1st International Conference on Clinical and Scientific Advances

in

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis /

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

and Long COVID

The CONFERENCE

The 1st International Conference on Clinical and Scientific Advances in ME/CFS and Long COVID aims to raise awareness, clarify misconceptions, promote understanding, and stimulate discussion among healthcare professionals, investigators, policymakers, patients, and community representatives on the clinical manifestations, management, therapeutic options, and health challenges related to Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) and Long COVID.

The incidence of ME/CFS continues to rise globally, in the aftermath of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections and Long COVID, increasing the need for informed diagnosis and treatment. Emerging evidence reveals many shared underlying biological abnormalities and symptoms reported in both illnesses, documented by multiple laboratories. This underscores the importance of sustained medical education and regular updates on research, diagnostic, and treatment guidelines.

The program will feature state-of-the-art lectures, and interactive sessions designed to address the educational needs of Portuguese healthcare professionals and health system capacity. It offers dedicated time for discussions to enhance knowledge exchange and reinforce the implementation of guidelines and recommendations.

The conference will take place on April 3 and 4, 2024, in Lisbon, at the premises of FLAD – Luso-American Development Foundation. You can attend in person (places are limited) or participate online via streaming.

Agenda

The agenda is currently being refined and is subject to modification. Please note the program meeting times are set in WET — Western European Time.

AGENDA Download

Conference Language

The conference program will be carried out in English with a few sessions in Portuguese.

Conference Objectives

Raise awareness
Educate healthcare professionals
Facilitate translation of new findings into daily practice
Stimulate interest in clinical practice, research, and data sharing

Who Should Attend?

Medical professionals including, but not limited to: Neurologists, Pulmonologists, Internal Medicine Physicians, Infectious Diseases Physicians, Family Doctors, Cardiologists, Psychiatrists, Rheumatologists

Allied health professionals including: Nursing Professionals, Physical Therapists, Occupational Therapists, Pharmacists

Researchers including: Clinical Investigators, Translational Investigators

Medical and allied health students

Policymakers

Media

People living with ME/CFS and/or Long COVID, caretakers, advocacy and patient groups

Learning Objectives

After participating in the 1st International Conference on Clinical and Scientific Advances in ME/CFS and Long COVID, participants will be able to:

Define ME/CFS and Long COVID and diagnostic challenges.
Describe the emerging understanding of ME/CFS as a possible chronic outcome of Long COVID.
Understand epidemiology and trends in the prevalence of ME/CFS and Long COVID.
Describe the multisystem pathomechanisms of ME/CFS, from neurological, immunological, vascular, and virological perspectives.
Improve management of people living with ME/CFS and Long COVID through biomedical treatments of underlying disease mechanisms, and most common comorbidities, drawing on the latest findings from ongoing research and clinical trials.
Summarize clinical data on potential treatment options.
Comprehend the impact and strategies to prioritize resources to better prepare the health systems and society to better address this challenge.

SPEAKERS

David Systrom

Member of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Pulmonary and Critical Care faculty and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School where he directs ...

Ed Yong

Science writer, awarded the Pulitzer Prize in explanatory journalism for his coverage of the COVID pandemic; the George Polk Award for science reporting ...

Eliana Lacerda

Clinical Assistant Professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), with medical residence Public Health, MSc in Occupational ...

Elizabeth R. Unger

Chief of the Chronic Viral Diseases Branch in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), responsible for guiding research and public ...

Inderjit Singh

Board certified physician in Internal Medicine, Critical Care Medicine (Internal Medicine), and Pulmonary Disease. Assistant Professor at Yale School of Medicine (Internal Medicine) ...

Lucinda Bateman

Internal medicine physician, practiced as a general internist for 10 years before starting the Fatigue Consultation Clinic in 2000. In 2015 she founded the Bateman ...

Maureen R. Hanson

Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor in the Department of Molecular Biology & Genetics, Cornell University, and Director of the Cornell Center for Enervating NeuroImmune ...

Luis Nacul

Researcher and clinician with dual specialty in general practice and public health, in the UK, Canada and Brazil. Dr Luis Nacul has been researching ME/CFS internationally and practician as ...

Nuno Sepulveda

Faculty of Mathematics and Information Science, Warsaw University of Technology. Member of the Portuguese Society for Statistical Methodology and Malaria Centre from the LSHTM. ...

Rudolf Oliveira

Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp) in São Paulo Brazil. He leads the Pulmonary Hemodynamic ...

