A winning combination of philanthropy and proactive patient power has sped us past the £600,000 milestone on the way to our fundraising target of £1,000,000 for the charity Invest in ME Research biomedical research strategy.
Invest in ME Research announced that the Hendrie Foundation has kindly increased their funding pledge to the charity’s B-cell / Rituximab Research Fund by a further £50,000 to a total of £275,000 pledged.
Together with recent donations, including £10,000 from a sponsor wishing to remain anonymous, this generous gesture takes the current total raised by our community crowdfunding campaign to well over £600,000 and rising.
The Invest in ME Research Centre of Excellence translational biomedical research is designed to establish reliable diagnostic tests and effective treatments for myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) to benefit patients and doctors alike.
Two current major research projects are: the role of the gut microbiome in ME at IFR/UEA; and the role of B-cells in ME at UCL, adding value to the current Phase 3 multi-centre clinical trial of rituximab in ME patients in Norway and leading to a UK clinical trial of rituximab in Norwich (Invest in ME Research update here).
Both projects include progressive national and international collaboration with clinicians and scientists involved in biomedical research. This collaboration is ongoing and facilitated by the Invest in ME Conference (IIMEC) and Biomedical Researchers into ME Colloquium (BRMEC).
If you already help to raise funds for this vital research strategy then we cannot thank you enough. We have long-term and severe ME and we are intent on helping Invest in ME Research to change the landscape of diagnosis and treatment of this disease for the next generation, as well as maintaining realistic hope for our own futures, thanks to their extraordinary vision and work.
If you are new to our site, then we extend a warm welcome and invite you to join us in our proactive support of Invest in ME Research charity’s work on establishing a Centre of Excellence for ME – the first of its kind in UK/Europe and with national and international collaboration. This is urgent and vital work.
The charity itself is run by dedicated volunteers working in their own time and without pay. Funds we raise are for their biomedical research strategy.
Please browse our site to find a number of ways you can help raise funds for the charity at no extra cost to yourself, such as using a referral link or cash-back site when shopping online, buying cards and gifts from supporters donating full or part profits to Invest in ME, braving the heat of the Chilli M.E. Challenge, or being sponsored for anything from going Facebook-free to climbing Kilimanjaro.
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Thank you for your support!
Further reading on our site:
IIME Research on Gut Microbiome
In return for donations by their friends and family to GIVE IT UPtober, some people are staying off Facebook or other online sites in October. Other supporters plan to give up take-aways, snacks, sweets, chocolate, coffee, bottled mineral water, buying records. If a friend plans to go smoke-free for Stoptober, maybe they’d donate what they save to our cause? Lyndsey Ormiston and Tanya Mawer were ahead of the game, going alcohol-free and meat-free respectively during September.
To support GIVE IT UPtober, Lynne Allan is donating the cost of materials of her delightful 