Computational Research Center for Complex Diseases

Announcing OMF's First ME/CFS Clinical Trial!

Computational
Research Center
for Complex Diseases

From Data to Disease Mechanism and Treatments

About the research center

Each OMF funded study is selected, with oversight from our Scientific Advisory Board, for its ability to provide meaningful data that will fuel the search for treatment and diagnosis. This data is essential to develop diagnostic technologies, understand the molecular basis of the diseases, and uncover effective diagnostic tools and treatments. Under the direction of Wenzhong Xiao, PhD, the Computational Research Center for Complex Diseases analyzes and integrates the data from OMF funded studies, an essential step in developing diagnostics and treatments.

Dr. Xiao is a world expert in computational genomics and the Director of the Immuno-Metabolic Computational Center at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Harvard Medical School. He also leads a Computational Genomics Group at Stanford Genome Technology Center (SGTC). His research is at the interface of computation, genomics and medicine. In collaboration with Open Medicine Foundation, his lab analyzes studies on ME / CFS and compares ME / CFS with other diseases.

Core Aims

Provide

expertise on bioinformatics and computation essential to research projects

Perform

statistical and bioinformatic analyses of collaborative research studies

Develop

and apply of state-of-the-art algorithms to uncover ME/CFS disease mechanisms and drug targets

Establish

and maintain ME/CFS Data Center platform for data sharing and online collaboration

Fundamental Philosophy

Work collaboratively with OMF funded research centers to analyze and integrate the data from their studies
Use the most advanced technology to provide expert computation of OMF funded research projects, from study design, to performing the research, to interpretation of the results
Utilize the power of OMF’s collaborative and open research strategy by hosting and sharing data through a common data center

View our latest news

Announcing our sixth Research Center!

Triple Giving Tuesday starts today: Announcing our sixth Research Center! From the desk of Linda Tannenbaum Chief Executive Officer, Open Medicine Foundation Open Medicine Foundation (OMF) is pleased to share,

ME/CFS Research Data: the heart of the matter

With your support, Open Medicine Foundation funds open, collaborative research so that, as soon as possible, precise diagnostic tools and life-changing treatments can be available to people with ME/CFS and related chronic, complex diseases such as Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, and Post-COVID Syndrome.

Sample studies

Personalized Automated Symptom Summary (PASS)

Researchers are developing a tool to help clinicians more efficiently define the character and priorities of a patient’s current symptoms of ME/CFS, Post-Treatment Lyme Disease, or Fibromyalgia.

Severely ill Patient

The goal of the Severely ill Patient Study was to conduct a comprehensive “Big Data” analysis on severely ill ME/CFS patients in order to begin an exploration to find the molecular basis of ME/CFS.

Autoimmunity and Autoantibodies

The aim is to investigate potential differences in adrenergic and muscarinic receptor autoantibody levels in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid samples between ME/CFS patients and healthy controls.

Deep Assessment of Neuroinflammation Study

We will explore the hypothesis that deranged flow of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) due to craniocervical obstructions and/or instability may cause deranged intracranial pressure (ICP), neuroinflammation and cardinal symptoms of ME/CFS.

Stress-Activated MicroRNAs

Studying microRNAs could help to bridge the conceptual gap between genetic predisposition and environmental factors causing ME/CFS or exacerbating specific symptoms.

Condensed Precision Medicine Protocol for ME/CFS

The study aims to establish a condensed personalized research protocol that can be used to characterize ME/CFS in individual patients as it pertains to all their unique biological aspects, interacting with a complex chronic disease.

Skeletal Muscle Dysfunction

This project aims to explore the biological changes that occur in the muscles during Post-exertional Malaise (PEM).

Data Sharing in the OMF ME/CFS Data Center

The purpose of the OMF Data Center is to house raw data and processed results, which is shared with our research network through the web-based data portal.

iCPET Omics Studies of ME/CFS

This Harvard study evaluates the different explanations of heart preload failure in ME/CFS patients to determine which is active in many, if not all, ME/CFS patients. The Computation Center is now seeking to better understand the causes of ME/CFS (PLF, the high flow type) as well as to identify potential drug targets for future therapies.

Network Medicine for Disease Mechanisms and Treatment

The goal of this project is to use data integration and network analyses to discover disease mechanisms and potential treatments.

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