Overview of event

We are pleased to announce the seventeenth international ME conference hosted by the UK charity Invest in ME Research, #IIMEC17. IIMEC17 logo Taking place on the 30th of May 2025, this event will be held at the renowned Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton Hall. This year the ME conference will be integrated into the main research colloquium allowing researchers to be involved over three days of collaboration and with patient groups and patients and carers able to share their knowledge. IIMEC17 continues our mission of bringing research and clinical expertise to bear on Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME), thus facilitating progress with this condition. Updates on research into ME from around the world will also be given - as well as input from the previous two days of the BRMEC14 researchers' Colloquium. With developments around research into Long Covid and with the similarities of some symptoms to those experienced by people with ME then this topic will be also included as a central component of the agenda.

ME, and more recently Long Covid, remain significant challenges for healthcare systems worldwide. Research efforts have often been hampered by limited funding, slowing progress in understanding and treatment. The BRMEC series plays a pivotal role in utilising existing research expertise, facilitating innovative ideas, and promoting the sharing of advanced biomedical and clinical insights.


Programme

The conference will be integrated into the programme as the third day of the #BRMEC14 Colloquium, 30 May, allowing for greater flexibility and engagement.
The programme is being developed in conjunction with the BRMEC14 colloquium agenda.

Full programme details will be available at the link below.


Speakers

Research Leader, Quadram Institute Bioscience, Norwich Research Park, UK

Professor Simon Carding

UK

Upon completing postgraduate work at the Medical Research Council’s Clinical Research Centre in Harrow, Professor Carding “emigrated” to the USA to take up a postdoctoral position at New York University School of Medicine, and then at Yale University as a Howard Hughes Fellow in the Immunobiology Group at Yale University. While at Yale an interest in gamma-delta (γδ) T cells was acquired working closely with Adrian Hayday on molecular genetics and then with Prof. Peter Doherty to establish their role in (viral) infectious disease.
He left Yale after five years to take up a faculty position at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia where he developed a research interest in mucosal and GI-tract immunology, performing studies in germfree mice with Prof John Cebra that helped establish the role of gut microbes in the aetiology of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
After 15 years in the USA, he returned to the UK to take up the Chair in Molecular Immunology at the University of Leeds where he established a new research programme on commensal gut bacteria and Bacteroides genetics leading to the development of a Bacteroides drug delivery platform that is being used for developing new interventions for IBD and for mucosal vaccination.
In 2008 he was recruited by UEA and IFR to develop a gut research programme, taking up the Chair of Mucosal Immunology at UEA-MED and the position of head of the Gut Biology Research Programme at IFR, which later became part of the Gut Health and Food Safety (GHFS) Programme.
GHFS research covers a broad area of gut biology including epithelial cell physiology, mucus and glycobiology, mucosal immunology, commensal microbiology, foodborne bacterial pathogens, and mathematical modelling and bioinformatics. The success of this programme has led to the establishment of the Gut Microbes and Health research programme that is integral to the research agenda of The Quadram Institute.

Research Director, Coordinating Research Centre, Bispebjerg and Frederiksberg Hospital, Denmark
Co-chair European ME Research Group

Dr Jesper Mehlsen

Denmark

Dr Jesper Mehlsen graduated as a medical doctor in 1979 and finished his specialist training in 1990. He has published more than 140 scientific papers in peer reviewed journals, mainly on the autonomic nervous system and more recently on complex diseases possibly resulting form HPV-vaccination.
For more than 35 years, he has worked clinically and in research with dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system. Such dysfunction may lead to symptoms from a number of different organs often dominated by diminished control of blood pressure and heart rate.
Over the past 5 years, he has worked clinically and in research with patients who suspect side effects due to HPV vaccination to be the cause of a number of symptoms, common to those seen in chronic ME.
Dr Mehlsen is co-chair of the European ME Research Group (EMERG).

Tamas Korcsmaros

UK

Dr Tamas Korcsmaros is a systems biologist working with both computational and experimental approaches to study signalling networks in the gut.
For 15 years, he has been been working in the field of intra- and inter-cellular signalling networks and the regulation of autophagy, a key cellular process for maintaining health and fight diseases. He is particularly interested in how cell-cell and cell-microbe interactions affect intestinal homeostasis, and how one could use precision medicine to tackle current challenges to treat patients with inflammatory bowel disease.
In his group they have developed gap-filling computational resources and applied experimental novel systems, such as organoids, to achieve these goals.
Besides leading his research group that focuses on improving our understanding on the pathomechanisms of IBD, he is also co-leading the NIHR Imperial BRC Organoid Facility to establish patient-specific multi-omics studies for various complex diseases.

