Whittemore Peterson Institute
The Whittemore Peterson Institute (WPI) is a nonprofit center based in Reno, Nevada, dedicated to the support of those with a spectrum of neuro-immune diseases (NIDs), including myalgic encephalomyelitis and fibromyalgia, via research, education, and advocacy. It was founded by Annette Whittemore, in 2005, in honor of an impacted family member and Dr Daniel Peterson, the doctor who diagnosed and treated her.[1]
Clinic
Rebrand
In February 2016 the Whittemore Peterson Institute announced it was changing its name to the Nevada Center for Biomedical Research.[2] In January 2019, due to restructuring of the research program, the center returned to its original name, the Whittemore Peterson Institute.[3]
Notable studies
XMRV
An October 2009 paper by Vincent Lombardi, Francis Ruscetti, Jaydip Das Gupta, Max Pfost, Kathryn S. Hagen, Daniel Peterson, Sandra Ruscetti, Rachel K. Bagni, Cari Petrow-Sadowski, Bert Gold, Michael Dean, Robert Silverman Judy Mikovits entitled "Detection of an Infectious Retrovirus, XMRV, in Blood Cells of Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome" claimed to have found a link between chronic fatigue syndrome and the presence of the retrovirus.[4] The paper's primary authors were at that time based at the Whittemore Peterson Institute (WPI) in Reno, Nevada, United States. The WPI soon began offering a controversial commercial XMRV testing service.[5][6]
Other labs around the world were unable to detect XMRV in their patient samples. In July 2011 the journal issued an editorial expression of concern about the paper.[7]
The paper was fully retracted in December 2011 by the journal.[8][9]
One of the key scientists involved in efforts to clarify the situation surrounding XMRV, and eventually to debunk the science, was Ian Lipkin of Columbia University in New York.[10]
Doctor Mikovits has maintained her view that XMRV is a public health risk and documents those views in her book Plague with co-author Kent Heckenlively.[11][12]
Mainstream science considers XMRV to be a laboratory artefact and not a threat to human health or related to chronic fatigue syndrome.[13][14]
Online presence
- Wikipedia - Nevada Center for Biomedical Research
- Webpage - Nevada Center for Biomedical Research
- Facebook - Nevada Center for Biomedical Research
Notable people
See also
References
- ↑ NVCBR. "About Us". Whittemore Peterson Institute. Retrieved January 17, 2019.
- ↑ Facebook announcement
- ↑ WPI. "NVCBR Latest News". Whittemore Peterson Institute. Retrieved January 17, 2019.
- ↑ Detection of an Infectious Retrovirus, XMRV, in Blood Cells of Patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
- ↑ WPI-Licensed Test for XMRV & Variants Now Available
- ↑ XMRV testing in the UK
- ↑ Editorial Expression of Concern
- ↑ Chronic fatigue syndrome-XMRV paper retracted by Science, completely this time
- ↑ Retraction
- ↑ The scientist who put the nail in XMRV's coffin
- ↑ PLAGUE – The Update on XMRV
- ↑ Tracking retractions as a window into the scientific process Chronic fatigue syndrome researcher Mikovits, who championed link to XMRV, to publish book
- ↑ Wikipedia - XMRV - Chronic fatigue syndrome
- ↑ Final Study Confirms: Virus Not Implicated in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome