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Suzanne D. Vernon, PhD

Suzanne D. Vernon , PhD, is the Research Liaison at Bateman Horne Center of Excellence which specializes in treatment and research for ME/CFS and Fibromyalgia and the Chief Scientific Revolutionary of The BioCollective, a collaborative that provides storage and sales of microbiome samples for research and development.

From November 2007 to May 2015, Dr. Vernon was the Scientific Director of Solve ME/CFS Initiative, formerly known as CFIDS Association of America. While there she recognized that access to well-characterized clinical populations was a barrier to engaging more scientists in ME/ CFS research. Thus, she started the Research Institute Without Walls (RIWW), "the first nonprofit patient-centered research initiative focused on identifying diagnostic biomarkers and disease-modifying treatment for ME/ CFS. The core of RIWW is the SolveCFS BioBank & Patient Registry.

From May 1990 to October 2007, Dr. Vernon worked for the US Centers for Disease Control , first on the team investigating the human papillomavirus as an opportunistic infection in HIV-infected woman, and then in 1997, she became the CFS research group team leader, under William Reeves , MD, the Director of the CDC Chronic Fatigue Research Program.

In 2005, Dr Vernon was one of the authors of the CDC case definition of CFS , commonly called the Reeves criteria .

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Chronic Fatigue Symptoms Worsen or Improve

Ask the Expert


Q: Will my chronic fatigue symptoms get worse over time or could they improve and eventually go away?

A: Although chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction syndrome, can persist for many years, long-term studies indicate that CFS generally is not a progressive illness. Symptoms are usually most severe in the first year or two. Thereafter, the symptoms typically stabilize, then persist chronically, wax and wane, or improve. For some people with CFS, symptoms can get worse over time.

It appears that while the majority of people with CFS partially recover, only a few fully recover. Others experience cycles of recovery and relapse. There's no way to predict which category you might fall into. There is some evidence that the sooner a person is treated, the better his or her chances of improvement, which illustrates the importance of early diagnosis and treatment.

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