In December 2024, 21 new ME/CFS research projects were announced in Germany, funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) – costing approximately 15 million Euros.
On the 27th January 2025, the German Centre of Cardiovascular Research (DZHK) provided more information about one of these projects – the 2.6 million euro “VADYS-ME” project, which aims to:
“better understand the causes and mechanisms of this debilitating disease and to develop new approaches for diagnosis and therapy.”
The project, led by Prof. Dr. Dr. med. Wolfram Döhner – a scientist at the Berlin Institute of Health (BIH) and the German Heart Center of the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, which is a partner of the German Center for Cardiovascular Research (DZHK) is investigating whether and how disturbances in the regulation of blood vessels and blood supply affect metabolism and thus the function of tissues and organs. Interestingly, the scientists hypothesise that this in turn could contribute to typical symptoms such as muscular weakness, generalized exhaustion and difficulty concentrating.
The project demonstrates much needed multidisciplinary collaboration in ME/CFS research by combining the expertise of five research teams from the Charité, including the Berlin Institute of Health (BCRT), the German Heart Center Berlin, the Charité’s Department of Neurology and the Experimental and Clinical Research Center (ECRC), as well as the Technical University of Munich. Importantly, those with lived experience of ME/CFS have been involved in the project from the start.
Prof. Dr. Dr. med. Wolfram Döhner, who leads the project, states:
“With VADYS-ME, we want to better understand the mechanisms of ME/CFS and look for new methods for reliable and rapid diagnosis and, in addition, open up possibilities for new treatments in order to ultimately improve the quality of life of patients.”
Notably, this follows an announcement that ZonMw in the Netherlands have awarded Assistant Professor Rob Wüst of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam — currently working on research funded by ME Research UK, a grant for his research project entitled, ‘From sick to sicker with exercise: deciphering the base of post-exertional malaise in post-COVID’. ZonMw is also funding four additional research projects involving Prof Wüst as a co-applicant.