This $1.4M, five-year investment aims to improve the quality of life of people living with ME through:
- investigating the causes of ME, including possible links to viruses and genes;
- linking cohorts of patients and researchers in Canada and the US, enabling investigators to share research samples, clinical data, and analysis methods;
- supporting graduate students working on ME to build Canadian capacity to research this condition; and
- benefiting from the wisdom of people with ME who are active research partners.
Find out more about the role of the Complex Chronic Diseases Program in this research.
Read the full News Release from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Luis Nacul as the new medical director and research director of the Complex Chronic Diseases Program (CCDP).
“We are very lucky to have Dr. Nacul join our team and lead CCDP,” says Dr. Stephanie Rhone, senior medical director, specialized programs, at BC Women’s. “Dr. Nacul will have dedicated research time in addition to his clinical and administration work, which is a huge asset to the program. His research expertise will inform the way we treat patients and open the door to new discoveries.”
Dr. Nacul is an internationally renowned leading clinician and researcher in his field with a broad understanding of complex chronic diseases treated at CCDP from medical, health services and research perspectives.
“It is a privilege for me to join such a dedicated team at one of a few centres in the world that specifically treats complex chronic diseases,” says Dr. Nacul. “I look forward to starting my new role and the opportunity to work in a collaborative environment that involves patient and community groups that are most affected.”
One of the challenges in treating complex chronic diseases is that their causes are unclear. In his capacity as CCDP research director, Dr. Nacul will leverage an established clinical program to expand research into complex chronic diseases. This is an important gain for the program, as CCDP patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis /chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia syndrome and symptoms attributed to chronic Lyme-like disease will be able to benefit directly from research discoveries.
Dr. Nacul will also have an appointment as a researcher with the Women’s Health Research Institute. His research time is funded by the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) Foundation through its BCCDC Foundation Research Scholar Award.
