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.

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:

    1. Define ME/CFS and Long COVID and diagnostic challenges.
    2. Describe the emerging understanding of ME/CFS as a possible chronic outcome of Long COVID.
    3. Understand epidemiology and trends in the prevalence of ME/CFS and Long COVID.
    4. Describe the multisystem pathomechanisms of ME/CFS, from neurological, immunological, vascular, and virological perspectives.
    5. 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.
    6. Summarize clinical data on potential treatment options.
    7. Comprehend the impact and strategies to prioritize resources to better prepare the health systems and society to better address this challenge.

    SPEAKERS

    David Systrom

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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

    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.

    If you can,

    DONATE

    This conference is free of cost to all who wish to attend. In lieu of registration fee, we are asking those individuals who are able to donate to contribute towards the costs of this conference and advancing our work on ME/ CFS and Long COVID in Portugal.

    Choose the most convenient way to support us!

    PayPal: bit.ly/PayPalMyos

    Bank Transfer to:

    Myos – Associação Nacional Contra a Fibromialgia e Síndrome de Fadiga Crónica

    Address: Av. Santos Dumont, nº 67, 1º andar, 1050-203 Lisboa, Portugal

    Phone Number: +351 961792730
    IBAN: PT50.0033.0000.45243922237.05
    SWIFT: BCOMPTPL

    In case of donation, please send an email to info@conference-emsfc-post-covid.pt with the proof of transfer and the indication of the name, address and VAT Number for the issuance and sending of the receipt.

    COMMITTEES

    CONTACT

    If you have any questions or require any additional information, please do not hesitate to contact.

    Conference Secretariat

    Telephone

    +351 969 571 777

    E-mail

    info@conferencia-emsfc-pos-covid.pt

    Address for correspondence

    Myos – Associação Nacional Contra a Fibromialgia e Síndrome de Fadiga Crónica
    Av. Santos Dumont, nº 67, 1º andar, 1050-203 Lisboa, Portugal

    © 2024 Myos – Associação Nacional Contra a Fibromialgia e Síndrome de Fadiga Crónica