Episode
#37 ME/CFS breakthroughs: are treatments getting closer?
- Published
- Jun 26, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 3572
- Processing state
not_requested
Actions
POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/make-visible-chronic-illness-explored-7015207/episodes/37-me-cfs-breakthroughs-are-treatments-getting-closer/transcription-requests
Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/make-visible-chronic-illness-explored-7015207/37-me-cfs-breakthroughs-are-treatments-getting-closer.md
Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.
Summary
Are ME/CFS research breakthroughs finally bringing treatments closer? In the wake of Long Covid, the needle may be shifting — at last. ME/CFS has been underfunded and under-researched for decades. Despite the scale and severity of the illness, major gaps remain in diagnosis, clinical care and treatment options. There is still no single diagnostic biomarker, and people who are more severely affected are often excluded from research entirely. In this episode we bring together leading voices in ME/CFS research, advocacy and clinical innovation to ask: what breakthroughs are changing our understanding of ME/CFS — and could they bring us closer to treatments? Themes include: the impact of Long Covid on ME/CFS funding and research; why genetics studies like DecodeME are key milestones toward individualised treatment; how precision medicine could transform care; and why a significant gap remains between research momentum and patient reality today. Guests: Dr Vicky Whittemore (NIH/NINDS), Amy Rochlin (Complex Disorders Alliance), Sonya Chowdhury (Action for ME), Dr Steve Gardner (PrecisionLife) and David Tuller (UC Berkeley).