Research in the youngest patients with ME/CFS
Last week, we shared where the research is heading next. Today, we want to take you inside one of the projects already helping shape that future.
Children and teenagers with ME/CFS have historically been almost invisible in biological research, despite being one of the two peak age groups for diagnosis.
SPOT-ME is a paediatric ME/CFS study led through the Royal Children’s Hospital and the Melbourne ME/CFS Collaboration, funded by an NHMRC grant and supported by OMF Australia.
In this conversation, Dr Chris Armstrong and Dr Natalie Thomas explain how the study was designed and why this cohort matters scientifically.
SPOT-ME follows adolescents aged 12 to 19 using detailed biological sampling, cognitive testing, MRI imaging, and repeated at-home collection across different stages of illness, including post-exertional malaise (PEM).
As Natalie explains, studying patients earlier in the disease course may help researchers identify the underlying mechanisms of ME/CFS before years of chronic illness and secondary complications obscure the picture.
That matters far beyond paediatric patients alone.
What is being learned through SPOT-ME feeds into broader work across the global OMF research network, helping researchers better understand the biological drivers of ME/CFS across all age groups.
Over the coming weeks, we’ll share more from other parts of our Australian research program, including collaborative work exploring nitrogen metabolism and the translational platform TOTEM.
Together, these projects tackle different parts of the puzzle — from the biology of specific patient groups, to the cellular mechanisms driving disease, to translating discoveries into diagnostics and treatments.
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