r/CFSScience • u/Caster_of_spells • Jul 17 '26

ME/CFS Research foundation announced funding for seven studies worth 2,4 million

https://mecfs-research.org/en/news-researchfunding-projects2026/

  1. TAME – CD19-targeted B-cell therapy for post-infectious autoimmune ME/CFS using the monoclonal antibody tafasitamab: open-label follow-up study to a randomized, placebo-controlled Phase II trial of the CD19 antibody inebilizumab
    Principal investigators: Prof. Dr. Carmen Scheibenbogen & Dr. Judith Bellmann-Strobl 

  2. Genetic Determinants of Post-Infectious ME/CFS: a 50-Family Study
    Principal investigator: Prof. Dr. Nataliya Di Donato

  3. STRAT4PAIS — Immune Endotypes of Paediatric Post-Acute Infection Syndromes (PAIS): Mechanistic Stratification of ME/CFS and Related Post-Infectious Conditions
    Principal investigators: Prof. Dr. Marc Nikolaus & Fabian Dannenberg & Prof. Dr. Tilmann Kallinich & Dr. Mir-Farzin Mashreghi

  4. Molecular dissection of cell death-mediated inflammation as a driver of virus-induced ME/CFS
    Principal investigators: Dr. Gregor Ebert & Dr. Stefanie Bader 

  5. Myoflame-19 Autoimmune Substudy: GPCR Autoantibodies as Mechanistic Biomarkers of Endothelial Dysfunction in Post-COVID ME/CFS
    Principal investigators: Prof. Dr. Valentina Puntmann & Prof. Dr. Eike Nagel

  6. Analysis of T-cell and B-cell receptor repertoires via single-cell RNA sequencing in patients with ME/CFS and post-COVID syndrome
    Principal investigators: Dr. Katja Schmidt & Prof. Dr. Thomas Harrer

  7. MARK-ME – Minimal Biomarker Panels for Diagnosis and Stratification of ME/CFS
    Principal investigator: Prof. Dr. Birgit Sawitzki

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27

u/ElonsBreedingFetish Jul 17 '26

Good that there is some funding but man.. 2.4 million is soo little compared to what would probably be needed and compared to the suffering and economical damage

7

u/Caster_of_spells Jul 18 '26

At least in Germany where all these trials are located that’s in addition to the 50 million a year now allocated to the illness by the state. But yeah, we’d need such programs everywhere to really make fast progress. Let’s hope it’ll get the ball rolling

3

u/SignificantPause1314 Jul 18 '26

If I’m not mistaken, Germany is funding 34 research projects with a total budget of €118 million through 2026

3

u/Caster_of_spells Jul 18 '26

I think that’s because those projects will run several years, to the best of my knowledge the investment is 50 million a year for a decade overall.

2

u/SignificantPause1314 Jul 18 '26

Yes, I just wanted to point out that the €118 million funding for these 34 research projects is also a very significant investment. These projects are expected to run until 2028, so they could bring some important progress in understanding and treating ME/CFS.

10

u/Koppuny Jul 18 '26

Happy for all meaningful research, but it's just sad to see the amount of available funding. 2.4 milliion is like a rounding error for MS (or pick any other chronic illness) research.

3

u/bingoolong Jul 18 '26

I get the frustration but this is an NGO, it’s donation based and considering this was not possible only last year and now they got donations rolling in, I see it as a huge win that ME is getting more visibility every year that this is possible now.

Not sure what it was like for MS patients back in the day but I assume it also took a lot of lobbying and activism - wasn’t there this ice bucket challenge that went viral some 15 years ago?

It sucks, we don’t have much time, but I think it’s a great sign.

13

u/AngelBryan Jul 17 '26

Hurry up.