Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME / CFS) Post Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome (PTLDS), Fibromyalgia Leading Research. Delivering Hope.Open Medicine Foundation® Canada

Driving research of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME / CFS),
Post Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome (PTLDS), Fibromyalgia and Long COVID.

Remembering Ron & 2021 Year in Review

Thank you for being a part of our Open Medicine Foundation Canada family. As we reflect on the achievements of the past year, I would like to honor the memory of Ronald Tompkins, MD, ScD, OMF’s beloved Chief Medical Officer and Director of the Harvard Collaborative, who helped make so many of these accomplishments possible over the years. 

With heavy hearts, we announced the news of Ron Tompkins’s sudden and unexpected passing on January 17th, 2022. I join Ron’s family, friends, all who knew Ron, in being deeply heartbroken by this tragedy.

Ron was not only a wonderful, caring friend and colleague with whom I shared endless hours brainstorming ideas, but he was a leader, a mentor, and a brilliant physician, scientist, and entrepreneur. He had a genuine passion and mission to help as many people as possible. I cannot begin to express how much he will be missed.

I met Ron Tompkins when Ron Davis asked him to join our OMF Scientific Advisory Board in 2014. He joined with his whole heart and we became instant friends.

We vow to continue Ron’s legacy at OMF in all we do and at the newly named Ronald G. Tompkins ME/CFS Research Collaboration. In his honor, we will continue to help as many people as possible and help find treatments for millions suffering from these multisystem chronic complex diseases (msCCD), including ME/CFS, and now Long COVID.

Through this difficult time, I sincerely thank you for being part of our mission to improve the lives of millions living with these debilitating diseases; a cause so close to Ron’s heart. I also want to thank the patient-participants. Without you, there would be no research. And thank you to all the dedicated researchers, OMF staff, volunteers, and board members that help us get closer to our vision every day.

 

With hope for all,

Linda Tannenbaum
Founder & CEO/President

Remembering Ron:
A Champion of ME/CFS Research, and Friend to All

A Year of Powerful Research Progress 🔬

OMF funded ME/CFS Collaborative Research Center Updates of 2021

Thanks to our supporters, we helped advance groundbreaking research in 2021 at the six OMF funded Collaborative Research Centers across the globe.

We Established a Sixth Research Center!

As part of our mission to fund and facilitate urgent, open, and collaborative research, in 2021 OMF added a sixth center to our international OMF Collaborative Research Network to accelerate computational analysis. 

Under the direction of Wenzhong Xiao, PhD, the newly established Computational Research Center for Complex Diseases analyzes and provides critical information and insights into projects being conducted at the other five OMF funded research centers at Stanford, Harvard, Uppsala, Montreal, and Melbourne.

Hosted a Virtual Open House for the Community

In May 2021, OMF hosted a virtual event to update our OMF funded Collaborative Research Centers. Our “Virtual Open House” was a success, with thousands tuning in to hear the latest updates from the six Directors. 

Watch it now on YouTube.

 

Funded groundbreaking new studies

Over 25 OMF funded research projects are currently underway! In 2021 alone, we funded thirteen new projects, including:

  • Neuroinflammation Study into “Brain Fog”
  • Viral Risk Factors in ME/CFS
  • Identification of switches/traps in ME/CFS nitrogen metabolism
  • Sleep Disturbances in ME/CFS
  • Computational Analysis for CRC Studies 
  • pRecision mEdicine for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis Drug dIscovery and clinicAl triaLs (REMEDIAL)
  • Continued Development of the Personalized Automated Symptom Summary Computerized Adaptive Test (PASS-CAT) 
  • Analysis of Proteomics, Metabolomics, and Nitrogen Assays of Cerebrospinal Fluid and Whole Blood samples, in ME/CFS Patients
  • Development of a New Microfluidic Diagnostic Device for ME/CFS
  • Study of COVID- 19 survivors’ Profiles for detection of M.E.
  • Deep proteome and Metabolome profiling to decode M.E.
  • Identifying Objective Behavioral Markers of Deficit in Patients with ME/CFS via Ocular Motor Study
  • Identifying Disease Development Pathways and Exacerbating Factors


To learn more about some of these major research initiatives taking place across the six OMF funded Research Centers, please visit 
The End ME/CFS Project Webpage.


Awards, News Features, & Community in Action 

Open Medicine Foundation is proud to have received the following accolades: 


 

 

New Tool to Educate your Personal Community

In September of 2021, OMFCA unveiled our Social Shareables web portal, a new tool to help you educate your personal communities about ME/CFS and related multisystem chronic, complex diseases (msCCD).

The Social Shareables page can be used to download educational graphics and sample text posts about ME/CFS, Fibromyalgia, Long COVID, and Chronic Lyme Disease. You can share these posts directly on social media to raise awareness.  


Thank you for being a part of the OMF Canada family! If you are able, please consider contributing to our groundbreaking research efforts in 2022 so that we can finally find answers for millions suffering from ME/CFS and related chronic, complex diseases.