2025 Campaign is Closed
Let's crack PEM together
Image above: Left to right: Karl Morten, Associate Professor; Beata Godlewska, Senior Clinical Researcher; Ladislav Valkovič, Associate Professor, University of Oxford. This study is being carried out in collaboration with researchers from the Oxford Brookes University (Patrick Esser, Professor and Richard Baskerville, Clinical Researcher)
The Big Give Christmas Campaign – One donation twice the impact
The study will take place at the Oxford Centre for Clinical Magnetic Resonance Research (OCMR), Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford.
The problem
There are over 400,000 people in the UK with ME/CFS. Years of misdiagnosis and poor treatment have led to severe illness, and sadly, in extreme cases, death. People with ME/CFS often get much worse after mild activity — a symptom called Post-Exertional Malaise (PEM).
It is the hallmark of ME/CFS and can also occur in long covid. We still don’t fully understand why, and there are no treatments. People with ME/CFS often live in fear of mild activity that could put them in hospital.
What we want to do:
Research into Post Exertional Malaise
We want to fund a research project investigating the crushing exhaustion people with ME/CFS face after activity. This study will uncover what goes wrong in the muscles during Post-Exertional Malaise.
This campaign will directly support a 12-month case-control study led by world-leading researchers from Oxford. Subjects will be tested using MRI and use Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS). This state of the art technology will give an insight into cell energy.
How we are going to do it
This Christmas, we are part of the Big Give Christmas Challenge, with our target of £40,000. Any donations made through our page on the Big Give website between the 2nd and 9th of December are doubled.
This has been made possible by our committed supporters and The Hospital Saturday Fund.
To learn more read our Big Give FAQs: