Question

I am considering making a large donation to help fund biomedical research into the cause or treatment of ME. I know that there are several ME charities both here and abroad that fund biomedical research into ME. But I only want my money to go direct to research. So please can you let me know how much of my donation would go to administration costs if it went to the MEA Ramsay Research Fund.

Answer

The clear answer here is ‘none’. The MEA Ramsay Research Fund (RRF) is a ring-fenced research fund where all the money that is raised or donated goes directly to the research or researcher that we fund. There are no administrative costs or salaries to pay and any administrative costs (which are very small) are paid for out of MEA general funds.

The RRF is currently funding a number of important research studies. These include:

• All the basic running costs of the ME Biobank (CureME ME/CFS Biobank) – approximately £80,000 per annum
• Post-mortem research at the Manchester Brain Bank
• Developing a patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) at the University of Manchester – Professor Sarah Tyson et al
• Management of dysautonomia (PoTS and orthostatic intolerance) at the University of Leeds – Professor Manoj Sivan et al
• Research into pregnancy and childbirth in ME/CFS at the University of Northumbria – Dr Emma Slack et al
• Diagnostic biomarker research at the University of Surrey – Professor Robert Dorey et al
• Research into mitochondrial dysfunction and diagnostic biomarkers at the University of Oxford -Dr Karl Morten et al

More information on the work of the Ramsay Research Fund.