ME Research UK would like to extend huge congratulations to Dr Gemma Samms, who has now successfully completed her ME Research UK funded PhD-level research at the University of Edinburgh, under the supervision of Prof. Chris Ponting. Gemma’s thesis is now published in the Edinburgh Research Archive (under embargo until 28/10/27).
Gemma has done a fantastic job and contributed significantly to the research field, including a paper, published in 2025 alongside Prof. Ponting, which updated prevalence estimate for ME/CFS in the UK, and highlighted the unequal access to ME/CFS diagnosis in England. Importantly, this paper is now cited by NICE in their information on ME/CFS:
“A more recent study of hospital episode statistics (HES) data collected during hospital admission and outpatient appointments of patients in England registered with a GP found [Samms, 2025]: …….the lifetime prevalence of ME/CFS for women and men was estimated at 0.92% and 0.25%, respectively, with an estimated 404,000 people in the UK overall affected by ME/CFS” – NICE 2025
In 2026, Dr Samms was also included in the ‘300 faces of Edinburgh Medical School”, which is a campaign to “honour and reflect the people who have shaped the 300-year history” of the medical school and to “highlight those who are powerful advocates for the future of medicine at Edinburgh.”
More recently, Gemma has presented her work to the Staff and Trustees of ME Research UK. In this presentation, Gemma thanked the Trustees for supporting her research and highlighted the difference the funding from ME Research UK has made, not only to the research field, but also to her academic career.
ME Research UK would also like to wish Gemma luck as she takes her next steps in research.
