Mark VanNess

Dr J. Mark VanNess, PhD, is a member of the scientific advisory committee of the Workwell Foundation which specializes in two-day cardiopulmonary exercise testing (2-day CPET) for myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia and other fatiguing conditions. He has been working on ME/CFS since 1999, and is particularly interested in issues of autonomic dysfunction and mechanisms that produce post-exertional malaise.

Dr VanNess serves as an Associate Professor of Health, Exercise & Sport Sciences, Department of Sport Sciences, and an Adjunct Instructor at the College of Engineering, both at the University of the Pacific, Stockton, California.

Education

• 1990 - BS, Wheaton College, Illinois - Major: Exercise Physiology Minor: Biology
• 1993 - MS, California State University Sacramento - Thesis Title: "Lactate and Metabolic Responses to Controlled Frequency Breathing During Graded Tethered Swimming"
• 1997 - PhD, Florida State University - Dissertation Title: "Role of the Paraventricular Hypothalamic Nuclei and Neuropeptide Y in the Antihypertensive Effect of Food Restriction in Aortic Coarctation Hypertension"
• 1997-1999 - Post-Doctoral Training, Depts. of Pharmacology and Physiology, Univ. Texas Health Science Center. Gender differences in sodium-dependent hypertension

ME/CFS Common Data Element (CDE) Project

Member of the Quality of Life/Functional Status (CPET)/Activity Working Group of the Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Common Data Element (CDE) Project sponsored by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Notable studies

• 2001, Assessment of Functional Impairment by Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing in Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome ABSTRACT
• 2001, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Ampligen, and Quality of Life: A Phenomenological Perspective ABSTRACT
• 2002, Physical performance and prediction of 2-5A synthetase/RNase L antiviral pathway activity in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome ABSTRACT
• 2003, Subclassifying chronic fatigue syndrome through exercise testing ABSTRACT
• 2005, Exercise capacity and immune function in male and female patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) FULL TEXT
• 2007, Legal and Scientific Considerations of the Exercise Stress Test ABSTRACT
• 2007, Diminished Cardiopulmonary Capacity During Post-Exertional Malaise ABSTRACT
• 2010, Post-exertional malaise in women with chronic fatigue syndrome ABSTRACT
• 2011, Diagnostic accuracy of symptoms characterising chronic fatigue syndrome ABSTRACT
• 2011, Reliability and validity of Short Form 36 Version 2 to measure health perceptions in a sub-group of individuals with fatigue
• 2013, Discriminative Validity of Metabolic and Workload Measurements for Identifying People With Chronic Fatigue Syndrome FULL TEXT
• 2018, Editorial - Checking our blind spots: current status of research evidence summaries in ME/CFS. (Introduction)
• 2018, Cardiopulmonary Exercise Test Methodology for Assessing Exertion Intolerance in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Abstract
• 2019, Chronotropic Intolerance: An Overlooked Determinant of Symptoms and Activity Limitation in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome? (Full text)
• 2019, Whole blood human transcriptome and virome analysis of ME/CFS patients experiencing post-exertional malaise following cardiopulmonary exercise testing (Full text)

Clinic location

The Workwell Foundation is based in Ripon, California.

Talks and interviews

• 2014, Mark VanNess 'Exercise and ME/CFS' at Bristol Watershed
• 2014, Speaker at the ME Research UK Stormont Parliament meeting, ‘ME in Northern Ireland: practice and research priorities’; presentation on the role of exercise and activity management for people with ME or CFS, based on his own work
• 2016, 12th International IACFS/ME Biennial Clinical and Research Conference, Emerging Science and Clinical Care, How Cardiopulmonary Exercise Testing Informs Pathology and Treatment(Workshop given with Christopher Snell, Ph.D. and Betsy Keller, Ph.D.)
• 2016, Dr. Mark Van Ness, "Expanding Physical Capability in ME/CFS" Part 1 (of 2)
• 2016, Dr. Mark Van Ness, "Expanding Physical Capability in ME/CFS" Part 2 (of 2)

Online presence

• PubMed
• Twitter
• Workwell Foundation Website
• ResearchGate

Learn more

• 2016, Dr VanNess on recent press reports (January)

See also

• Christopher Snell
• Exercise
• Staci Stevens
• Two-day cardiopulmonary exercise testing
• Workwell Foundation

two-day cardiopulmonary exercise test (CPET) - A diagnostic test which involves testing an ME/CFS patient exercising on an exercise machine, while monitoring their respiration, especially oxygen consumption. This test is repeated the following day in order to confirm the patient's inability to replicate the first-day performance. This test is thought to be the most objective way to detect post-exertional malaise.

myalgic encephalomyelitis (M.E.) - A disease often marked by neurological symptoms, but fatigue is sometimes a symptom as well. Some diagnostic criteria distinguish it from chronic fatigue syndrome, while other diagnostic criteria consider it to be a synonym for chronic fatigue syndrome. A defining characteristic of ME is post-exertional malaise (PEM), or post-exertional neuroimmune exhaustion (PENE), which is a notable exacerbation of symptoms brought on by small exertions. PEM can last for days or weeks. Symptoms can include cognitive impairments, muscle pain (myalgia), trouble remaining upright (orthostatic intolerance), sleep abnormalities, and gastro-intestinal impairments, among others. An estimated 25% of those suffering from ME are housebound or bedbound. The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies ME as a neurological disease.

stress Stress can by either physical or psychological, or both. Stress is either 1) a state of emotional or psychological strain or 2) the physical stress (pressure or tension) that a physical object such the human body is placed under, e.g., a stress test is a medical test that monitors the cardiovascular system during strenuous exercise.

accuracy The "closeness of an observation to the true clinical state". With respect to diagnostic tests, "accuracy" means how specific and sensitive the test is.

virome The human virome is the collection of all viruses that are found in or on humans.

post-exertional malaise (PEM) - A notable exacerbation of symptoms brought on by small physical or cognitive exertions. PEM may be referred to as a "crash" or "collapse" and can last for days or weeks. Symptoms can include cognitive impairments, muscle pain, trouble remaining upright (orthostatic intolerance), sleep abnormalities, and gastro-intestinal impairments, and others.

National Institutes of Health (NIH) - A set of biomedical research institutes operated by the U.S. government, under the auspices of the Department of Health and Human Services.