The Whittemore Peterson Institute: Building Bridges through Private and Public Sector Collaboration

Journey Through A Medical Wilderness

Our odyssey began in 1989, when my daughter, Andrea, became ill with a mononucleosis-like illness and then failed to return to normal health (Figure 1). After many months of continuous relapsing and remitting flu-like symptoms, she was referred to a major medical institution for evaluation. She was given a cursory check up, then provided with a psychological explanation for her infectious symptoms of sore throat, severe head and nerve pain, swollen lymph glands, night sweats, tachycardia, and muscle aching fatigue. Even to a non-scientist that answer seemed ridiculous3. The consulting physicians could offer no explanation for what was clearly a biological phenomenon.

“Even to a non-scientist that answer seemed ridiculous.”

I returned home with Andrea, determined to find a doctor who knew something about the outbreak of a disease that had occurred at Lake Tahoe, a favorite summer destination frequented by our family. A physician and next door neighbor, Reggie Davis, who had known Andrea as a healthy child and saw her frequently during her illness, was convinced that her symptoms were like those of individuals from that outbreak. He suggested that we see Raymond Scott, an internist in Reno, even though Andrea was only twelve. Before allowing her to see the doctor, I scheduled an interview with him to be sure he knew something about the disease: I was not going to allow her to be told that her symptoms were not real, as did the doctor who told her that she “most likely hated her parents, her friends, and her school.” Through it all, other physicians confirmed what I knew—that my daughter was ill with a very real disease.

Fortunately, Dr. Scott had worked with other patients in the Incline Village, Lake Tahoe area and knew more about CFS than any other doctor in Reno. Although the treatments he offered provided only symptomatic relief, her life improved under his compassionate care. She continued this modest improvement until she decided to enroll at the University of Nevada–Reno. The admission policy required the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccination prior to starting classes. Within five days of the MMR vaccination, Andrea had a severe relapse and never regained her previous level of health.

As her health continued to deteriorate, Dr. Scott became more concerned. Soon we were on our way to another major medical institution in California, where rounds of tests and several physicians later, we ended the visit with a referral to another hospital’s pain clinic where she was told she should fill out a questionnaire everyday, then learn to live with her pain. Just eighteen years old, Andrea was facing a lifetime of pain that was so severe she required the use of a transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation unit and injections to make it through the day.

Only after a visit to a local gastroenterologist, one year later, did we find that much of her pain arose from a diseased gall-bladder. Within six months of her gallbladder surgery, she also had to have her appendix removed. We began to worry that a vital organ might soon be affected, so we followed her doctor’s advice and sought out internist Daniel Peterson of Incline Village. Months later, Andrea was accepted into his practice.

“Without serious government-backed follow-up to validate those initial and unfortunate faulty conclusions, medical scientists were dissuaded from researching the cause of the new disease...”

Dr. Peterson has a passion for his work and his patients. He is one of a small number of well-respected CFS physicians and was one of two doctors who first alerted the Centers for Disease Control to a possible outbreak of a new disease, then dubbed chronic Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) (2). Dr. Peterson knew that something was making his patients sick and keeping them from getting well again. The CDC’s quick reply left Peterson with the impression that the CDC didn’t know what the cause was and that it did not think it warranted more attention. Without serious government-backed follow-up to validate those initial and unfortunate faulty conclusions, medical scientists were dissuaded from researching the cause of the new disease, while many more around the world became ill.

Patients who had what was now known as ME/CFS were left with modest victories to cheer and little medical hope. In 1993, Nevada became one of the first states to request that the President and Congress increase funding for research into CFS4. In addition, the Nevada legislature agreed to include the drug, Ampligen, which acts to stimulate the body’s antiviral defenses, in modest recovery models for Phase III trials. Treadmill VO₂max (i.e., the volume of oxygen utilized during exercise of maximum exertion) was used as a guide to evaluate patient disability and response to treatment. When Andrea turned twenty-one, she enrolled in the phase III drug trial. Twice a week she was given an intravenous (iv) infusion that at first caused her to experience a worsening of her symptoms. Other days, she spent hours receiving nutrient iv fluids that supported her health. Finally, after one year of treatment, she began to improve with the drug and continued to take it, off and on, for eight years.

Blood tests, developed in a laboratory in Belgium, helped determine some of the unique traits found in many CFS patients. After the bombing of the World Trade Center, however, transporting blood overseas was no longer an option. We and a few other patient advocates were approached by one of the owners of the Belgium lab and asked to support the establishment of a US lab that would perform the same tests. Because most of the American patients lacked the insurance to pay for the tests, my husband, Harvey, and I agreed to help and soon supported the lab in its entirety. We felt supporting this lab was critical to the ongoing work in developing and testing therapies for patients with CFS. As a result of supporting the lab, valuable RNase L studies and natural killer (NK) cell work were able to continue, which eventually led to the hypothesis that patients with CFS might be infected with xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV).

While taking Ampligen, Andrea improved to 75% of her previous levels of energy and stamina, but despite many of the positive outcomes, she continued to fall ill with opportunistic infections. For unknown reasons, Andrea began to develop reactions to Ampligen, making her too sick to continue. Once off the drug, she began a continuous decline. Today, without treatment she experiences daily seizures, nausea, vomiting, severe allergies, and painful lymph-node swelling. As a result, she requires nearly full-time help to care for herself and her home. Instead of answers and solutions, we were left with hopelessness.

