Fund Update for CofE B-cell/Rituximab Research
Mainstreaming Finding Funding Facilitating Fasttracking Research into ME
Invest in ME Research has now reached the target set for the B-cell/rituximab fund.
This is another major target reached and is a wonderful achievement by dedicated supporters and friends across the world.
The total of funds raised or pledged for
B-cell/rituximab projects is £520,000.
From this the charity has already funded research at UCL, including a PhD student, and allowed strong collaboration to be formed with the researchers at Haukeland University Hospital in Bergen, Norway.
The initial preliminary B-cell study at UCL looked for likely responders and also introduced the UCL team to research into ME [1], leading to a UK rituximab trial.
This early work also created the foundations of close collaboration between the UK team and the Norwegian researchers at Haukeland University Hospital in Bergen.
This working collaboration and the work performed at UCL was credited as enormously valuable to the Norwegian rituimab trial work by one of the specialists there.
Once it became clear that a reorganisation at UCL would mean the UK trial could not take place there, and once it was decided that the trial could proceed at Norwich Research Park, then further collaboration was made and the Norwegian team visited Norwich in force in January 2017 to discuss with the UK team (UEA, IFR (now Quadram Institute Biosciences) and UCL) at the Centre there - click here.
As we now make preparations for the next phase a new visit to Norwich is planned for when the Norwegian team break the codes for their Phase III trial later in 2017.
From the £520,000 raised Fane Mensah was also funded with a PhD grant to continue the B-cell research which is so important.
This work was described here (click here).
Recently this work has been expanded thanks to a grant from Solve ME/CFS in USA which allowed Fane and Chris Armstrong to collaborate (click here).
Chris and Fane met when both were invited by IiMER to the sixth Biomedical Research into ME Colloquium (BRMEC6) in London in 2016 Dr Zaher Nahle from Solve was there also and so another collaboration ensued. The work funded by IiMER has produced this paper from Fane and collaborators - Chronic fatigue syndrome and the immune system: Where are we now? [2]
Our initial target of £350,000 which was set with our advisor some years ago has now been reached and allowed the additional B-cell research to take place.
A position for a Senior Research Assistant to help with the UK trial is being advertised.
Our plans are to continue to raise funds for the UK Centre of Excellence for ME where international collaboration is a key concept.
We are pleased that Professor Ian Charles of Quadram Institute discussed the possibilities with the Centre in his keynote speech at the recent IIMEC12 International ME Conference in London (DVD available here). Professor Charles stated that he hoped "...they were being ambitious enough" for the Centre.
Our thanks to the wonderful supporters who are making it possible to apply high-quality science to looking for the cause(s) of this disease.
Our dedicated microsite for the UK rituximab trial and B-cell research has more details is available here.
We are working on updating that site shortly and will include it in the Centre of Excellence microsite.
We will also be introducing a blog section which will allow the IiMER-funded researcher to interact more.
We hope to begin that soon - more details here
Our mascot, Professor Ldifme, was created by our supporters and indicates the B-cell/rituximab total - posters by LDIFME's Jan Laverick.
Please help us by supporting our campaign for the UK Centre of Excellence for ME.
Ways to help us are shown in the column at the right of our page.
References
- http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cei.12749/pdf
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316080804_Chronic_fatigue_syndrome_and_the_immune_system_Where_are_we_now
- http://investinme.org/ce-news-1702-01.shtml
We are now funding future phases of the work to build the Centre of Excellence for ME foundations.
The new Quadram Institute building is rapidly
taking shape and it is where the ME research team would move once open.
There is a bright future for the UK Centre of Excellence in Norwich Research Park - with international collaboration now well under way
with institutes and universities in UK, Europe and USA.
The Quadram Institute has more details of research into ME at this link. More details here.
International collaboration in biomedical research into ME.
This has been one of the main objectives of Invest in ME Research in building a strategy of biomedical research in Europe and further afield.
We welcome all support to help us in developing the UK Centre of Excellence for ME.
Ways to help us are shown in the column at the right of our page.
Join our C-selfie campaign to promote the UK Centre of Excellence for ME - details here
We also have wristbands for sale to help spread awareness - click here for details
Our current funding targets and status are shown below
Direct Ways to Donate to Invest in ME Research
There are several options to support the charity via direct methods such as bank transfer and direct donations.
Click the donate button to go to the funding page for more details.
