At the close of the Big Give’s Christmas Challenge 2023 we had, thanks to our Pledgers, donors and Charity Champion – the Reed Foundation – raised over £30,000. A fantastic total which ME Research UK is both proud of and grateful for. All monies raised were promised to be invested in ME research and we have delivered.
ME Research UK can confirm that the proceeds of the Big Give Christmas Challenge 2023 were used to provide a second project grant to Prof. Leighton Barnden and his team (Dr Kiran Thapaliya , Dr Natalie Eaton-Fitch and Professor Sonya Marshall-Gradisnik) to build upon their earlier work at Griffith University, Australia. Their earlier studies – hailed as a ‘world-first’ in Australian media – looked at brain abnormalities in people with ME/CFS and long COVID. Many of the symptoms experienced by people with ME/CFS – including problems with concentration, memory, vision and heart-rate control – suggest abnormalities in the brain and nervous system. The researchers uncovered a number of findings which throw more light on these abnormalities, including brainstem volume changes in ME/CFS and long COVID (which correlated with measures of pain and breathing difficulty), as well as impaired functional connectivity between specific brain regions in ME/CFS, and during cognitive exertion in long COVID.
The new 3-year study, for which Big Give funds were used, utilises the same 7-Tesla MRI technology to investigate brain changes and disease progression of ME/CFS patients. Big Give funds enabled ME Research UK to empower the researchers to build on previous research – a facility which is rare in ME research.
The study using the 7T MRI will be one of the first to identify the most affected brain regions at different points in time… This will determine whether the brain changes in ME/CFS are progressive or stable over time, understanding how ME/CFS affects various brain regions, and identifying some of the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms.
Professor Sonya Marshall-Gradisnik Griffiths News
The Big Give Christmas Challenge 2024 is now open and Pledges being collected, and once more all funds raised will be dedicated to deepen our research work globally. The Pledge deadline is 5 p.m. on 30 August 2024.