REFERENCES

References

David Price

UK

Professor David A Price MRCP DPhil DTM&H FAoP FLSW FRSB graduated with double first class honours in medical sciences and pathology at the University of Cambridge and completed his clinical training at King's College Hospital London.
He practised internal medicine, specialising in infectious and tropical diseases, before pursuing a doctorate in molecular immunology at the University of Oxford.
After further academic clinical appointments, his research was conducted with fellowship support at the NIH Vaccine Research Center.
He was appointed as Chair of Infection and Immunity at Cardiff University School of Medicine in October 2007.
His research program focuses on the development and implementation of advanced biotechnologies to characterise immune responses against globally relevant pathogens, such as HIV-1 and SARS-CoV-2.

REFERENCES

Associate Professor Jos Bosch

Netherlands

In 2012 he was appointed associate professor in the Department of Psychology, section Clinical Psychology.
His research investigates the psychobiology of medical disorders, with the aim to understand and mitigate the impact of disease.
His dual expertise in psychology and biology allows him to approach this topic in a genuinely interdisciplinary manner, by integrating methods and concepts from both fields, and apply these to experimental laboratory studies, clinical investigations, and epidemiological analyses. More recently hsi work has expanded to include Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a source of novel approaches to the analysis and modification of human biology and behaviour. The latter program of research is funded by two H2020 consortium grants, of which he isa lead and a coordinator, and involves intensive collaborations with groups accross continental Europe, the UK, and the US.

Since 2019 he became Associate Editor of Health Psychology Review, having previously acted as associate/senior editor for Brain, Behavior & Immunity (2011-2014), Psychological Bulletin (2010-2013), and Health Psychology (2010-2015).

In 2018 he was appointed Program Leader of the AMC/VUmc research institute ‘Amsterdam Public Health' (APH), Divsion of Mental Health (https://www.amsterdamumc.org/research/institutes/amsterdam-public-health.htm). In 2020 I was reappointed for 2 more years.

In 2023 Jos was awarded a grant of more than seven million euros to commence new biomedical research into ME/CFS.

Further reading:

Amsterdam UMC leads international consortium in the search for treatment for ME/CFS

Research Unit for Molecular Medicine, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University, Denmark

Associate Professor Rikke Katrine Jentoft Olsen

Sweden

Rikke's research group has a longstanding interest in inborn errors of mitochondrial metabolism with special focus on fatty acid oxidation disorders. We integrate genetic diagnostics of affected families with research into cell pathological mechanisms and novel treatment modalities in the form of mitochondrial vitamins/co-factors and anaplerotic compounds for the tricarboxylic acid cycle. In recent years, we have initiated research programs to understand the role that mitochondria may play in ME.

Besides science, Rikke KJ Olsen is an active member of the Neonatal Screening Program for inborn errors of metabolism in Denmark and board member of international scientific organisations within fatty acid oxidation disorders and ME/CFS.

Full Chair Professor in Analytical Chemistry and Neurochemistry at the Department of Chemistry, Uppsala University, Sweden

Professor Jonas Bergquist

Sweden

Professor Begquist has a background as MD, Associate Professor of Clinical Neuroscience , Sahlgrenska University Hospital and the University of Gothenburg. Since 1999 , he has been a researcher in Uppsala, Sweden, and in 2005 was appointed professor of analytical chemistry and neurochemistry at the Department of Chemistry - BMC , Uppsala University. From 2011 he worked also as an adjunct professor of pathology at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.

Medical specialist in Immunology,
Head of Gastrointestinal Immunology research group
Department of Pathophysiology and Allergy,
Medical University of Vienna, Austria

Associate Professor Eva Untersmayr-Elsenhuber, MD, PhD

Austria

Dr. Eva Untersmayr-Elsenhuber Associate Professor of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research at The University of Vienna. Her research interests are Immunology and Microbiology, Comparative Immunology and Oncology, Pathophysiology.
In 2011, Dr.in Eva Untersmayr-Elsenhuber completed her specialist training. Since then, Dr.in Untersmayr-Elsenhuber has worked as a specialist and associate professor at the ” Institute of Pathophysiology and Allergy Research at the Medical University of Vienna. In 2012, Dr.in Eva Untersmayr-Elsenhuber completed her part-time doctoral studies in natural sciences at the University of Salzburg and received her doctorate (Dr. rer. nat.). She is the author of more than 40 internationally acclaimed articles published in renowned journals, which have so far been cited more than 1000 times by other authors in publications. For her work in the field of food allergy, Dr.in Untersmayr-Elsenhuber has received numerous prizes such as the Pirquet Prize, the most important prize in the field of allergy research of the Austrian Society for Allergology and Immunology, the Theodor Billroth Prize of the Medical Association of Vienna and the Vienna Chamber of Commerce Prize 2014.
In addition, Dr Eva Untersmayr-Elsenhuber has led and managed numerous competitively funded research projects on food allergy, gastrointestinal immunology and oncology since 2005. She is a member of national and international committees such as the Austrian and European Societies for Allergolgy and Immunology and the Collegium Internationale Allergologicum. Dr. Untersmayr-Elsenhuber has participated in numerous science communication activities for years, such as the production of information brochures, the Children’s University, the Long Night of Research and Science at the VHS Vienna.
(with grateful thanks to https://www.praxis-neustift.com/en/prof-ddr-eva-untersmayr-elsenhuber/)

