JOURNAL OF IIMER May 2026 Advancing ME Research The Fellowships at Norwich Research Park Invest in ME Research, in partnership with the Quadram Institute, has established two postdoctoral fellowships at Norwich Research Park - the Ian Gibson Fellowship and the LunaNova Fellowship - both dedicated to advancing biomedical research into myalgic encephalomyelitis. The Ian Gibson Fellowship, launched in 2022 and named in honour of the late Dr Ian Gibson - scientist, politician and tireless advocate for people with ME - was the first postdoctoral fellowship in the UK dedicated solely to ME research. Held by Dr Katharine Seton, it continues her career in ME research at the Quadram Institute, building on her PhD funded by Invest in ME Research and the University of East Anglia. Dr Seton's research focuses on determining the contribution of the intestinal microbiome to oxidative stress in ME patients, and whether this drives alterations in immune function that accelerate premature immune ageing. She is also investigating the impact of microbiota replacement therapy on intestinal and systemic oxidative stress in ME patients - the first study to directly assess this relationship - with the aim of identifying whether targeting the gut microbiome can restore immune function and alleviate symptoms. The LunaNova Fellowship, funded by technology company LunaNova and introduced in 2023, is held by Dr Krishani Perera, who joined Professor Simon Carding's laboratory at the Quadram Institute of Bioscience in July 2024. Her two-year fellowship centres on the gut-immune-brain axis and the search for biomarkers, with strong links to the European ME Research Group and international partners. Dr Perera's research investigates whether the reactivation of human endogenous retroviruses - genes embedded within our genome that are ordinarily kept inactive - may drive accelerated ageing of immune cells in ME patients. Her work seeks to establish whether HERV reactivation plays a causal role in immune dysfunction. She is also contributing to the RESTORE-ME clinical trial, a phase IIb placebo-controlled study investigating microbiota replacement therapy, and to the COMPASS ME Study, which analyses microbial communities - viruses, bacteria, and fungi - in the mucus of people with ME. Both fellowships sit at the heart of the strategy to develop the UK Centre of Excellence for ME at Norwich Research Park, supporting ongoing clinical trials and PhD studentships, and building the sustained research capacity that this seriously under-resourced condition demands. With revised estimates now placing the number of people with ME in the UK at over 400,000 - a figure that continues to grow in the wake of the Covid pandemic - the urgency of this work has never been clearer. Invest in ME Research Page 6 of 35
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