What's New?

Wondering what's happening in the CFS community and what's new on our web-site? Here you'll find fresh content, from media alerts to just-published research to important public policy developments. Explore some of our latest additions below.

• We have a new director of development, Mark Stone. Learn more about the track record he brings to our cause.
• Board Chairman Amy Squires testified at the Oct. 3 CFS Advisory Committee meeting.
• The CFIDS Association of America is partnering on two proposals for patient-centered research selected as finalists in Sanofi's Collaborate | Activate Innovation Challenge, as Sanofi announced today. We advance to compete for a top prize of $300,000 and second prize of $100,000 with help from Sanofi in the form of $25,000 and a planning mentor they provide to each team. Learn more about the Challenge and the finalists' proposals: http://bit.ly/sanofi-challenge.
• Representatives from the Food & Drug Administration held a teleconference with ME/CFS stakeholders on Sept. 13. During they call they reiterated that FDA considers ME/CFS to be a "serious and life-threatening condition," making applications to study ME/CFS treatments eligible for expedited review and accelerated approval programs. FDA will convene stakeholders for a scientific meeting this coming spring on clinical endpoints for assessing the effectiveness of treatments in clinical studies. Here's a brief summary from Research1st: http://bit.ly/FDA-dialogue.
• Post-Infection Cytokine Signature: Gordon Broderick et al., compared multiple immune system measurements over time in a group of girls who recovered from infectious mono (EBV infection) to a group who didn't recover and met criteria for CFS at 24 months. They report, "differences were especially evident when cast in the context of [immune system chemicals] IL-1a, IL-2 and IFN-?. This evidence points to a possible dysregulation of the innate system's priming of the appropriate adaptive Th17 response in these subjects." The authors, including CFIDS Association scientific director Dr. Suzanne Vernon, suggest that this profile offers a possible diagnostic test for post-infectious CFS with more study. (Journal of Translational Medicine, Sept. 13, 2012) This study was funded by the CFIDS Association of America. More info: http://www.research1st.com/2011/11/30/broderick-2/
• Association CEO Kim McCleary was an invited guest at FasterCures' three-day Celebration of Science where 1000 government, academia, pharma, nonprofit and philanthropy leaders gathered to reaffirm the importance of biomedical research to fuel breakthroughs for better health and to drive economic growth. The Association participates in The Research Acceleration and Innovation Network (TRAIN) hosted by FasterCures.

Last updated on October 18, 2012