by Jody Smith
Nova Southeastern University College of Osteopathic Medicine is hosting a Patient Conference for Dr. Nancy Klimas on January 26, 2013. Klimas is considered to be an expert in immune disorders and one of the world’s best researchers and clinicians for ME/CFS.
The theme of the conference is CFS/ME and Gulf War Illness 2013 – A Celebration of Hope and Progress. The doors of the conference are open to all who are interested in hearing what Klimas has to say.
Dean Anthony Silvagni DO, PharmD will be welcoming the Institute for Neuro Immune Medicine to the NSU family. Nancy Klimas, MD will speak on the role of the INIM in CFS/ME and GWI, from bedside to bench and back again.
Among the faculty speakers are Mady Hornig, MD (The Role of Pathogens in Autoimmunity and Chronic Illness), Delores Perdoma, PhD (Chronic Illness and Marriage), Connie Sol (Exercise Physiologist Reconditioning Safely), Gordon Broderick, PhD (Modeling Complex Illness for Treatment Targets), Dan Peterson, MD (Latest Interventions in Trial), Irma Rey, MD, and Sue Levine, MD.
Panel discussion on management issues will include Lynne Lafferty, Pharm D and Brig Gen Rebecca Halstead (Naturopathic Approaches and their Effects). The panel discussion called Voices of Recovery and Hope will involve a panel of CFS/ME and GWI patients discussing the how and why of feeling better. Scott Carlson (Chronic Fatigue Initiative) will touch on The Role of Philanthropy: Energizing the Science.
In 2011, Klimas brought a productive run of 27 years with the University of Miami to a close. She did so to create the Nova Southeastern University College of Osteopathic Medicine’s Institute for Neuro Immune Medicine, on the main campus of NSU in Davie, Florida, to conduct research and help patients who have ME/CFS and Gulf War Illness (GWI).
The institute will be teaming up with other foundations, groups, institutes, institutions and key players. NSU has offered ongoing support for the new Institute, in the form of equipment, facilities and staff. This support has enabled Klimas to continue making headway in neuroimmune medicine.
Klimas also treats patients at the Chronic Fatigue Center Kendall. The facility is a think tank as well as a working institute that has trained clinicians, tackled research and offered diagnostic and therapeutic clinical care to people with ME/CFS and GWI.
The Chronic Fatigue Center is one of the few centers to do this work in the United States. It will be part of the NSU health care system with the Institute for Neuro Immune Medicine.
Dr. Nancy Klimas is an advocate, physician and researcher for ME/CFS. She has been doing research on ME/CFS for over two decades after having done solid research on HIV. After spending years working in both these areas, she has recently narrowed her focus to just ME/CFS and GWI.
Klimas was the principal investigator of the National Institutes of Health’s Center for Multidisciplinary Studies of CFS Pathophysiology at the University of Miami. She is researching the use of genomes in learning more about ME/CFS and GWI. Her intention is to carry on this work at the new NSU Institute for Neuro Immune Medicine.
Klimas is a senior member of the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Advisory Committee (CFSAC), the federal CFS advisory committee, where she advises and makes recommendations to the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius. For two terms she was president of the International Association for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (IACFS/ME).
Klimas has more than 150 peer-reviewed scientific articles, 18 book chapters and three books that have been published, many of which target ME/CFS. With her research Klimas has had an impact on American health policy, as well as Australia, Canada, Europe and Japan.
NSU is a fully accredited, private research university with 18 colleges and schools and has approximately 30,000 students. Washington Monthly has ranked it 157th best university in the country. It is the eighth largest not-for-profit independent institution in the United States.
NSU is classified as a research university with “high research activity” by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. In 2010, it was awarded Carnegie’s Community Engagement Classification for its commitment to community engagement.
The NSU Patient Conference will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Carl DeSantis Building – Knight Auditorium, Nova Southeastern University, 3301 College Avenue, Ft. Lauderdale-Davie, FL 33314-7796.
A reception will be held afterward. For additional information please email GrandOpening@cfsclinic.com
If you’re interested in attending, send your completed registration form and a minumum $25 donation to:
NSU – The Institute for Neuro Immune Medicine
8720 North Kendall Drive
Suite 108
Miami, FL 33176
Make all checks payable to Nova Southeastern University. After your registration and donation are received, you will be sent a parking pass.
If you have any questions, you can contact Nicholas Lewis, J.D., Administrative Director – Institute of Neuro Immune Medicine, Nova Southeastern University. You can email him at nlewiscfs@yahoo.com
Further Reading:
One of the World’s Leading Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Researchers Joins Nova Southeastern University (Jan. 9, 2012, NSU News)
Dr. Nancy Klimas Forms Neuro-Immune Institute on ME/CFS at Nova Southeastern University (Dec. 9, 2011, Phoenix Rising)
Institute for Neuro Immune Medicine
