Center for Infection and Immunity

Our History

  • 1999

    Immunological Disturbances

    While assessing if Borna disease virus (BDV) was a causative agent for ME/CFS, a study of Swedish CFS patients revealed that immunoreactivity was not restricted to BDV proteins, but rather also observed with the irrelevant control protein β-galactosidase. This meant ME/CFS has a biological basis.

  • 2010

    Conflicted Findings in Infectious Cause for ME/CFS

    In 2009, Science and PNAS both published findings demonstrating XMRV as the causative agent for ME/CFS. After multiple federal-level laboratories could not accurately replicate the reported results, Lipkin is recruited by NIH to develop a multicenter study using blinded samples and varied methods of analyses to confirm or refute XMRV’s role in ME/CFS.

  • 2011

    XMRV Investigation

    The Science and PNAS XMRV papers were fully retracted as the multicenter blinded study supervised by Lipkin was underway. While there was concern the study was not the best investment of resources, it proved critical for future research.

  • 2012

    XMRV Not Associated with ME/CFS

    The CII held a press conference to explain the findings of the NIH study delinking XMRV as a causative agent for ME/CFS.

  • 2015

    Biological Proof of ME/CFS

    Identification of distinct immune changes in ME/CFS patients represents the first robust physical evidence ME/CFS is a biological illness and that it has distinct stages.

  • 2016

    Cerebrospinal Fluid and ME/CFS

    A study of ME/CFS, MS, and control samples showed a markedly disturbed immune signature in the cerebrospinal fluid of cases that is consistent with immune activation in the central nervous system, and a shift toward an allergic or T helper type-2 pattern associated with autoimmunity.

  • 2017

    Biological Impact of ME/CFS

    Studies conclude gut bacteria and the body’s microbiome as well as the body’s response to inflammation have an impact in ME/CFS.

  • 2017

    Center for Solutions for ME/CFS

    The NIH funded a 5-year, $9.6 million award for interdisciplinary, inter-institutional research group dedicated to understanding the biology of the disease in order to develop effective means to diagnose, treat, and prevent it.

  • 2018

    Metabolomic and Microbiome Studies

    Metabolomic analysis uncovers altered levels of metabolites, that suggest mitochondria dysfunction. It also confirms earlier findings of a distinct pattern of metabolites in ME/CFS patients and irritable bowel syndrome.

  • 2019

    Impact of Activity and ME/CFS

    Initial analysis of the exercise tolerance test from the CfS for ME/CFS demonstrated impairment of cellular energy generation from oxygen, sugars, lipids, and amino acids.

  • 2020

    Plasma Proteome Analysis

    Findings in this CII study were consistent with a significant association of ME/CFS with immune dysregulation and highlight the potential use of plasma proteome as a source of biomarkers for disease. This was independently confirmed the following year by a Japanese research group.

  • 2021

    Similarities Between ME/CFS and Long COVID

    As the COVID-19 pandemic continued and long COVID began to emerge, researchers began to see overlap with ME/CFS. Komaroff and Lipkin propose molecular mechanisms to potentially explain the fatigue and related symptoms in both illnesses.

  • 2022

    Orthostatic Stress in ME/CFS and Long COVID

    The Bateman Horne Center performed NASA Lean Tests to assess orthostatic intolerance and utilized a smartphone app for cognitive assessment on an ME/CFS and Long COVID patient/control cohort. The study revealed different symptomatic, hemodynamic, and cognitive abnormalities in both groups and provided a low-cost in-office method for assessment.

  • 2023

    Absence of Certain Gut Bacteria Prevalent in ME/CFS Patients

    Joint independent studies from the CII and Jackson Laboratories confirm that normally abundant and health-promoting gut bacteria contributed to a deficient microbial capacity for synthesizing butyrate in ME/CFS patients. Significantly, this could provide a direct link between the microbiome and disease symptoms.

  • 2023

    Road Map to the Literature of ME/CFS and Long COVID

    Komaroff and Lipkin review the extensive literature for ME/CFS and Long COVID to provide a road map for setting priorities in future investigations.

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