Ramsay Research Grant Program
Solve M.E. supports research into the underlying causes of ME/CFS and Long Covid through the Ramsay Research Grant Program, an open, peer-reviewed competition for grants to support pilot studies and data analysis. The Ramsay Program has been successful in attracting new scientists to the field of ME/CFS, providing much-needed funding for researchers to engage with the science of the disease and build pilot data.
Since 2016, 34 studies have been supported by Ramsay Grants. There is a network of over 91 research collaborators who have been involved in the Ramsay Program. Half of the principal investigators on these projects applied their expertise to study ME/CFS for the first time and 17 of the projects involved early-career stage researchers.
Stay tuned for additional details and information about applying.
The Ramsay Grant Program has three main objectives:
Attract NEW RESEARCHERS to the ME/CFS and Long Covid fields and ensure they stay engaged
Facilitate applications for LARGER GRANTS based on promising pilot data
Add to the cumulative SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE
Ramsay Grants
Lab-Based Research Grants
Ranging from $35,000 to $55,000 for one year, with the possibility of renewal for projects yielding promising results.
Applications receive a rigorous, double-blind peer review to ensure projects of the highest quality are selected. Applications receive two independent reviews and proposals are ranked numerically on a defined scale based on significance, innovation, approach, and overall impact.
Leveraging Impact: Ramsay Grant Priorities
- Fund more researchers than ever before, with a focus on collaboration
- Require Ramsay investigators to share both positive and negative results to allow other researchers to build on their findings and counteract publication bias
- Mobilize Ramsay investigators to complete a visibility or advocacy action (e.g. writing an op-ed or visiting with a lawmaker to advocate for an increase in research dollars) as part of their projects
Stupski Data Analysis Awards
In 2021, Solve expanded the Ramsay Program by launching the Stupski Awards to fund projects that analyze You + ME Registry data. These new grants honor Joyce Stupski, whose generous support of research and dedication to Solve M.E. will be sorely missed.
Recipients of the first-ever Stupski Awards are Jennifer Stone, PhD, and Efthymios Kalafatis, MSc.
Ramsay Grants have supported:
Publications resulting from Ramsay-supported research include:
Sarah Ballouz, PhD:
“Improvement of immune dysregulation in individuals with long COVID at 24-months following SARS-CoV-2 infection” (Nat Commun. 2024)
Jonas Bergquist MD, PhD; Jonas Blomberg, MD, PhD; Anders Rosen:
“Epigenetic reprogramming in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: A narrative of latent viruses” (J Intern Med, 2024)
“Metabolic Dysfunction in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Not Due to Anti-mitochondrial Antibodies” (Front Med (Lausanne), 2020)
“Antibodies to Human Herpesviruses in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Patients” (Front Immunol, 2019)
Geraldine (Jo) Cambridge, PhD:
Heather Edgell, PhD:
“Inspiratory muscle training improves autonomic function in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome and post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2: A pilot study” (Respir Physiol Neurobiol, 2024)
“Machine learning algorithms for detection of visuomotor neural control differences in individuals with PASC and ME” (Front Hum Neurosci, 2024)
Dawei Li, PhD:
“Mosaic Chromosomal Alterations/Somatic Copy Number Variations: A New Frontier in Genetic Association Studies of Complex Diseases” (Biol Psychiatry, 2025)
“Blood virome research in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: challenges and opportunities” (Curr Opin Virol, 2024)
Fiona Newberry, PhD:
“Investigating the Human Intestinal DNA Virome and Predicting Disease-Associated Virus-Host Interactions in Severe Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS)” (Int J Mol Sci, 2023)
Bruno Paiva PhD, Manuel Ruiz Pablos:
“Epstein-Barr virus-acquired immunodeficiency in myalgic encephalomyelitis-Is it present in long COVID?” (J Transl Med, 2023)
“Epstein-Barr Virus and the Origin of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome” (Front Immunol, 2021)
“Hypocortisolemic ASIA: a vaccine- and chronic infection-induced syndrome behind the origin of long COVID and myalgic encephalomyelitis“(Front Immunol, 2024)
Bhupesh Prusty, PhD:
“Human Herpesvirus-6 Reactivation, Mitochondrial Fragmentation, and the Coordination of Antiviral and Metabolic Phenotypes in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome,” (ImmunoHorizons, 2020)
“Chronic viral infections in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS)” (J Transl Med, 2018)
Shad Roundy, PhD:
“Accurate and objective determination of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome disease severity with a wearable sensor” (J Transl Med, 2020)
Avik Roy, PhD:
“Inactivation of ATG13 stimulates chronic demyelinating pathologies in muscle-serving nerves and spinal cord” (Immunol Res, 2025)
“JRM-28, a Novel HDAC2 Inhibitor, Upregulates Plasticity-Associated Proteins in Hippocampal Neurons and Enhances Morphological Plasticity via Activation of CREB: Implications for Alzheimer’s Disease” (Cells, 2024)
Carmen Scheibenbogen, MD:
Understanding, diagnosing, and treating Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome – State of the art: Report of the 2nd international meeting at the Charité Fatigue Center (Autoimmun Rev, 2023)
“Autoimmunity-Related Risk Variants in PTPN22 and CTLA4 Are Associated With ME/CFS With Infectious Onset,” (Frontiers in Immunology, 2020)
“Human Herpesvirus-6 Reactivation, Mitochondrial Fragmentation, and the Coordination of Antiviral and Metabolic Phenotypes in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome” (Immunohorizons, 2020)
Liisa Selin, PhD; Anna Gil, PhD:
“Identification of CD8 T-cell dysfunction associated with symptoms in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and Long COVID and treatment with a nebulized antioxidant/anti-pathogen agent in a retrospective case series” (Brain Behav Immun Health, 2023)
Theoharis Theoharides, MD, PhD:
“Exosome-associated mitochondrial DNA from patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome stimulates human microglia to release IL-1β” (Eur J Neurosci, 2022)
Rob Wüst, PhD:
“Skeletal muscle adaptations and post-exertional malaise in long COVID” (Trends Endocrinol Metab, 2024)
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