A recording of the ‘PolyBio Spring 2025 Symposium’, which took place on the 16th May 2025, has been made available on YouTube.
Speakers include the President and Research Director of the PolyBio Research Foundation, Dr Amy Proal, who is currently working on research funded by ME Research UK with the financial support of the Gordon Parish Charitable Trust.
In an introductory talk (from 00:00-10:35), Dr Proal highlights that one of the central drivers of the appearance of large numbers of people with diseases – such as multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, and ME/CFS – which are characterised by their prolonged duration is thought to be “chronic infections acquired across the course of a lifetime”.
These infections – including viruses, bacteria, and fungi – then go on to “compromise our immune systems, hijack our mitochondria, and directly hack the activity of our human genes”.
Talks during the symposium aim to update the viewers on the work of the PolyBio Research Foundation – Importantly, Dr Proal draws attention to the chronic underfunding of research into illnesses which occur after an acute infection.
