Open Medicine Foundation Australia

06/10/2026

Multi-omics is a style of research that combines multiple layers of biological data—including genomics (genes), proteomics (proteins), and metabolomics (metabolites)---to build a complete picture of what is happening inside the body. Instead of studying one biological system at a time, multi-omics looks at many systems simultaneously to identify patterns.

As a multi-system chronic complex disease, multi-omics is incredibly valuable in ME/CFS research. A single-focus study often misses the bigger picture in multi-system diseases, so multi-omics better helps researchers connect the dots across biology, moving us closer to understanding the root causes of .

OMF’s Collaborative Centre at Montreal is using this in their Multi-Omic Approaches to Solve Post-Acute COVID-19 (MOSAIC) project, which is trying to facilitate early detection of ME/CFS in people with and better understand disease progression.

Read more about the study on OMF's website: https://ow.ly/8Gn050ZVbY7.

30/09/2026

Systemic is a term that describes something that affects the whole body—its systems, organs, and processes all at once—rather than just one isolated area. Systematic refers to a methodical, step-by-step approach to doing something. In the context of medical research, a disease can be systemic, while the research investigating it should be systematic.

ME/CFS is a systemic disease—it disrupts the immune system, nervous system, energy production, and more, all at the same time. Therefore, systematic research into the disease that addresses the impact on the whole body is critical.

OMF takes a systematic research approach, using rigorous, coordinated methods across multiple scientific disciplines to capture the full picture of how ME/CFS works—acknowledging and addressing the systemic nature of the disease.

🔗 Read more about OMF’s research portfolio on OMF's website: https://ow.ly/cTIV50ZS11t.

29/09/2026

Nearly 1,700 of you completed the Understanding Post-Exertional Symptom Worsening in ME/CFS survey.

These survey results go directly into CTN Lite trial design. They shape the outcome measures we select, the way we define and track PEM, and how we build trial protocols that can accommodate patients across the full severity spectrum.

👉 Dr. Danielle Meadows, OMF's VP of Research Programs, will walk through the results in a live webinar on 8 October at 6:00 AM AEDT.

She'll cover what you told us about post-exertional symptom worsening and crashes, what it means for CTN Lite trial design, and what comes next for the program.

🔗 Register: https://ow.ly/uB6F50ZS0Qa

We recognise that the live session time is unsuitable for most people in our region. If you're unable to attend live, a recording will be sent to all registrants.

28/09/2026

Nearly 1,700 of you completed our deep dive survey on post-exertional symptom worsening, and we are so grateful to have your input on this critical topic.

In the survey we presented two frameworks: a staged model of post-exertional worsening, and a proposed set of outcome measures for decentralised treatment trials. Nearly 97% of respondents reported that our staged model covered or mostly covered their experience well. Almost 90% felt the proposed combination of tests would capture their experience very well or somewhat well.

These survey results go directly into CTN Lite trial design, and we continue to learn from patterns in your responses. They shape the outcome measures we select, the way we define and track PEM, and how we build trial protocols that can accommodate patients across the full severity spectrum.

Want to go deeper into the results? Join Dr. Danielle Meadows for a webinar on 8 October at 6:00am AEDT.

We recognise that the live session time is unsuitable for most people in our region. If you're unable to attend live, a recording will be sent to all registrants.

🔗 Learn more: https://www.omf.ngo/pem-deep-dive-survey-results/

26/09/2026

23/09/2026

A Data Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) is an independent group of medical and scientific experts who watch over a clinical trial while it's happening. They regularly review incoming data to make sure participants aren't being harmed and that the study is running fairly and ethically.

In ME/CFS clinical trials, a DSMB can be a critical safeguard for participants’ wellbeing, particularly in studies that are investigating drugs that haven’t been used frequently or at all in the disease. It can also add a layer of scientific credibility to trials, which is important for translating trial results into clinical practice.

OMF’s lite version of a clinical trial network (CTN Lite) will incorporate a DSMB for appropriate trials that are conducted as part of the initiative.

👉 Read more about CTN Lite on OMF's website: https://ow.ly/LcZc50ZQ9Tk

18/09/2026

➡️ Add impact to your inbox! Subscribe to OMFAU newsletter 👉 https://ow.ly/WPPZ50XRXNc

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17/09/2026

Dr Janet Mullington and her team, in collaboration with OMF’s Computational Research Centre for Complex Diseases, recently released a paper on their investigation of sleep electroencephalographic (EEG) microstructures.

The team studied these microstructures in the context of non-restorative sleep and daytime fatigue in and .

When comparing results from people with Long COVID and ME/CFS to healthy controls, there were differences identified in the sleep microstructures, including slow oscillations (SO), spindle-SO coupling, and within-spindle frequency.

These findings show objective, measurable changes in sleep EEG microstructures that are associated with the non-restorative sleep experienced in Long COVID and ME/CFS.

🔗 Learn more on OMF's website: https://ow.ly/tp1G50ZNXng

16/09/2026

Gut dysbiosis is an imbalance in the microorganisms—bacteria, fungi, and viruses—that live in your digestive system. When this “community” is disrupted, it can interfere with digestion, immune function, and even how your brain and body communicate.

In ME/CFS, there is evidence of gut dysbiosis, which may suggest the gut plays a meaningful role in driving or worsening symptoms.

Because the gut can impact the immune system and the brain, an imbalanced microbiome could help explain the widespread inflammation, cognitive difficulties, and immune dysfunction that people with ME/CFS experience.

OMF’s Melbourne ME/CFS Collaboration has explored the relationship between ME/CFS and gut dysbiosis by studying the impact that a common comorbidity, irritable bowel syndrome, has on metabolite signatures of the disease.

🔗 Read more about the project on our website: https://ow.ly/rjpX50ZO1MV.

09/09/2026

Today is R U OK? Day.

For a lot of people living with ME/CFS or Long COVID, the honest answer is hard, and the usual ways of asking, a coffee, a walk, a visit, are out of reach. When your world has shrunk to one room, staying connected to the people outside it is one of the hardest parts.

Discoveries for ME is a way to reach someone anyway. You bring back a small piece of the world, a photo, a pebble, a ten-second video, for someone you're thinking of. It says I haven't forgotten you, and asks nothing of them in return.

If someone comes to mind today, that's the nudge.



https://www.omfaustralia.ngo/discoveries-for-me/