Cornell collaborative center for ME/CFS
Cornell ME/CFS Collaborative Research Center
Using blood and muscle samples taken before and after brief exercise, researchers aim to find biological signs of ME/CFS for people with long-lasting fatigue.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Cornell University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Ithaca, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11381174 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
You would be asked to give blood and, in some cases, a small muscle sample and to do brief exercise tests before and after samples are taken. The team will use cutting-edge single-cell and multi-omic methods to study cells, gene activity, and cell-to-cell communication in muscle and blood, and will analyze RNA and protein cargo inside tiny particles called extracellular vesicles. They will compare your samples to those from people without ME/CFS to look for objective signs linked to symptom flare-ups. The goal is to discover biomarkers that could help with diagnosis and point toward new treatment targets.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Adults with a clinical diagnosis of ME/CFS who can provide blood and possibly a muscle sample and are able to undergo brief exercise testing are ideal candidates.
Not a fit: People without ME/CFS or those unable to tolerate exercise tests or invasive sampling (such as muscle biopsy) are unlikely to directly benefit from participation.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could lead to objective tests to help diagnose ME/CFS and identify targets for new treatments.
How similar studies have performed: Previous studies have found immune and metabolic differences in ME/CFS, but applying single-cell multi-omics and extracellular vesicle profiling to exercise-provoked samples is relatively new and has not yet produced definitive diagnostic tests.
Where this research is happening
Ithaca, United States
- Cornell University — Ithaca, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Hanson, Maureen Rebecca — Cornell University
- Study coordinator: Hanson, Maureen Rebecca
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.