Patient-Led Research Fund Webinar 2025 | Aligning community needs with research priorities
Come see the results and latest progress from the 10 studies funded by the Patient-Led Research Fund — biomedical research projects selected by a panel of patient-researchers with both scientific expertise and lived experience of Long COVID and/or ME/CFS.
Patient-Led Research Fund Webinar Agenda
Jul 9 2025 13:00 – 16:40 ET
Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_FlN9_eVjRdmKFJ9WnlpMkw#/registration
| Presenter | Patient Rep | Title | Time | Type |
| PLRC Team | Welcome & Introductions & Short Process Talk | 1:00 PM | PLRC Team | |
| Braeden Charlton PhD Candidate, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands | Skeletal Muscle Abnormalities in Long COVID | 1:15 PM | Study Presentation | |
| Caroline Dalton, PhD Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Genetics, Sheffield Hallam University, England | Michael Natt | Fibrinaloid microclot quantification in plasma from people with Long COVID and ME/CFS | 1:30 PM | Study Presentation |
| Liisa Selin, MD, PhD Professor at University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School / Selin Lab, USA | Megan Fitzgerald, PhD Rivka Solomon | Altered T cell responses in Long COVID (PASC) and ME/CFS | 1:45 PM | Study Presentation |
| David Esteban, PhD Associate Professor of Biology and Director of Biochemistry, Vassar College, USA | Tess Falor, PhD | Alterations in tryptophan metabolism in the gut microbiome of people with ME/CFS and Long COVID | 2:00 PM | Study Presentation |
| Megan Fitzgerald, PhD PLRC | Nothing for us without us: aligning research funding with patient priorities | 2:15 PM | Patient Representative | |
| Break (10 Minutes) | 2:30 PM | PLRC Team | ||
| Roshan Kumar, PhD Head of Research, HiFiBiO Therapeutics, USA | Rivka Solomon | T cell dysregulation revealed by single-cell profiling of ME/CFS and Long COVID patients | 2:40 PM | Study Presentation |
| Per Sjögren, & Bo C Bertilson, MD Associate professors at Karolinska Institute / Bragée Clinics, Sweden | Tess Falor, PhD | Surgery for foraminal stenosis in ME/CFS | 2:55 PM | Study Presentation |
| Wenzhong Xiao, PhD Director of Immuno-Metabolic Computational Center at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, USA | Becky Taurog, PhD Chimére L. Sweeney | Systems Biology Approaches to Uncovering Disease Mechanism and Drug Repurposing for Long COVID | 3:10 PM | Study Presentation |
| Alain Moreau, PhD Faculty of Dentistry (Department of Stomatology) Faculty of Medicine (Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine) Université de Montréal, Montreal, QC, Canada Scientific Director, Viscogliosi Laboratory in Molecular Genetics of Musculoskeletal Diseases Azrieli Research Center, CHU Sainte-Justine, Montreal, QC, Canada | Epigenomics of Long COVID: Insights, Breakthroughs, and Emerging Hope. | 3:25 PM | Study Presentation | |
| Break (10 Minutes) | 3:40 PM | PLRC Team | ||
| Janet Mullington, PhD Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, USA | Letícia Soares, PhD | Characterizing non-restorative sleep in post-viral disease to advance intervention innovations | 3:50 PM | Study Presentation |
| Michael Peluso, MD Assistant Professor of Medicine, University of California, USA | Anisha Sekar | Monoclonal antibodies in Long COVID: what needs to happen next | 4:05 PM | Study Presentation |
| Moderated by Julia Moore Vogel with Liisa Selin, Janet Mullington, & Roshan Kumar (research grantees), Anisha Sekar (patient rep), and Hannah Davis ( PLRF admin) | Advancing Long COVID Research: The Power of Patient-Centered Science and Patient-Driven Funding | 4:20 PM | Round Table | |
| PLRC Team | Closing Remarks | 4:35 PM | PLRC Team |