinicians, and scientific researchers. The CureME team has been involved in the development of this app and our own web platform for data collection. We are also in continued collaboration with SOLVECFS on several other endeavours with the ambition of progressing ME/CFS research on a global scale.

ICanCME (I can see ME), CANADA – The Canadian Collaborative ME Research Network is an interdisciplinary network led by Professor Alan Moreau. Dr Luis Nacul is a Co-Principal Investigator in this network, which includes a wide range of researchers and clinicians across Canada, and the inclusion of the patient community, who have a key role in network governance. The network was launched in August 2019, with a $1.4-million grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and aims to build a national cohort of ME patients and to increase research capacity. Additionally, the ICanCME have an International Scientific and Medical Advisory Board, of which Dr Eliana Lacerda is a member.

THEMOS KALAFATIS – Themos, based in Greece, is a Data Scientist with 20 years of experience in Data Analysis. His repertoire includes applied Machine Learning, Information Extraction, Natural Language Processing and Network Analysis methods in several areas including Healthcare using both structured and unstructured (free text) data. His work in Text Analysis has been presented in several conferences in the United States and the United Kingdom. He has consulted with the CureME team on a study using free-text medications data. Themos continues to provide his expertise in data analysis as the team pursues more rigorous analytical work.