The About ME/CFS Research Archive is an open-access, non-profit digital repository dedicated to preserving, organizing, and synthesizing biomedical research on Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS), Long COVID, and complex chronic neuro-immune conditions.

Our Origins & Founder Legacy: Cort Johnson

Founded in the mid-2000s by citizen science pioneer Cort Johnson (who subsequently went on to establish Phoenix Rising and Health Rising), aboutmecfs.org was among the very first digital publications in the world to provide rigorous, patient-centered investigative reporting on post-infectious illnesses.

Throughout the 2000s and 2010s, this domain served as a vital international hub connecting bed-bound patients with cutting-edge symposiums (such as the IACFS/ME conferences), investigative reports on retroviral research, biochemical protocols (such as Dr. Richard Van Konynenburg's methylation cycle work), and indispensable legal frameworks for obtaining Social Security disability benefits.

The 2026 Relaunch: Meeting the Post-Viral Crisis

Following the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, an estimated 65 million individuals worldwide developed Post-Acute Sequelae of COVID-19 (Long COVID). Medical researchers quickly recognized that the profound exercise intolerance, cognitive fog, autonomic instability, and mitochondrial failure observed in Long COVID are clinically identical to ME/CFS.

This modernized archive preserves the historical foundation of ME/CFS citizen science while integrating contemporary peer-reviewed discoveries from leading immunology institutes worldwide.

Strict Editorial Policy & E-E-A-T Principles

In adherence to Google’s Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T) guidelines for Your Money or Your Life (YMYL) health platforms, our editorial team follows rigorous standards:

  1. Peer-Reviewed Medical Citations: All clinical discussions, metabolic assertions, and physiological mechanisms cite peer-reviewed medical publications indexed in the National Library of Medicine (PubMed), complete with direct PMID links.
  2. Clear Distinction Between Hypotheses and Validated Treatments: We explicitly distinguish between preliminary laboratory hypotheses, small-scale clinical pilots, and established standards of care to ensure patients and clinicians possess clear, unvarnished expectations.
  3. Zero Pharmaceutical or Commercial Affiliations: We maintain strict editorial independence. We do not sell proprietary supplements, accept pharmaceutical advertising, or participate in paid endorsement schemes.
  4. Accessible Patient Communication: Recognizing that many readers suffer from severe sensory sensitivity and cognitive fatigue ("brain fog"), our articles are structured with high-contrast typography, generous line spacing (1.7), clear subheadings, and digestible executive summaries.

2026 Clinical Archival & Medical Review Methodology

Historical citizen-science observations from the 2004–2018 AboutME/CFS patient community are continuously audited and cross-referenced against 2024–2026 NIH RECOVER cohorts, Charité Berlin Institute of Medical Immunology findings, Workwell Foundation 2-day cardiopulmonary exercise testing protocols, and Bateman Horne Center clinical consensus guidance.

Our editorial board reviews every clinical claim against contemporary peer-reviewed literature, assigning objective evidentiary grades and direct PubMed PMID citations. Key landmark benchmarks incorporated into our medical review standard include:

  • NIH RECOVER Cohorts (2023–2026): Deep immunophenotyping identifying persistent antigen reservoirs, exhausted cytotoxic T cells, and blunted hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis output (PMID: 37748514).
  • Charité Berlin Biomarker Consensuses (Prof. Carmen Scheibenbogen): Autoantibody mapping against G-protein coupled receptors (β1, β2, M3, M4) and microvascular endothelial dysfunction (PMID: 26978453).
  • Workwell Foundation 2-Day CPET Standards: Objective cardiopulmonary documentation of 24-hour post-exertional malaise (PEM), anaerobic threshold suppression, and cellular bioenergetic collapse (PMID: 23813529).
  • Bateman Horne Center & U.S. ME/CFS Clinician Coalition: Standardized diagnostic algorithms and pharmacotherapeutic titration schedules for orthostatic intolerance, microglial neuro-inflammation, and mast cell activation syndrome (PMID: 34433156).

Academic Collaboration & Citation Permissions

Non-profit organizations, patient support charities, disability advocacy attorneys, and academic researchers are granted open permission to quote and reference materials from this archive under fair-use standards with proper attribution to aboutmecfs.org.

For corrections, peer review submissions, or archival questions, please visit our Contact Page.