Sonya Chowdhury

Chief Executive of UK-based charity, Action for M.E. for 10 years. Action for M.E. provides direct information and support, individual advocacy and healthcare ...

Phillip Joseph

Assistant Professor at Yale School of Medicine and Associate Director, Pulmonary Vascular Disease Program, Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine Department of Medicine ...

Sian Leary

Head of Advocacy and Communications for the World ME Alliance, and member of various steering groups including DecodeME, the ME/CFS Priority ...

Carmen Scheibenbogen

Internal Medicine physician and hematooncologist, ME/CFS doctor and Professor for Immunology and Acting Director of the Institute of Medical Immunology ...

Susan Levine

Internal medicine and infectious disease specialist, treating patients with ME/CFS for over 20 years. Dr. Levine is a clinician for the Center for Enervating Neuroimmune ...

Linda Tannenbaum

Founder and CEO/President of the Open Medicine Foundation (OMF). Linda established OMF in 2012 after her 16-year-old daughter was diagnosed with sudden onset ME / CFS in 2016 ...

Jonas Bergquist

Chief Medical Officer of Open Medicine Foundation (OMF), Director of the OMF ME/CFS Collaborative Research Center at Uppsala (Sweden) a Full Chair Professor in Analytical Chemistry ...

Wenzhong Xiao

Director of the Immuno-Metabolic Computational Center at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Harvard Medical School. He also leads a Computational Genomics Group at Stanford ...

António Vaz Carneiro

With 40 years of professional experience in Portugal and the US, António Vaz Carneiro is a Medical Doctor holding specialist degrees in Internal Medicine, Nephrology and Clinical Pharmacology.

Jaime Branco

Specialist in Rheumatology and Director of the Rheumatology Department at the Egas Moniz Hospital since 2006. He is a full professor at the Faculty of Medical Sciences (FCM) ...

Joan Serra Hoffman

Cofounder of Millions Missing Aliança and ME Task Force coordinator in MYOS. She has a PhD in public policy. Served as special assistant at the US Centers for Disease Control and ...

Sarra Al-Zayer

Sarra Al-Zayer received her bachelor’s degree in Biology and Society from Cornell University in 2022. She then joined Dr. David Systrom’s lab at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital ...

Johanna Squires

Senior research coordinator for Dr. David Systrom at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. She received her MSc. in Exercise Physiology from Loughborough University ...

Mário Santos

A Cardiologist and researcher dedicated to the care of heart failure and pulmonary arterial hypertension patients. His research interests encompass pulmonary circulation ...

João Malato

PhD candidate in Computational Biology, Centre of Statistics and its Applications and Institute of Molecular Medicine at the University of Lisbon, Portuga Lisbon, Portugal.

Muna Sidarus

Muna Sidarus has a master in Medicinal Chemistry by Técnico (IST), Lisbon, Portugal. She has done research in several fields of Chemistry and worked in laboratoryysiology from many ...

Mónica Andersen Morais

Portuguese and Danish, she has been diagnosed with ME/CFS in 1992 at Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston) and Northwick Park Hospital (UK). Holds an MBA from Bristol ...

REGISTRATION

The 1st International Conference on Clinical and Scientific Advances in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) and Long COVID will be held in a hybrid format, with both in-person speakers and other speakers participating via video.

You can take part in this conference either in person (limited places) or online via streaming. You can register for both days of the event or just one of the days.

Participation is FREE OF COST, but prior registration is required using the form available on this website.

Online attendance registration: When you register to attend online, your registration will be finalized when you receive an email confirmation of your registration. Closer to the date of the event, you will receive instructions by email on how to access the streaming of the conference.

Logistical Information:

The following information is intended to support your participation in the 1st International Conference on Clinical and Scientific Advances in ME/CFS and Long COVID.

Venue:

Luso-American Development Foundation (FLAD)

Rua Sacramento à Lapa, 21 1249-090 Lisbon

How to get there:

FLAD is about a 15 minute walk from Santos train station on Av. 24 de Julho. There are also some bus and streetcar stops in the area, but no subway access.

Please note that there is no parking area on FLAD’s premises.

Travel and accommodation: Registration for this conference does not include travel, accommodation or meals, but does include coffee breaks and lunch (lunch box) on the 2 days of the event.

Badges: Participants must keep their conference badges clearly visible at all times.

Photographs, Audio, and Video Recording: Only appointed conference staff may make audio or video recordings or take photographs. All presentations will be posted once the conference ends, provided the speakers have given authorization.