Page 20 - COM Outlook - Spring 2013

20 COM Outlook . Spring 2013
By Debra R. Gibbs, B.A., Medical Communications Coordinator
research will provide answers that will help scientists develop new
pharmaceutical medications to treat these illnesses.
Leading this innovative team is Nancy Klimas, M.D., who has
achieved international recognition for her research and clinical efforts
in complex medical disorders that are the focus of the institute. She is
a highly regarded authority who has served as a past president of the
International Association for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Myalgic
Encephalopathy (IACFS/ME)—a professional organization of clini-
cians and investigators—and a member of the Department of Health
and Human Services CFS Advisory Committee.
“The Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine, strategically placed at
NSU-COM, brings together great minds in the field of neuro-immune
disorders under one umbrella,” Dr. Klimas said. “It will be a place to
coordinate cutting-edge thinking and research, train new practitioners,
and offer the highest quality clinical care for a hugely underserved
population. I am thrilled to partner with NSU-COM in this giant step
forward in the field of CFS/ME care and research.”
n February, NSU-COM held a grand opening ceremony for its
Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine. Celebrants gathered to
salute the first-of-its-kind facility that will treat patients with conditions
such as chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/
ME) and Gulf War Illness (GWI), as well as conduct basic and clinical
research under one roof in this field.
The institute is the only one in the nation to study neuroinflam-
matory and neurodegenerative disorders that include CFS/ME,
GWI, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, and other illnesses
using the newest genomic techniques. By studying individual genes
and what they code for, the institute’s scientists will better under-
stand the symptoms and causes, as well as point to new ways to
treat these complex disorders.
The idea is to challenge the patient with something such as
exercise and measure which genes turn on or off to better understand
the cause of relapse and the persistence of illness. The analysis
seeks points of intervention to treat the patient. This important basic
Institute for Neuro-Immune
Medicine Aims to Ease Suffering
I