Professor Danny Altmann and Professor Rosemary Boyton have been given the green light to begin work on the largest biomedical study into ME/CFS and Long Covid that the ME Association or any other UK charity has commissioned.
The £1.2M project, which is expected to last until the end of October 2028, aims to apply advanced molecular analysis to matched cohorts of people with lived experience of ME/CFS and Long Covid and to healthy controls.
Like the historical Rosetta Stone, it seeks to decode one illness using insights from the other, potentially accelerating breakthroughs. The team is hoping to uncover biomarkers, mechanisms, diagnostic tools, and future therapeutic pathways.
In the last update, we explained that Professor Danny Altmann and Professor Rosemary Boyton had been busy interviewing potential team members. We can now confirm that appointments have been made, and we will introduce the full team and explain their roles over coming weeks and months.
Recruitment for a Public Advisory Group is underway, ethical approval for collection and assessment of patient data has been approved and administrative hurdles have been settled. So, we can now proceed with a public recruitment to the study.
How you can participate
If you are eligible to take part (see below), then please contact Imperial College to express your interest and Louise Pilapil (Research Nurse) will respond with participant information and a consent declaration for you to read and sign.
Rosetta will examine samples of blood, stool, urine, and saliva from around a thousand people in total who will be divided into three main groups. Clinical data will be uploaded by participants remotely using an App and validated outcome measures.
The three groups being examined will comprise:
- People with ME/CFS,
- People with Long Covid, and,
- People who have never had ME/CFS or Long Covid and are relatively healthy.
N.B. The healthy group will also include people that have fully recovered from a Covid-19 infection.
Eligibility criteria
In order to take part in the Rosetta Stone study, you will need:
- to be over 18 years of age,
- to be a UK resident,
- to have:
- a clinical diagnosis of ME/CFS (which should have been made before 2020), or,
- a clinical diagnosis of Long Covid, or,
- never had symptoms or a diagnosis of ME/CFS or Long Covid.
- to:
- be capable of visiting Imperial College for a clinical assessment and to provide a blood sample at two time points at least twelve months apart (stool, urine and saliva samples can be collected at Imperial or done at home and sent by post), or,
- have been part of the WILCO (Long Covid) study at Imperial College, or the UK ME/CFS Biobank (UKMEB) at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. In which case a visit to Imperial to give a blood sample will not be necessary (see below) and a member of the team will be in touch to see if you want to join Rosetta.
Severe and Very Severe
Including all illness severities in Rosetta is very important to the team, but visiting Imperial College in London should only be considered by those who can manage it.
Blood samples from people who are severely ill have already been collected as part of the WILCO study (Long Covid) and by the UK ME/CFS Biobank (UKMEB).
If you have participated in WILCO or the UKMEB and would like to take part in Rosetta, you do not have to do anything now. A member of the team will be in touch with you soon.
If you are unable to leave your home, you will receive postal collection kits for samples of stool, urine, and saliva, and be asked to regularly upload information relating to e.g., symptoms and life quality via an electronic App.
Your full permission will be sought before enrolment in Rosetta.
Express your interest
Thank you to everyone who has already been in touch. The Rosetta team is now ready to receive your expressions of interest.
If you meet the eligibility criteria outlined above, then please email Louise Pilapil (Research Nurse) to confirm your eligibility and ask to take part: Rosettastonestudy@imperial.ac.uk
Deadline: 01 December 2026.
Please donate
The ME Association funds medical research via the restricted Ramsay Research Fund (RRF). This means that all donations are used exclusively for research activity. We cannot continue to invest in vital research like the Rosetta Stone project without your support. Please make a donation today.
More information
- The UK ME/CFS Biobank at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
- Rosetta Stone: Research Project Documentation
