The University of Hawaii's Pacific Research Center for Marine Biomedicine (PRCMH) has received confirmation of a $5 million grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, a division of the National Institutes of Health, to be paid out over the next five years.  The researchers at the John A. Burns School of Medicine's Department of Pathology, led by Dr. Yoshitsugi Hokama, will receive $1 million of that grant to continue their work on chronic fatigue syndrome and the ciguatera epitope found in over 95% of the patients tested. 

     The School of Pathology has received multiple grant fundings in the past for their ground breaking work on the ciguatera epitope and its relationship to chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis by the National CFIDS Foundation.  Although this grant was not applied for in the same way as most grants are at the NIH for "CFS," the research will raise the visibility of this illness as well as add much needed hope to the international patient community.

     Dr. Hokama first announced his research finding regarding ME/CFIDS at the International Symposium of on Toxins and Natural Products in Okinawa, Japan in 2002.  Since then, he has has published his research in the Journal of Toxicology as well as the Journal of Clinical Laboratory Analysis, both in 2003 (see Material's Section for copies).  This new funding will allow the Department of Pathology to continue to unravel the mysteries of ME/CFIDS.

Testing for this epitope is available and the protocol for testing can be requested by writing to the National CFIDS Foundation, Inc.