JOURNAL OF IIMER May 2026 protein persistence and sustained immune dysregulation have been documented - have added new impetus to this work and new frameworks through which to interpret it. The session is moderated by Dr Friðbjörn Sigurðsson, Akureyri Hospital, Iceland / EMERG and a leading figure in ME clinical services in Iceland. He was instrumental in founding the Akureyri Clinic - a nationally designated specialist service for ME and long COVID patients opened in 2024 - and has long championed awareness of the 1948-49 Akureyri Disease epidemic, one of the earliest and best-documented outbreaks of what would later be recognised as ME. Fernando Real of the Institut Pasteur de Lille will present on viral persistence in tissue reservoirs and myeloid reprogramming. His work examines how macrophages and other myeloid cells can act as long-term hosts for persistent intracellular pathogens, and what this means for understanding chronic infection in ME. Professor Greg Towers of Queen Mary University of London brings a molecular virology perspective. His research on host-virus interactions - including innate immune responses to HIV and SARS-CoV-2 - informs his BRMEC15 presentation on inflammatory responses to viral infection and how they might drive post-viral syndromes. Professor Maureen Hanson of Cornell University has been one of the most productive ME researchers of the past two decades, with work spanning the microbiome, immune cell gene expression and exercise challenge studies. At BRMEC15 she will present on the search for chronic infection in ME. Professor Nancy Klimas of Nova Southeastern University is one of the world's foremost clinician-researchers in ME and long COVID. Her landmark immunological work includes establishing natural killer cell dysfunction as a feature of ME. At BRMEC15 she will present on spike protein antigen persistence and long COVID from a monoclonal antibody perspective - work that speaks directly to the question of what sustains illness following acute infection. Professor Branislav Milovanović of the Institute for Cardiovascular Diseases Dedinje, Belgrade, and a member of EMERG, will present findings on intracellular infection with coxiella burnetii and bartonella in ME patients, and the relationship between these infections and dysautonomia - connecting the chronic infection hypothesis directly to one of ME's most consistent c linical features Invest in ME Research Page 25 of 35
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