People who fancy interacting with science researchers can do so later this year – when the UK CFS/ME Research Collaborative holds its second scientific meeting at the Newcastle Novotel on October 13-14.
Non-researchers can join the collaborative by becoming Associate CMRC Members. Once they've joined, they can apply for tickets for the Associate Members Session on the opening day HERE.
This session will be held between 1.45pm and 7.30pm and – thanks to sponsorship by the Medical Research Council – there will be free admission to Associate CMRC members.
The session will include a workshop on patient-reported outcome measures, facilitated by Dr Kirstie Haywood, senior research fellow (patient-reported outcomes) in the Division of Health Sciences, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick.
Prof Liz Perkins will deliver a presentation on social policy research and M.E, plus there will be updated on current research funded by the Medical Research Council. This will be followed by a Q&A session, giving Associate Members the chance to discuss researcher’s work with them.
Associate CMRC Members don’t have to be researchers – anyone with an interest in M.E. can become one.
Livestreaming of parts of the event will be available so Associate Members unable to attend can catch up with them online from home. Discussions are still underway with confirmed speakers about whether their presentations can be livestreamed.
Prof José Montoya from Stanford University, California, will be joining the event as keynote speaker in the session on neuropathology. The ME Association is helping with the cost of bringing over overseas speakers, including Prof Montoya.
Other speakers will include Prof Jo Nijs (autonomic system), Dr Øystein Fluge (Rituximab Trial), Prof Jim Horne (sleep), Prof George Davey Smith (big data, genomics, epigenetics and metabolomics).
Chairs of individual sessions include Prof Julia Newton, Prof Hugh Perry, Dr Esther Crawley and CMRC chair Prof Stephen Holgate.
The home for the event on Twitter is behind the hashtag #CMRC2015.
Researchers register here: www.eventzilla.net/web/event?eventid=2139069963
Sign up as an Associate CMRC Member here: www.meassociation.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/cmrc-membership-form.docx