Journal of IiMER May 2025 and immune dysregulation. Professor Bergquist is also a member of the European ME Research Group (EMERG), which was established to develop coordinated biomedical research across Europe. In addition to his research activities, Professor Bergquist contributes to several collaborative initiatives, including the ME/CFS Common Data Element Project. His work supports efforts to develop objective diagnostic tools and improve understanding of ME/CFS pathophysiology, with the goal of facilitating better patient stratification and targeted treatment approaches. Professor Bergquist will discuss the latest advances in proteomic and metabolomic biomarker discovery for ME/CFS, aiming to improve diagnosis, disease monitoring, and understanding of disease mechanisms. Wenzhong Xiao, Harvard Medical School, USA IIMEC17: Patient-Reported Treatment Outcomes in ME/CFS and Long COVID Wenzhong Xiao, PhD, is Director of the Immuno-Metabolic Computational Center at Massachusetts General Hospital and Assistant Professor of Surgery (Bioinformatics) at Harvard Medical School. He also leads a Computational Genomics Group at Stanford Genome Technology Center, with a research career spanning computational genomics, bioinformatics, and the integrative analysis of complex molecular and clinical datasets relevant to immune and metabolic diseases, including ME/CFS and Long COVID. Dr Xiao holds a PhD in chemistry and structural biology from the University of California, Berkeley, and a master’s degree in statistics. His academic background is complemented by postdoctoral training in computational genomics at Stanford University School of Medicine5. He has played a pivotal role in developing data-driven approaches to interpret large-scale patient data, aiming to uncover disease mechanisms, identify diagnostic and predictive biomarkers, and inform the development of targeted therapies. A significant aspect of Dr Xiao’s work involves the application of advanced computational tools to analyse diverse data types, such as electronic health records, genomic sequencing, proteomics, and patient-reported outcomes. He has contributed to landmark studies, including the Severely Ill Patient Study, and has been instrumental in collaborative efforts that bridge research centres and patient communities, reflecting a spirit of partnership that aligns with Invest in ME Research’s ethos. At the Invest in ME Research Conference, Dr Xiao will present on “Patient-Reported Treatment Outcomes in ME/CFS and Long COVID”. His talk will explore findings from a large-scale survey involving thousands of patients, examining symptom profiles, comorbidities, and the effectiveness of over 150 treatments. The research highlights the value of patient-reported data in understanding real-world treatment responses, identifying patient subgroups, and guiding the design of future clinical trials. Dr Xiao’s expertise in computational analysis ensures that these complex datasets are translated into actionable insights, supporting the pursuit of improved diagnostics and personalised care for people with ME/CFS and Long COVID. Invest in ME Research Page 36 of 43
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