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Summer 2003 

CFIDS News
Keeping you up to date on recent events across the nation and around the world

Dr. John Stewart
The CFIDS community lost a compassionate ally this summer when Dr. John Stewart died after a fall at his home.

Dr. Stewart worked at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for more than 40 years. For half his tenure, he served as Chief of the Virology Section, Viral Exanthems and Herpes-virus Branch, Division of Viral and Rickettsial Diseases at the CDC’s National Center for Infectious Diseases (NCID). In this capacity, he helped lead study of the causes, impact and treatment of numerous diseases — including Epstein-Barr virus and CFIDS .

Dr. Stewart was a friend of The CFIDS Association of America. Terri Lupton, the Association’s coordinator for educational opportunities, remembers him as a “determined advocate” whose open-minded approach to studying CFIDS led to greater understanding of the illness. His dedication and kindness will be missed.

NIH conference on CFIDS
On June 12–13, a hundred researchers and program staff gathered for a National Institutes of Health (NIH) conference on NeuroImmune Mechanisms and CFS. The meeting, supported by the NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health and the

Trans-NIH Working Group for Research on CFS, brought together senior investigators from areas with relevance to CFS and CFS experts. The agenda was designed to shed light on promising avenues of research, based on progress in other disciplines.

Dr. Vivian Pinn, director of the Office of Research on Women’s Health, announced that NIH would use the meeting to craft a Request for Applications (RFA) for CFS research, a high visibility solicitation due to the availability of designated funds for successful applications. NIH will issue a meeting summary, followed by full proceedings late this year. The RFA will be a joint effort of several NIH institutes and will take several months to draft, revise and approve. 

Disability workshop
The Interagency Commit-tee on Disability Research (ICDR) held a stakeholders meeting on June 26 in Washington , D.C. to gather input on future federally funded disability research. Kim Kenney represented The CFIDS Association at this session, as one of 40 invited participants from a wide range of disability organizations.

Discussion focused on the use of assistive technologies to enhance disabled persons’ abilities to engage in employment, education, health care and their communities. Assistive technology is defined as anything that improves function, from eyeglasses to specially equipped laptop computers to lightweight collapsible wheelchairs.

The mission of the ICDR is to promote coordination and cooperation among federal departments and agencies conducting rehabilitation research programs.