Dr. Klimas - Letter and announcement

[Guest guest]

I somehow missed this announcement. I have called the clinic at University of

Miami and they didn't know whee she went (yeah, right!). There are a couple of

phone numbers to reach her office.

Does anyone know if she has begun to see patients at the new clinic?

Marti

Dec 2011 From Dr. Klimas:

I have a once in a lifetime opportunity to direct a newly formed Institute at

Nova Southeastern University, whose sole purpose is the study of neuroimmune

diseases, particularly CFS/ME and GWI; the NSU Institute for Neuro-Immune

Medicine.

It gives us the opportunity to substantially increase resources for our patients

and our research, and puts all of that under one virtual roof. My intention is

to spend the next few months developing a long range plan that will include

expanding clinical services to a site in western Broward county, recruiting

faculty, and developing a wider circle of research collaborators and partners to

move the field forward.

The new institute will partner with other institutions, foundations, institutes,

groups, and individuals to move forward in our goals. There will be an

opportunity for you to share in this exciting new institute and help to create

something very special.

The new institute will have 4 key features:

Clinics that are integrated with the research program, allowing patients to

opt in to using their clinical information in our studies of natural history,

clinical response to therapeutic approaches, and access to clinical trials and

other studies. Dr Irma Rey will be joining me in this new program. We expect a

bit of chaos in the transition, please be patient! For more information, call

the NSU Call Center at (954) NSU-CARE (678-2273). Both Dr. Irma Rey and I will

be seeing patients in the clinics, and we will be bringing in new staff and

training clinicians to hone their skills and develop their expertise.

Laboratory based research program exploring causes of illness, biomarkers,

models for novel interventions strategies; all using the most sophisticated

tools available today.

Virtual science – a platform to draw in outstanding scientists and

clinicians from this field and related fields to develop collaborations through

regular onsite and virtual meetings. We will use a " think tank " model to draw in

access to new technology and thinking to this important work.

Community and advocacy involvement from the design of the institute through

to operation, using an advisory committee, web based interactive discussions,

and webinars. We are open to all advocacy groups and individuals in our desire

to involve everyone in this, it is a community project. It is my sincere hope

the Institute will promote unity towards one single purpose: curing these

serious illnesses. Over the coming months we will be reaching out to you and

keeping you informed of our progress.

The new Institute will also be relying heavily on philanthropy, and has

established a fund for that purpose, the NSU Institute for Neuro Immune Medicine

fund. Specify this fund if you choose to consider a holiday gift though the NSU

gift website: http://www.nova.edu/changingtheworld/index.html.

It is such an exciting concept; I will certainly work hard to make it

successful. The potential for the new institute is limited only by our

imaginations, so I ask for your help, your ideas and support are key to our

success.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for the support you have

shown me personally and my clinical and research program. Thank you. I look

forward to working with you from a different perspective as the young institute

develops and grows.

Wish me luck!

and this one:

Jan 2012

http://nsunews.nova.edu/worlds-leading-chronic-fatigue-syndrome-researchers-join\

s-nova-southeastern-university

Klimas, M.D., one of the world's leading researchers and clinicians in

chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encepahalomyelitis (CFS/ME), a debilitating

immune disorder that affects more than one million Americans, recently joined

Nova Southeastern University's College of Osteopathic Medicine faculty in

December. A majority of CFS/ME sufferers are women, who remain mostly untreated.

The disease damages the patient's immune system and causes symptoms such as

extreme fatigue unabated by sleep, faintness, widespread muscle and joint pain,

sore throat, severe headaches, cognitive difficulties, and severe mental and

physical exhaustion.

An expert in immune disorders, Klimas will establish the NSU College of

Osteopathic Medicine's Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine, which will conduct

cutting-edge research and treat patients suffering from CFS/ME and Gulf War

Illness (GWI). The Institute will be located at NSU's main campus in Davie. In

the meantime, patients can continue receiving treatment at the existing Chronic

Fatigue Center Kendall, where Klimas is the director. The Institute for

Neuro-Immune Medicine will use the integration of research, training and

clinical care to advance the needs of patients suffering from CFS/ME and GWI.

By bringing together some of the best scientific minds in the world, the

facility will act as both a think tank and a working institute for the research,

train new clinicians, and provide diagnostic and therapeutic clinical care.

" The Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine, strategically placed at Nova

Southeastern University, will bring together great minds in the field of neuro

immune disorders under one umbrella, " Klimas said. " It will be a place to

coordinate cutting edge thinking and research, train new practitioners, and

offer the highest quality clinical care for a hugely underserved population. I

am thrilled to partner with NSU in this giant step forward in the field of

CFS/ME care and research. "

" We are excited to have Dr. Klimas join our university, " said NSU President

L. Hanbury II, Ph.D. " She is an internationally recognized authority on

this debilitating disease as well as other complex diseases and clinical

immunology. "

The Chronic Fatigue Center — one of a few centers of its kind in the nation —-

will become a part of the NSU clinical health care system under the auspices of

the Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine. Klimas is also the director of research

for the Clinical AIDS/HIV research program and Gulf War Illness research program

at the Miami Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

She is a leading national researcher on Gulf War Illness. This medical condition

affects veterans and civilians who were exposed to a number of triggers,

including chemical weapons during the 1991 Gulf War. Symptoms include

musculoskeletal pain, fatigue, skin rashes, cognitive problems, and diarrhea.

" Klimas will elevate NSU's medical research to a new level and create

opportunities for internal and external collaboration on global basis to find

cures for CFS/ME and other complex diseases, " said Margules, Sc.D., NSU's

vice president of NSU's research and technology transfer.

CFS/ME symptoms typically last for more than six months, often decades. Those

suffering from the disease find their lives dramatically altered to the extent

that working and completing simple tasks become difficult or impossible.

Klimas currently serves as a senior member of the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Advisory Committee, a role in which she provides advice and recommendations to

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius. She has served

two terms as president of the International Association for Chronic Fatigue

Syndrome and sits on numerous boards and advisory groups. Klimas has published

over 150 peer-reviewed scientific articles, 18 book chapters, and three books.

Many focus on CFS/ME, which has no cure and affects 17 million people worldwide.

Her research has not only influenced health policy in the U.S., but also in

Europe, Japan, Australia, and Canada.

Klimas, who is joining NSU from the University of Miami (UM), was the principal

investigator of the National Institutes of Health's Center for Multidisciplinary

Studies of CFS Pathophysiology at UM, and is currently funded to use genomics to

better understand the cause of persistent illness in both CFS/ME and GWI. She

plans to expand this work through the new NSU Institute for Neuro Immune

Medicine. For more information, patients can call 954-262-2850.