Journal of IiME Volume 2 Issue 1 www.investinme.org PROFILES/PRESENTATIONS at the IiME INTERNATIONAL ME/CFS CONFERENCE Dr Judy Mikovits Dr. Mikovits obtained her Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from George Washington University. Dr. Mikovits served as a senior scientist at Biosource International, where she led the development of proteomic assays for the Luminex platform that is used extensively for cytokine activity assessment in therapy development. She also served as Chief Scientific Officer and VP Drug Discovery at Epigenx Biosciences, where she lead the development and commercialization of DNA methylation inhibitors for cancer therapy and of cell and array-based methylation assays for drug discovery and diagnostic development. She is Research Director at the Whittemore Peterson Nevada CFS centre for Neuro-Immune disorders and has co-authored over 40 peer reviewed publications that address fundamental issues of viral pathogenesis, hematopoiesis and cytokine biology. C Coonnffeerreennccee PPrreesseennttaatt iioonn H Hooww SSuubb GGrroouuppiinngg WWii ll ll AAff ffeecctt RReesseeaarrcchh SStt rraatteeggiieess:: TToowwaarrddss aa M Moolleeccuullaarr DDeeff iinnii tt iioonn ooff MMEE//CCFFSS J. A. Mikovits, PhD1, V.C. Lombardi, PhD1, D. L. Peterson, MD1 and F.W. Ruscetti, PhD2. 1Whittemore Peterson Institute, Reno, NV, USA 2Cancer Inflammation Program, National Cancer Institute (NCI), Frederick MD. USA Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) is a heterogeneous disease with unknown etiology. Previous studies have shown that viral specific immune responses and immune abnormalities play critical roles in the pathogenesis of ME/CFS. The central problem in the management of patients with CFS is the lack of biomarkers for patient stratification into subgroups according to distinct immune responses, virus infections and neurological abnormalities. This situation hinders both the diagnostic process and development of specific treatments. The overall goal of our current research program is to define viral and host parameters that correlate with distinct disease phenotypes. We have taken advantage of the latest technologies, which allow for multiplex analysis from a single sample to better define a cohort with molecular signatures of immune response and correlate those signatures with virus infections using a custom pan viral DNA microarray. We used our clinically well defined cohort for serum cytokine and chemokine profiling using a bead based suspension ELISA for 25 cytokines and chemokines on a Luminex platform in 90 patients and 120 healthy controls; pan custom viral expression microarrays in 40 patients done at two different time points; profiling of innate immune defects including RNase L function and cytotoxic subset profiling as well as correlating microbial induced gastrointestinal inflammation chronic immune activation. Data will be also be presented on a subgroup of patients who developed a defect in functional T cell subsets characterized by a clonal rearrangement of the T-cell receptor gamma (TCRg). These patients form a distinct subgroup that is characterized by a significantly increased incidence of the development of Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma (NHL). Additional links for Dr Mikovits: • http://lib.bioinfo.pl/auth:Mikovits,J Invest in ME (Charity Nr 1114035) Page 18
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