BRMEC14 Colloquium 2025
The fourteenth Invest in ME Research Biomedical Research into ME Colloquium (BRMEC14)—"Investigating the Mechanisms
of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis: From Pathogenesis and Aetiology to Treatment Innovation"—took place in London over
two days: 28th–29th May 2025.
Integrating systems biology and clinical research for ME treatment innovation.
The 14th Biomedical Research into ME Colloquium (BRMEC14) in 2025 brought together leading international scientists and clinicians to advance understanding of myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), sometimes referred to as ME/CFS, and related conditions such as Long Covid. Over several days, delegates shared new findings on topics including systems biology, immunology, host–virus interactions, mitochondrial dysfunction, the microbiome, autonomic physiology, therapies, and the use of AI and bioinformatics in biomedical research. The meeting provided a collaborative forum for exchanging data, refining research priorities, and fostering international partnerships aimed at improving diagnosis and treatment for people living with ME.
| Session | Presenter(s) | |
|---|---|---|
| 08:45 | Welcome to BRMEC14 - Objectives |
Simon Carding
Colloquium chair:
Quadram Institute, UK / European ME Research Group (EMERG) |
| Systems biology approaches to study infections in complex diseases |
Tamas Korcsmaros
Session chair:
Imperial College London |
|
| Application of systems biology to Understand complex chronic Diseases - using innovative approaches to integrating multiple omics data for disease modelling, drug repurposing and novel therapeutic strategies |
Aurelien Dugourd
Saez-Rodriguez Group, European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), UK |
|
| Disease Map concept and its application for complex conditions |
Anna Niarakis
Université de Toulouse III-Paul Sabatier - CNRS), France |
|
| Mapping cell-cell communication and its changes upon inflammation and infection. |
Marton Olbei
Imperial College London, UK |
|
| Discussion | Chaired discussion amongst delegates | |
| Genomics |
Session chair: Simon Carding
|
|
| Blood and genetic biomarkers of ME/CFS |
Chris Ponting
University of Edinburgh, UK |
|
| An association study of NK cell receptor genes in ME |
Marte Viken
University of Oslo, Norway |
|
| Genetic Insights into ME: A Large-Scale Perspective |
Cindy Boer
Erasmus University Medical Center, Netherlands |
|
| Discussion | Chaired discussion amongst delegates | |
| Molecular Biology |
Elisa Oltra
Session chair:
Universidad Catolica de Valencia San Vicente Mártir, Spain / EMERG |
|
| From Discovery to Hope: Novel Insights into Biomarkers and Treatments for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis |
Professor Alain Moreau
Université de Montréal / CHU Sainte-Justine, Azrieli Reseach Center, Canada |
|
| Boosting cellular defense mechanisms as a treatment for neudegenerative diseases |
Dr Anne Bertolotti
MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, UK |
|
| Discussion | Chaired discussion amongst delegates | |
| Chronic Infection Aetiology |
David Price
Session chair:
Cardiff University, UK / EMERG |
|
| Large international study LC-OPTIMIZE |
Douglas D. Fraser
Western University in London, Canada |
|
| Comparative Analysis of Pre-Pandemic ME/CFS and Long COVID Cohorts: Phenotyping Insights and the Sipavibart Monoclonal Antibody Trial |
Nancy Klimas
Nova Southeastern University, USA |
|
| Discussions | Chaired discussion amongst delegates | |
| Nervous System and Neuroinflammation |
Jonas Bergquist
Session chair:
University of Uppsala, Sweden / EMERG |
|
| Sensory symptoms in Post-Covid Syndrome (PCS) patients with Pain and Fatigue |
Stuart Bevan
Wolfson Centre for Age Related Disease, Kings College London, UK |
|
| Neuro-PET data of post-COVID patients |
Denise Visser
University Medical Center Utrecht, Netherlands |
|
| Delineating Clinical Phenotypes and HPA-Axis Dysfunction in ME |
Felipe Correa-da-Silva
The Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Netherlands |
|
| Itaconate modulates immune responses via inhibition of Peroxiredoxin 5 |
Maxim N. Artyomov
Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, USA Tomas Paulenda Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, USA |
|
| Discussion | Chaired discussion amongst delegates | |
| Session | Presenter(s) | |
|---|---|---|
| 08:45 | Welcome to BRMEC14 Day 2 - Objectives |
Simon Carding
Colloquium chair: Quadram Institute, UK / European ME Research Group (EMERG) |
| Immune System Primary and Secondary |
Eva Untersmayr-Elsenhuber
Session chair: Medical University of Vienna, Austria / EMERG |
|
| Impact of viral (SARS-CoV-2) infections on immune cells and insights for ME (provisional title) |
Muzlifah Haniffa
Wellcome Sanger Institute, UK |
|
| Immunometabolic Interactions and PEM |
Christian Puta
Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany |
|
| Inflammatory signaling pathways revealed by cell-free RNA analysis |
Maureen Hanson
Cornell University, USA |
|
| Discussion | Chaired discussion amongst delegates | |
| Orthostatic intolerance and autonomic physiology |
Jos Bosch
Session chair: University of Amsterdam, Netherlands / EMERG |
|
| Cardiac aspects of orthostatic intolerance (provisional title) |
Linda van Campen
Cardio Care Foundation, Netherlands |
|
| Mechanisms underlying cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction, POTS and IST in long COVID and ME |
Artur Fedorowski
Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden |
|
| Orthostatic intolerance and its management- strategies for clinicians and researchers (provisional title) |
Peter Novak
Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, USA |
|
| Models extracting the sympathetic/parasympathetic tone (tbc) |
Mette Olufsen
North Carolina State University, USA |
|
| Assessment of Autonomic Nervous System Function in Patients with ME and Post-COVID-19 Syndrome Presenting with Recurrent Syncope : Neurocardiological approach |
Branislav Milovanović
Institute for cardiovascular diseases-Dedinje, Serbia / EMERG |
|
| Discussion | Chaired discussion amongst delegates | |
| Metabolism Body and Cell |
Rikke Olsen
Session chair: Aarhus University, Denmark / EMERG |
|
| Mitochondrial Dysfunction in ME: Insights from Metabolomics and Precision Medicine |
Chris Armstrong
University of Melbourne, Australia |
|
| Exertional Exhaustion (PEM) Evaluated by Effects of Exercise on Cerebrospinal Fluid Metabolomics–Lipidomics and Serine Pathway in ME |
James Baraniuk
Georgetown University Medical Centre, USA |
|
| Redox Signaling in Aging and Its Implications for ME/CFS and Long-COVID Research |
Helena Cochemé
MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences, UK |
|
| Metabolic Insights from Invasive Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing in ME |
David Systrom
Harvard Medical School, USA |
|
| Microvascular abnormalities in skeletal muscle |
Anouk Slaghekke
Free University Amsterdam, Netherlands |
|
| Discussion | Chaired discussion amongst delegates | |
| In vitro Models and Biomarker Discovery |
Simon Carding
Session chair: Quadram Institute, UK / EMERG |
|
| iPSC |
Elisa Oltra,
Catholic University of Valencia San Vicente Mártir, Spain / EMERG |
|
| Organs-on-chips |
Carding Group
Quadram Institute, UK |
|
| Organoids |
Tamas Korcsmaros
Imperial College London, UK |
|
| In silico models |
Dezső Modos
Imperial College London, UK |
|
| Biomarkers |
Jonas Bergquist
University of Uppsala, Sweden / EMERG |
|
| Discussion | Chaired discussion amongst delegates | |