New funding award: Immune exhaustion in ME/CFS
ME Research UK is delighted to have awarded funding to Dr Andrea Polli and Prof. Lode Godderis at Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium for a project investigating immune exhaustion in ME/CFS.
Together with PhD student Yanthe Buntinx, the team will explore whether the immune system in people with ME/CFS is exhausted by prolonged activation or whether it is inherently weaker and more vulnerable. A better understanding of immune changes in ME/CFS could guide the development of immunotherapies, an approach which has revolutionised treatment in other diseases such as cancer.
International Women’s Day 2026
For International Women’s Day on the 8th of March, ME Research UK highlighted the latest research relating to reproductive hormones and ME/CFS.
We also took the opportunity to write about delays in research due to systemic prejudice against women in healthcare that leads to their concerns being dismissed or minimised.
Articles
Sodium-potassium pump and ME/CFS
Researchers propose that a dysfunctional sodium-potassium pump could represent a central mechanism underlying muscle symptoms, such as weakness and fasciculations (twitches), in severe ME/CFS. Last year, journalist Gez Medinger conducted an interview with Prof. Dr. Klaus Wirth discussing potential drug development sprouting from this theory.
Subtypes of PEM
The complexity of post-exertional malaise (PEM), the cardinal symptom of ME/CFS, makes it hard for individuals to gauge overexertion and manage their symptoms, and for researchers to accurately capture or assess it in studies. To try and obtain a better understanding, a group of researchers, including Professor Leonard Jason, considered whether there might be distinct subtypes of PEM.
Other topics explored in March include Long COVID Awareness Day 2026, experiences of severe ME, the influence of trigger type on ME/CFS pathophysiology, intersectionality in ME/CFS healthcare and related knowledge spaces, and Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) and ME/CFS.
Thank you to our marathon runners!
We would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to our incredible supporters who are taking on major running challenges this April in aid of ME Research UK. Your dedication, determination, and generosity mean so much to us and to everyone who lives with ME/CFS.
A huge good luck and thank you to Joe Welton, Kellie Farmer, Chloe Tribe, Molly Davies, Florence Law, Connie and Rosey, Lucas Heyburn-Sheerin, Rosie Hoggmascall, and Phil Wakefield, who will be representing us at the London Marathon, Brighton Marathon, Manchester Marathon, and the London Landmarks Half Marathon.
You are helping to drive vital research forward, bringing hope to those living with ME. We are so grateful for your support and will be cheering you on every step of the way!
Help us make the breakthrough
We know that, as a subscriber to our newsletter and someone who is interested in our work, you join us in the belief that only robust scientific research is the key to understanding ME/CFS.
Donations from our valued supporters are vital if we are to continue our work to inform, influence and invest in ME/CFS research globally.
