Journal of IiMER June 2024 assessments of cognitive function and physical activity levels and an online clinical trial management platform. A Centre of Excellence for ME Already functioning with world class research, facilities, projects and international collaboration, university and university hospital, collaborations with other groups and local clinic for people with ME. The place to invest. Invest in ME Research asked MPs to consider the following document for last year's' APPG for ME November meeting (which Invest in ME Research are not allowed to attend). We felt that MPs should be made aware of developments and status at the centre in Norwich Research Park rather than the sanitised input they receive. We also updated the Executive Summary for MPs regarding our Centre of Excellence for ME. All available on our web site at investinme.org/centre PhD students introduced to research The charity has funded five PhDs to perform research into ME - including the first crowd-funded PhD for ME - another first. The latest PhD project is with Rik Haagmans, whose research project focuses on the relationship between gut viruses and ME. During the project Rik will be working on the RESTORE-ME clinical trial and look at virology and gut viruses, a field that has gained a lot of public attention in the past years with the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2. While one normally is able to recover from most viral infections, recovery from an infection does not always mean a rapid and full return to health. For example, many COVID-19 patients suffer for a long time after the initial infection from what is sometimes called “Long COVID”. This is something that many ME patients are familiar with. Leading up to the development of ME, many patients experience a viral infection. Various viruses are associated with ME and some of these viruses are also associated with gastrointestinal diseases and dysbiosis. Invest in ME Research This suggests that, at least in a subgroup of ME patients, gut viruses could play an important role. To investigate this, Rik has aimed to: Identify viruses in faecal samples DNA through sequencing technologies Define the collection of viruses in the gut of ME patients Determine if ME patients have unique viruses in their gut Determine whether FMT leads to a change in gut viruses and how this relates to improvement of symptoms This has involved preparing experiments that allow us to optimise this process and ensure we can obtain high quality data. Underlying this is the aim to gain valuable information about the mechanism underlying ME and the role of gut viruses in human health. Page 6 of 32
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