NSU Horizons Spring 2012

Nancy Klimas, M.D., one of the world’s leading researchers and clinicians in chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encepahalomyelitis (CFS/ME), has joined NSU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine. An expert in immune disorders, Klimas is establishing the NSU College of Osteo- pathic Medicine’s Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine, to be located on NSU’s main campus. The new institute will conduct cutting-edge research and treat patients suffering from CFS/ME, a debilitating immune disorder that affects more than 1 million Americans, and Gulf War Illness (GWI), a medical condition that affects veterans and civilians who were exposed to a number of triggers, including chemical weapons during the 1991 Gulf War. The Institute for Neuro- Immune Medicine will integrate research, training, and clinical care to advance the needs of patients suffering from CFS/ ME and GWI. The facility will act as both a think tank and a working institute for research, as well as training new clini- cians and providing diagnostic and therapeutic clinical care. “The Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine, strategically placed at NSU, will bring together great minds in the eld of neuro-immune disorders under one umbrella,” Klimas said. Klimas is the director of the Chronic Fatigue Center in Miami, one of the few centers of its kind in the nation. It will become a part of the NSU clinical health care system under the auspices of the Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine. Klimas also is the director of research for the Clinical AIDS/HIV research program and Gulf War Illness research program at the Miami Veterans Affairs Medical Center. She is a leading national researcher on Gulf War Illness, whose symptoms include musculoskel- etal pain, fatigue, skin rashes, and cognitive problems. “Nancy Klimas will help elevate NSU’s medical research to a new level and create oppor- tunities for internal and external collaboration on a global basis to nd cures for CFS/ME and other complex diseases,” said Gary Margules, Sc.D., NSU’s vice president for research and technology transfer. Klimas currently serves as a senior member of the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Advisory Committee, a role in which she provides advice and recommen- dations to the U.S. secretary of health and human services, currently Kathleen Sebelius. Klimas also has served two terms as president of the International Association for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and sits on numerous boards and advisory groups. Klimas, who is joining NSU from the University of Miami, was the principal investigator of the National Institutes of Health’s Center for Multidisci- plinary Studies of CFS Pathophysiology at the University of Miami and is currently funded to use genomics to better understand the cause of persistent illness in both CFS/ME and GWI. She plans to expand this work through the new NSU Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine. ACADEMIC NOTES Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Researcher Joins NSU Nancy Klimas, M.D., is establishing the College of Osteopathic Medicine’s Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine at NSU. 23 HORIZONS