Midlands Fibromyalgia Support Group , supported by The Academy of Nutritional Medicine.

Dr. Judy Mikovits is the research director of the Whittemore Peterson Institute (WPI), a CFS/ME research organisation and clinic in Nevada, USA. Previous to that, Dr. Mikovits – a cell biologist, molecular biologist and virologist – worked for over 20 years at the National Cancer Institute in Frederick, MD.

Dr. Mikovits has studied the immune response to retroviruses and herpes viruses, including HIV, SIV, HTLVI, HERV, HHV6 and HHV8, with a special emphasis on virus host cell interactions in cells of the hematopoietic system, including hematopoietic stem cells (HSC). Her PhD was in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, investigating mechanisms by which retroviruses dysregulate the delicate balance of cytokines in the immune response.

Dr. Mikovits is one of the authors of the ground-breaking study published in Science magazine in October 2009 that detected XMRV in CFS patients (“Detection of an infectious retrovirus, XMRV, in blood cells of patients with chronic fatigue syndrome”), and is a member of the US Department of Health and Human Services Blood Working Group. She has co-authored over 40 peer-reviewed publications that address fundamental issues of viral pathogenesis, haematopoiesis and cytokine biology.

Ms Catherine Norton is a PhD candidate in the School of Psychology, University College Dublin. For her dissertation she conducted a large self reported study of self-reported quality of life, cognitive functioning, emotional status and pain symptoms in Fibromyalgia.

Greg Crowhurst is a registered Nurse with qualifications in Training, Experiential Learning, Counselling, Web Design and an MA in Moral, Personal and Spiritual Development. Greg ran his own training & development company before caring full-time for his wife Linda, who has Very Severe ME.

Greg is the author of two spiritual books based on his experience of caring, and has published on ME in the Nursing Standard and British Journal of Nursing – most recently on the potential implications of XMRV for caregivers of patients with ME/CFS. Greg has found music, art and expressive writing invaluable in coping with the 17 years his wife has spent in never-ending physical suffering.

He runs a website, Stonebird, dedicated to Severe ME. Blog

Dr. Daniel Goyal qualified from Aberdeen Medical School in 2001. After three years in Occupational and Environmental Medicine, he chose to focus specifically on Environmental Medicine. Dr. Goyal has received training from Dr. Jean Monro, Dr. Christabelle Yeoh and Dr. Peter Julu in nutritional and environmental medicine. He is currently employed by the Breakspear Medical Group and runs several Environmental Medicine clinics per week. Dr. Goyal’s interests include diagnostics, toxicology and physical medicine.

Dr. Peter Julu is the only GMC registered Specialist in Autonomic Neurophysiology in the UK. He is a Consultant Researcher at the Institute of Communication in Aalborg University, Denmark, and Head Neurophysiologist at the Swedish National Rett Centre at Frösön, Sweden, an Honorary Consultant Autonomic Neurophysiologist at the Royal London Hospital, and an Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer at both the Wingate Institute of Neurogastroenterology and the Royal London Hospital. He is also employed on a part time basis by the Breakspear Medical Group.Dr. Julu has carried out Neurophysiological Assessments of Autonomic Function on many patients and found results proving that ME is not all in the mind.

Dr Raymond N Perrin is Honorary Senior Lecturer in the Department of Allied Health Professions, University of Central Lancashire, and a Registered Osteopath and Specialist in M.E.Treating a patient for back pain in 1989 led him to the concept that there was a structural basis to M.E. He has spent over sixteen years researching the medical facts and sifting the scientific evidence while successfully treating an increasing number of M.E./Fibromyalgia sufferers and teaching fellow osteopaths, chiropractors and physiotherapists the fundamentals of the Perrin Technique.