Dr. Jarred Younger gives a presentation of his new research findings that indicate brain inflammation plays a significant role in the pathophysiology of ME/CFS. With pilot funding from SMCI’s Ramsay Award Program, Dr. Younger used a non-invasive imaging technique to measure temperature and other brain chemistry indicators in individuals with ME/CFS and control subjects. The results showed distinctly elevated brain temperature, indicative of inflammation, in patients. The involvement of brain inflammation in the development and progression of ME/CFS has long been an area of interest, but there has been a lack of direct evidence to support the connection. This seminal study further validates that neuroinflammation is occurring in ME/CFS patients and has the potential to point the way to an objective marker and effective medical treatments.

Dr. Jarred Younger obtained his PhD in Experimental Psychophysiology at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville in 2003. Dr. Younger then completed postdoctoral fellowships in pain medicine and neuroimaging at Arizona State University and Stanford University before joining the faculty at Stanford in 2009. In 2014, he transferred to the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he currently directs the Neuroinflammation, Pain and Fatigue Laboratory. His lab uses neuroimaging, immune monitoring, and clinical trial techniques to develop new diagnostic tests and treatments for pain and fatigue disorders.