Links:

Researchgate

Presenter to be confirmed

Details will be announced shortly.

Presenter to be announced

Details will be announced shortly.

Presenter to be announced

Details will be announced shortly.

Universidad Católica de Valencia “San Vicente Mártir”, Spain

Elisa Oltra

Spain

Dr. Elisa Oltra is a professor of Cell and Molecular Biology at the Universidad Católica de Valencia “San Vicente Mártir” where she also works as a researcher in the area of stem-cell and cancer.
She obtained an M.S. degree in Biochemistry at the Universitat de Valencia (Spain) and later earned her PhD in Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology at the University of Miami, FL (USA) where she stayed for her post-doctoral training and later, as Senior Scientist till 2006 when she moved back to Spain. During her studies at the University of Miami she identified alternative 5´UTR sequences involved in regulating cell-cell communication through mechanisms of differential connexin43 expression in the heart.
She also isolated a novel essential protein (Ini) and demonstrated its participation in mechanisms of transcription and splicing.
In 2009 she started a project to investigate the molecular basis of Fibromyalgia having identified at present irregularities in RNAseL expression and miRNAs profile changes in the participating patients which could lead to a deeper understanding of the disease.
In 2012 she joined the IVP Valencian Institute of Pathology, also at the Universidad Católica de Valencia where she is currently studying a specific type of vesicles: the exosomes, as mediators of stem-cell based therapies.
She is also academic director of the first officially accredited Master degree in Biobanking in Europe in collaboration with the Spanish Network of Biobanking at the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid (Spain).

University of Edinburgh, UK

Chris Ponting

UK

Christopher Ponting is a British computational biologist, specialising in the evolution and function of genes and genomes. He is currently Chair of Medical Bioinformatics at the University of Edinburgh and group leader in the MRC Human Genetics Unit.
He is also an Associate Faculty member of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, member of the European Molecular Biology Organisation and Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
His research focuses on long noncoding RNA function and evolution, on single cell biology and on disease genomics.
Professor Ponting contributed to the Human Genome Project, and participated in sequence comparison for the mouse, chicken, dog, opossum, and platypus Genome Projects. He has also used comparative genomics to contribute directly to the understanding of chromatin structure and the genetics of numerous conditions including asthma,obesity, Alzheimer's disease, retinitis pigmentosa, muscular dystrophies, and Aicardi–Goutières syndrome. Additionally, his lab is part of DecodeME, a genetic study to determine the potential causes of myalgic encephalomyelitis.

Nova Southeastern University, Florida, USA

Professor Nancy Klimas

USA

Director, Institute for Neuro Immune Medicine, Nova Southeastern University.
Director, Clinical Immunology Research, Miami VAMC
Professor of Medicine, Department of Clinical Immunology, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Nova Southeastern University
Chair, Department of Clinical Immunology, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Nova Southeastern University
Professor Emerita, University of Miami, School of Medicine
n for her research and clinical efforts in multi-symptom disorders, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), War Illness (GWI), Fibromyalgia, and other Neuro Immune Disorders. She is immediate past president of the International Association for CFS and ME (IACFS/ME), a professional organization of clinicians and investigators, and is also a member of the VA Research Advisory Committee for GWI, the NIH P2P CFS Committee, and the Institute of Medicine ME/CFS Review Panel. Dr. Klimas has advised three Secretaries of Health and Human Services, including Kathleen Sabelius, during her repeated service on the Health and Human Services CFS Advisory Committee. Dr. Klimas has been featured on Good Morning America, in USA Today and the New York Times.

Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Cornell University, New York, USA

Professor Maureen Hanson

USA

Maureen Hanson is Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor in the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY. Previously she was on the faculty of the Department of Biology at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville and an NIH NRSA postdoctoral fellow at Harvard, where she also completed her Ph.D. degree. While most of her prior research has concerned cell and molecular biology in plant cells, she began a research program on ME/CFS after noting at a 2007 IACFS meeting the paucity of molecular biologists studying the illness. Her lab was part of the 2012 multicenter study organized by Ian Lipkin's group at Columbia University to assess the actual role of XMRV in ME/CFS. Dr. Hanson has a current project to examine the microbiome of ME/CFS patients and controls, in collaboration with Dr. Ruth Ley (Cornell Microbiology) and Susan Levine, M.D. (Manhattan, NY). Dr Levine is also collaborating with Dr. Hanson on an immune cell gene expression project that involves Dr. Fabien Campagne and Dr. Rita Shaknovich at Weill Cornell Medical School in New York City. Dr. Hanson's third project concerns analysis of blood samples from individuals performing a two-day cardiopulmonary exercise test at Ithaca College under the supervision of Dr. Betsy Keller.

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Australia

Chris Armstrong, PhD, performs research using metabolomics to observe biochemical alterations in ME patients. He began his work in this field at the University of Melbourne, beginning a PhD project to apply metabolomics to study myalgic encephalomyelitis and published his first ME/CFS metabolomics study on blood and urine in 2015. Chris also worked with IiMER-funded PhD Fane Mensah at UCL.

Since then Chris has set up collaborative efforts to apply metabolomics to immunological experiments on ME, observing how metabolism may relate to immune cell function. He has also focused on longitudinal research in ME while looking to extend metabolic capabilities across the field of ME to help collate different patient groups.

Chris has presented at the #BRMEC11 colloquium in 2021.

Other Links

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Dr Vicky Whittemore

USA

Dr. Whittemore is a Program Director in the Synapses, Channels and Neural Circuits Cluster. Her interest is in understanding the underlying mechanisms of the epilepsies including the study of genetic and animal models of the epilepsies.

The major goal is to identify effective treatments for the epilepsies and to develop preventions. Dr. Whittemore received a Ph.D. in anatomy from the University of Minnesota, followed by post-doctoral work at the University of California, Irvine, and a Fogarty Fellowship at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.

She was on the faculty of the University of Miami School of Medicine in The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis prior to working with several non-profit organizations including the Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance, Genetic Alliance, Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy (CURE), and the National Coalition for Health Professional Education in Genetics (NCHPEG).

She also completed a four-year term on the National Advisory Neurological Disorders and Stroke Council.

Other Links

Some of the institutes, organisations and agencies that will have speakers, representatives and participants involved and invited to the conference week 2025 events -

Quadram Institute
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
University of East Anglia
University of Oslo
University of Amsterdam
University of Bergen
University of Helsinki
University of Uppsala
Nova Southeastern University, Miami
Université de Montréal
Charité University Hospital, Berlin
Stanford Genome Technology Center
Universidad Católica de Valencia
Harvard Medical School
Aarhus Universitet
Georgetown University
Copenhagen University Hospital
European ME Research Group
Cornell University
University of South Florida
University of Cambridge
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Medical University of Vienna
Karolinska Institutet, Sweden
The National University Hospital of Iceland
Akureyri Hospital
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
University of Oxford
Institute for Cardiovascular Diseases Dedinje
Young EMERG
Columbia University
La Trobe University
Karl Landsteiner University of Health Sciences
Massachusetts General Hospital
Sheffield Hallam University
European ME Alliance
Kings College London
European Research Council
Imperial College London
Chicago De Paul
North Carolina State University, USA
University of Western Ontario
Cardiff University School of Medicine
Stanford University School of Medicine
Simmaron Research
University of Melbourne, Australia

Registration

Registration will be made available shortly.


Venue

The conference will take place on the Wellcome Genome Campus at Hinxton Hall, near Cambridgeshire. Hinxton Hall

Hinxton Hall Conference Centre is located on the Wellcome Genome Campus, alongside research institutions that are at the forefront of the genomics revolution. Hinxton Hall Conference Centre blends stunning contemporary architecture with state-of-the-art facilities, alongside a Grade II* listed country house, all set within a beautiful, rural 100 acre estate bordering the River Cam.

This location is near to Cambridge as well as a short drive from London Stansted airport.
There is also a direct link to London Stansted from central London.
This venue offers a number of advantages for assisting in our objectives of building collaboration and expanding knowledge.



Sponsorship

There are opportunities for sponsoring elements of the International ME Conference Week 2025, including at the IIMEC17 conference. Please read our Conference Week brochure for details of the events. Contact us if interested in becoming a sponsor of the conference and supporter of the work of Invest in ME Research


Past Conferences

The Conference events have been arranged annually since 2006.
Past Conferences can be viewed via the link below


Covid Policy

Some considerations for delegates regarding Covid.

Further Information: