International ME/CFS Conference 2025
Agenda
12.05.2025 - Monday (Day 1)
All times are in Central European Summer Time (CEST).Introduction
Chairs
Carmen Scheibenbogen, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
David Putrino, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA
10:00
5 min
Welcome
Carmen Scheibenbogen,
Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
10:05
20 min
The pandemic: What have we learned about Infection-Associated Chronic Illnesses (IACIs)?
David Putrino,
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA
10:25
20 min
The pandemic and ME/CFS: What have we learned? Where have we made progress?
Carmen Scheibenbogen,
Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
Care for ME/CFS
Chairs
Uta Behrends, Technical University of Munich (TUM) Hospital and Munich Schwabing Clinic, Germany
Kristian Sommerfelt, University of Bergen, Norway
10:45
15 min
PEDNET-LC: A Pediatric Network for Medical Care and Research of COVID-19 Sequelae (PASC), Similar Post-acute Infection and Vaccination Syndromes (PAIVS), and ME/CFS
Uta Behrends,
Technical University of Munich (TUM) Hospital and Munich Schwabing Clinic, Germany
11:00
15 min
The National Reference Center for Post-viral Syndromes
Kathryn Hoffmann,
Medical University of Vienna, Austria
11:15
15 min
The Akureyri Clinic
Fridbjörn Sigurdsson,
Landspitali - University Hospital, Reykjavik, Iceland
11:30
15 min
CFS_CARE: Charité health care and rehabilitation study for ME/CFS
Claudia Kedor,
Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
11:45
15 min
Clinical care for ME/CFS
Michael Stingl,
Dr. Michael Stingl Private Practice, Austria
12:00
15 min
Long/Post-COVID Off-Label-Use of Drugs in Germany
Bernhard Wörmann,
Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
12:15
15 min
Severe, and very severe ME/CFS in Norway
Kristian Sommerfelt,
University of Bergen, Norway
Posters
Chairs
Martina Seifert, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
Wolfram Döhner, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
12:30
5 min
Functional Connectivity Alterations in ME/CFS: MRI Findings from a Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) Observational Trial
Guido Cammà, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
12:35
5 min
Reduced Abundance of Indole-Propionic-Acid-Producing Gut Bacteria in Patients with ME/CFS
Wiebke Löhden, Kiel University (CAU), Germany
12:40
5 min
Feasibility, Disease Severity Correlations, and the Predictive Value of Handgrip Strength in Children and Adolescents with ME/CFS
Lorenz Mihatsch, Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany
12:45
5 min
Differentiating ME/CFS Through Raman Spectroscopic Profiling of Immune Cells
Christian Puta,
Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany
12:50
5 min
Microvascular Dysfunction and Basal Membrane Thickening in Skeletal Muscle in ME/CFS and Post-COVID
Anouk Slaghekke, Vrije Universiteit (VU) Amsterdam, Netherlands
13:00
75 min
Posters & Exchange & Lunch
Understanding I: Cardiovascular dysregulation and mitochondrial pathology
Chairs
Klaus Wirth, Mitodicure GmbH, Germany
David Systrom, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
14:15
15 min
Circulatory dysfunction in ME/CFS
David Systrom,
Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
14:30
15 min
Skeletal muscle alterations in Long COVID and ME/CFS
Rob Wust,
Vrije Universiteit (VU) Amsterdam, Netherlands
14:45
15 min
Functional and Morphological Changes in Mitochondria in Muscle
Jürgen Steinacker,
Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine Research at Ulm University, Germany
15:00
15 min
Mechanisms of Post-Exertional Malaise (PEM)
Christian Puta,
Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany
15:15
15 min
Mapping the changed patterns of blood metabolites and proteins to extract pathomechanistic insights
Karl Johan Tronstad,
University of Bergen, Norway
15:30
45 min
Posters & Coffee
Understanding II: Immune dysregulation and autoimmunity
Chairs
Gabriela Riemekasten, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein (UKSH), Lübeck, Germany
Yehuda Shoenfeld, Tel Aviv University, Israel
16:15
20 min
Autoimmunity as a cause of Long COVID and ME/CFS
Jeroen den Dunnen,
Amsterdam University Medical Center (UMC), Netherlands
16:35
20 min
GPCR autoantibodies in ME/CFS and brain alterations
Takashi Yamamura,
National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry (NCNP), Tokyo, Japan
16:55
15 min
Autoantibodies mimicking EBV sequences in ME/CFS and PCS
Franziska Sotzny,
Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
17:10
15 min
Autoantibodies to neuronal antigens in ME/CFS and PCS
Christiana Franke,
Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
17:25
15 min
T and B cell responses in ME/CFS
Birgit Sawitzki,
Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
17:40
15 min
Transcriptome analysis identifies immune dysregulation in peripheral immune cells of ME/CFS patients
Anna Aschenbrenner,
German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn, Germany
18:00
Get Together & Dinner
13.05.2025 - Tuesday (Day 2)
All times are in Central European Summer Time (CEST).Treatment I: Clinical trials targeting autoantibodies
Chairs
Nina Babel, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
Yehuda Shoenfeld, Tel Aviv University, Israel
9:00
20 min
Drug Treatment of ME/CFS: What have we learned since 2007?
Olav Mella,
University of Bergen, Norway
9:20
20 min
Plasma cell targeting by the anti-CD38 antibody daratumumab in ME/CFS
Øystein Fluge,
University of Bergen, Norway
9:40
10 min
B cell depletion targeting CD19 trial in ME/CFS and PCS
Judith Bellmann-Strobl,
Charité - University Medicine Berlin, Germany
9:50
10 min
Rituximab trial in Japan
Wakiro Sato,
National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry (NCNP), Tokyo, Japan
10:00
10 min
Efficacy of repeated immunoadsorption in post-COVID ME/CFS
Elisa Stein,
Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
10:10
10 min
Immunoadsorption in severely ill ME/CFS patients
Georg Schlieper,
Dialysis Hannover - Center for Kidney, Hypertension and Metabolic Diseases, Germany
10:20
30 min
Coffee
Treatment II: Clinical trials
Chairs
Christiana Franke, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
Jürgen Steinacker, Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine Research at Ulm University, Germany
11:00
15 min
Overview of IgG therapy in ME/CFS and PCS
Nina Babel,
Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
11:15
15 min
The Effects of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) in Patients with ME/CFS
Laura Kim,
Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
11:30
15 min
Oxaloacetate CFS: Anhydrous Enol-Oxaloacetate Treatment of ME/CFS
Alan Cash,
Terra Biological LLC, USA
11:45
20 min
Targeting viral persistence in Post-COVID Syndromes
Michael Peluso,
University of California San Francisco (UCSF), USA
12:05
10 min
Low-dose Naltrexone & Mestinon RCT in ME/CFS and Long COVID
David Systrom,
Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA
12:15
10 min
Low-dose Rapamycin for Long COVID: A rundown of our newest clinical trial
David Putrino,
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA
12:25
20 min
12:45
Poster Award & Lunch & Adjourn
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