Journal of IiME Volume 8 Issue 1 The need to assess the frequency and severity of each of the symptom sets is an important step forward and will hopefully improve the diagnostic certainty for primary and secondary care physicians. The Sutton CFS/ME service has used a diagnostic scoring system for the last 6 years which has been found easy to use and reliable. This will be discussed in the broader context of the various diagnostic CFS/ME criteria and certain unusual clinical findings noted by this service. Dr Saul Berkowitz Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine, London, UK Dr Berkowitz is one of two full-time consultants at the Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine. He graduated from Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge in 1989, and from Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School in 1993. He was the first doctor in the UK to complete a joint training program in both orthodox and complementary medicine, and have recognised postgraduate qualifications in Alllergy, Western herbal medicine (phytotherapy), acupuncture and homeopathy. Dr Berkowitz treats patients with a wide range of mostly chronic medical problems. May 2014 Dr Julian Blanco Leader of the Irsi Caixa Research Institute's Cell Virology and Immunology Research Group, Barcelona, Spain The IrsiCaixa Institute for AIDS Research IRSI Caixa works alongside the most prestigious international research centres, and its publications are among those with the most impact in their field. Dr Blanco has vast experience in HIV related research but has also been involved in ME/CFS research as in 2013 his group published the paper , Screening NK-, B- and T-cell phenotype and function in patients suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Curriu et al. Journal of Translational Medicine 2013, 11:68. #IIMEC9 Abstract: External View of ME Research Strategy When ME/CFS knocked the door of biomedical research, most teams were already working in other life threatening diseases, and little attention was paid to this disease. Reversing this situation to take advantage of the massive work and exceptional advances that biomedical research has made in the last decade, should be a major goal. The advances in the clinical definition of ME, the undeniable data on the prevalence of the disease are major players contributing to push ME towards the frontline of biomedical research. What will ME/CFS find in the current research landscape? Most of diseases can now be approached from a completely different scientific perspective that could be approached ten years ago. New technologies and new analysis tools generating and managing million of data are now available. This information will inform us on the genetic basis of the disease and the implication of intestinal microbiota or the immune system in its pathophysiology. However all this powerful arsenal of technology will be useless in the absence of a proper choice of patients. Clinical efforts in diagnosis and in the definition of clinical trials will be therefore determinant to achieve the final goal. Invest in ME (Charity Nr. 1114035) www.investinme.org Page 48 of 52
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