Driving research of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME / CFS),
Post Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome (PTLDS), Fibromyalgia and Long Covid

ACNC Registered Charity

Open Medicine Foundation Australia Ltd  (OMFAL) is a regional branch entity of Open Medicine Foundation, and is part of the largest, concerted worldwide nonprofit effort to diagnose, treat and find a cure for ME/CFS.

It was established for the purpose of promoting and funding research into multi-system chronic complex diseases, and supports the Melbourne ME/CFS Collaboration and a growing network of exceptional researchers in Australia.

Melbourne ME/CFS Collaboration

About the research center

Established in 2020, the Melbourne ME/CFS Collaboration is directed by Christopher W. Armstrong, PhD.

“We are tremendously grateful for the generous support from Emerge Australia, our Australian partner. Emerge Australia is a national organisation providing information, support, and advocacy for people with ME/CFS — giving hope and help to more than 250,000 Australians living with the disease,”

Linda Tannenbaum, OMF Founder & CEO/President

The Melbourne ME/CFS Collaboration  seeks to characterise the unifying biological pathways of ME/CFS that relate to the shared disease experience between patients while also understanding each patient’s unique biology that creates variation in disease experience and severity.

Chris Armstrong, PhD, was OMF’s Science Liaison and a Visiting Scholar at Stanford. He completed his PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Melbourne, and has been involved with researching ME/CFS for over a decade. 

Dr. Armstrong is most well known for his research using metabolomics to observe biochemical alterations in ME/CFS patients. He began his work in this field at the University of Melbourne, beginning a PhD project to apply metabolomics to study  (ME/CFS) and published his first metabolomics study on blood and urine in 2015.

Since then, Chris has set up collaborative efforts to apply metabolomics to immunological experiments on ME/CFS, observing how metabolism may relate to immune cell function. He has also focused on longitudinal research in ME/CFS while looking to extend metabolic capabilities across the field of ME/CFS to help collate different patient groups.

Core Aims

Develop

methods to understand the biology of the individual with ME/CFS.

Translate

understanding of the disease into practical treatment approaches.
 

Determine

the unifying biology between ME/CFS patients.

Understand

the development of ME/CFS in children and teenagers.

Reveal

the biology underlying ME/CFS symptoms.

Build

tools for research and treating ME/CFS.
biochemistry-biology-blue-2280571

Fundamental Philosophy

  • Every individual is biologically unique.
  • Disease biology is dynamic, not static.
  • Metabolism is strongly associated with symptom expression.
  • Define research questions and develop a research plan to answer them.
  • Measure the biology as it occurred in the body where possible.
  • Use extensive observations and data to generate hypotheses.
  • Translate research to tools that can be accessible to other researchers and clinicians.
  • Bring young scientists and clinicians into the research field.
  • Collaborate with experts out of our field and use their expertise.
  • Research biology at many layers, from biochemistry to cells to tissues.

studies

Itaconate Trap Study

This project aims to look at metabolic traps in central carbon metabolism that lead to observed altered energy production pathways in ME/CFS.

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Single Day Longitudinal Study

This study seeks to understand the biological mechanisms driving the symptomatology of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) using metabolomic and lipidomic high-throughput analysis and high-frequency blood sampling over a 6.5 to 7.5 hour period conducted at two separate sites (Melbourne and Uppsala).

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Deep Proteome and Metabolome Profiling

Collaborate with OMF CRCs in Uppsala and Melbourne to establish a global perspective.

Decode the molecular mechanisms underlying ME/CFS and contributing to specific symptoms with a particular emphasis of post-exertional malaise (PEM) through:

Deep phenotyping of ME patients
Global proteomic plasma profiling of ME patients
Global metabolomics plasma profiling of ME patients

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Ocular Motor Study

Ocular Motor Study   Study AIM The aim of this project is to fully characterise eye movement changes in ME/CFS on two consecutive days, identifying

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Developing Rapid System for Outlier Analysis in ME/CFS

Establish an analytical workflow for outlier analysis in ME/CFS to identify disease or symptom exacerbators that may not be considered in the individual with ME/CFS (including gene mutations, elevated toxins) and then develop a software program to rapidly identify these potential anomalies.

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Scientific Team

To carry out these ambitious projects, Dr. Armstrong is establishing networks and collaborations extending to USA, UK, Sweden, and other Australian institutions. 

University of Melbourne, Australia

Paul Gooley, PhD

Natalie Thomas, PhD

Kathy Huang

Amber Jaa-Kwee

Xiaoyun Wang, PhD

Neil McGregor, PhD

David Ascher, PhD

Elisha Josev, PhD

Sarah Knight, PhD

Adam Scheinberg, MD

David Stroud, PhD

Rob Williams

Leigh Johnston, PhD

Stanford University, USA

Ronald Davis, PhD

Michael Snyder, PhD

Robert Phair, PhD

Laurel Crosby, PhD

Ryan Kellogg, PhD

Linda Lan, PhD

Julie Wilhelmy

Jaime Seltzer

Arshdeep Chauhan 

 

Uppsala University, Sweden

Jonas Bergquist, MD, PhD

Massachusetts General Hospital, USA

David Systrom, MD

Wenzhong Xiao, PhD

University of Montreal, Canada

Alain Moreau, PhD

Open Medicine Foundation

Linda Tannenbaum

UC San Diego, USA

Robert Naviaux, MD, PhD

University of Alabama Birmingham, USA

Jarred Younger, PhD

University College London, UK

Jo Cambridge, PhD

La Trobe University, Australia

Sarah Annesley, PhD

Paul Fisher, PhD

Daniel Missailidis

Australian National University, Australia

Brett Lidbury, PhD

Alice Richardson, PhD

Monash University, Australia

Joanne Fielding, PhD

Meaghan Clough, PhD

OMF Australia accepts donations of Cryptocurrencies

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