Cure ME – The UK ME/CFS Biobank
The ME Association’s Ramsay Research Fund has been supporting the UK ME/CFS Biobank (UKMEB) since it was established in 2011. RRF is proud to fund the running costs for UKMEB each year, which exceeds £80,000 per annum.
The CureME team at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) established the UKMEB with funding from the US National Institutes of Health and with donations from charities including the MEA; it enjoys an international reputation for quality and efficiency. One feature has been the inclusion of people who are severely affected by ME, who are visited at home by a research nurse for the clinical assessment and blood draw.
The UKMEB has provided samples and data to many ME/CFS research groups in the UK, Europe, North America, Latin America, and the Middle East. The true worth of the facility is underlined by the publications coming from the release of samples and the associated papers, which are widely cited in the literature and continue to serve to advance knowledge and understanding of ME/CFS.
“Having been involved with both the planning and the operation of the ME/CFS Biobank I am immensely proud of what has been achieved. We now have a world class piece of research infrastructure that enables researchers who may not have access to patients with ME/CFS to obtain anonymised clinical information and blood samples to carry out laboratory based research. I would also like to thank all our volunteers who donate blood and the very dedicated teams at the LSHTM and the Royal Free Hospital – where the Biobank is housed as part of the main University College London Biobank.”
About the Samples
Blood samples are processed and aliquoted (separated) into serum, plasma, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), red blood cells / granulocyte pellet, whole blood, and RNA.
The samples are then processed into different components and stored before being released to researchers whose research proposals have gone through rigorous ethical approval and peer review. An extensive clinical dataset (700 clinical and socio-demographic variables) enables comprehensive phenotyping (sub-grouping).
People with ME/CFS are carefully screened to make sure they meet diagnostic criteria for the disease. Blood samples are collected and rapidly transferred to the ME/CFS Biobank at the Royal Free Hospital in London – where they are processed and stored.
Making these samples available to other researchers increases the chances of achieving much-needed breakthroughs in the aetiology / cause and treatment of ME/CFS, in the most cost-effective manner.
This is the only such project in the UK aimed at the study of ME/CFS and the supply of samples to outside researchers.
“The LSHTM CureME team welcomes the yearly funding from the MEA Ramsay Research Fund, as it greatly facilitates further blood collection, the storage of samples and data, and dissemination of information around the UK ME/CFS Biobank.
The success of this unique collection is testament to the strict quality and operational controls in place since its inception, which have been guided by people with ME/CFS and experts in the field.”
The ME Association funds its biomedical research through the restricted Ramsay Research Fund (RRF), which means that all donations to this fund are used exclusively for research activity.
To support this research please donate:
Biobank News
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Update: UK ME/CFS Biobank Steering Group
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