Bond University receive $800,000 for research to identify cause and treatment of ME/CFS

Bond University, 08 December 2011: Mason award landmark grant for CFS research

08 December 2011
Researchers at Bond University have received a landmark grant of over $800,000 to continue their ground-breaking research into identifying the cause and possible treatment of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS).

In what is the largest-ever collaborative international CFS project, Bond’s Public Health and Neuroimmunology Unit (PHANU), in partnership with Queensland Health, Stanford University and Incline Village Medical Centre in Nevada, will receive a total of $831,037 over the next four years from the Judith Jane Mason & Harold Stannett Williams Memorial Foundation (the Mason Foundation).

The funding will allow chief investigators Associate Professor Sonya Marshall-Gradisnik from Bond University and Dr Donald Staines from Queensland Health – to significantly advance their works towards identifying the cause and developing a treatment for the debilitating condition which affects a conservative estimate of 250,000 Australians.

<__?

Bond University’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Robert Stable said this was one of the largest nationally competitive grants that the University had received.

“This is a fantastic achievement for Bond and demonstrated the credibility and momentum of the CFS research platform at Bond in the highly contested area of biomedical and clinical research.

“I applaud Dr Marshall-Gradisnik and her team for their recent success and their dedication,” said Professor Stable.

Funded by a series of grants from the Mason Foundation, the Ramicotti Foundation, the Alison Hunter Memorial Foundation and a Queensland Smart State Grant, their research has focussed on abnormalities in the blood profiles of CFS sufferers and identifying the biomarkers responsible.

“Essentially, we’re looking at the pathology in order to gain insight into the pathway of how CFS develops,” said Dr Marshall-Gradisnik.

“Recent independent research from Norway has found that it may stem from an abnormal immunological system which is very much in line with the research we have been conducting at Bond and indicates that we are on the right track.

“This latest grant from the Mason Foundation will allow us to significantly progress our work by conducting a pilot study which could then lead to a drug trial.

“Ultimately our aim is to develop a clear diagnostic test for CFS and establish a national testing facility here at Bond University, which we believe could happen within the next five years.”

Read more>>