CFS: Challenges To Overcome

The difference between the actual effects of this disease and that which is portrayed in the popular media could not be greater. The current CDC definition states that a patient must satisfy two criteria:

1. Have severe chronic fatigue of six months or longer duration, with other known medical conditions excluded by clinical diagnosis; and

2. Concurrently have four or more of the following symptoms: substantial impairment in short-term memory or concentration; sore throat; tender lymph nodes; muscle pain; multi-joint pain without swelling or redness; headaches of a new type, pattern or severity; unrefreshing sleep; and post-exertional malaise lasting more than twenty-four hours.

The symptoms must have persisted or recurred during six or more consecutive months of illness and must not have predated the fatigue. The CDC then recommends a series of common blood tests, but goes on to predict that:

“More than 90% of patients presenting with severe fatigue will test at normal levels for the series of laboratory tests listed above. Assuming that there is nothing in the physical examination or in the personal history of the patient that suggests a clear direction to the doctor, no further laboratory testing is recommended.”

With what other disease could government health officials suggest waiting six months for a diagnosis, using tests that will only tell you what it is not, and leave you with no answers as to what it is or how to treat it? The CDC concludes that because not every CFS patient has the same abnormalities in their immune systems or brain scans, further evaluation is not necessary. Thus, scientific answers become even harder to obtain.

Perhaps what is missing most from the public’s awareness is the description of the most severely ill patients, like Andrea, who, at times, was so ill and weak that she was unable to feed herself or walk unaided. As these patients’ immune systems weaken and various chronic infections take hold, they live their lives between doctor’s offices and their homes physically and emotionally isolated from their families, friends, and communities. Many go on to develop life-threatening complications. In a retrospective analysis, Leonard Jason found that those diagnosed with ME/CFS died of heart disease, cancer, or suicide at ages approximately twenty-five years younger than the normal population (3). Only detailed epidemiological studies will reveal the true complications of long term disease and mortality resulting from the complications of this disease.

The problems that patients experience when dealing with the healthcare system can be as difficult as the disease itself. Most doctors have difficulty diagnosing ME/CFS and when they do, are at a loss as to what to do for their patients. The lack of medical consensus is so great that most doctors disagree on the best treatment strategies or what, if any, biological treatments to consider. Doctors and patients are left to their own devices, experimenting with drug treatments that are unproven, toxic, or both. Scientific and educational information surrounding ME/CFS is conflicting and often consists of anecdotal observations from physicians. Additionally, many patients are told they suffer from “faulty thinking” about the illness and are then prescribed cognitive behavioral therapy and graded exercise therapy.

More Than A Foundation

It was evident to me, after working with another research foundation to study CFS, that engaging various scientists to do related research projects was only one part of the solution to the much bigger issues surrounding ME/CFS. This initial research program was narrowly focused on one virus and relied on individual researchers to apply for grants. Much like the extramural grants of the NIH, these projects are scattered among different unrelated researchers and not organized in a comprehensive and coordinated manner.

One thing that I admired about the foundation’s director was her ability to access researchers to do the work that she felt might reveal new information. After reading about the XMRV finding in prostate cancer, I tried to contact the group of researchers at UCSF that had made the extraordinary new discovery. I wanted to pay them to test CFS patient samples using their viral-chip technology. After several attempts, I gave up that effort and instead began to develop another plan of action. That plan was to create a research program within the structure of a medical research center.

Many advocacy organizations had expressed an interest in government support of Centers of Excellence for the treatment of patients with ME/CFS. In fact, to address the issues of CFS, a bench-to-bedside approach was needed, requiring nothing less than an expert institution, which would combine translational research with patient diagnostics, treatments, and medical training for new doctors. When it became apparent that no one else was willing to create such a center, with the strong encouragement of my husband, family, friends, and political leaders, I agreed to act. With a promise from medical doctors to support our efforts, I committed my time and my family’s resources to create and build such an institute.

In early 2005, Dr. Peterson and I began working to describe this institute’s future clinical practice. Meanwhile, my husband discussed with John Lilley, then president of the University of Nevada–Reno, the School of Medicine’s desire for a new medical research building. Our Governor and good friend, Kenny Guinn, agreed to place this project in his state budget. Legislative leaders who understood the potential benefits to both patients and future medical education in this state also began to offer their support. This new research facility was to house three significant interest groups: researchers from the University of Nevada’s Medical School; the Nevada Cancer Institute; and the Center for Neuroimmune Disease (now called the WPI). That winter, I gathered scientific information for a presentation to the 2005 state legislature, arguing the need for such a medical center. University representatives and Nevada Cancer Institute scientists did the same. Passionate pleas were made by several patient advocates in addition to our testimony. By the end of the legislative session, ten million dollars has been allocated to support a new research and medical office building5 (Figure 2). The main portion of the building was built from bond money which was based on the indirect costs of the researchers’ grants. My husband and I committed to give or raise an additional $5 million towards WPI’s portion of the building, and soon the construction began, bringing reality to a dream.

The Real Work Begins

Judy Mikovits and I met at an HHV-6 Foundation conference in the spring of 2006. It was at that conference that Dr. Peterson presented patient data describing many longstanding CFS patients who had developed rare lymphomas. Dr. Mikovits was intrigued and, as a seasoned scientist with experiences in retrovirology, recognized a potential for discovering a new disease-causing pathogen.

Shortly thereafter, I asked Dr. Mikovits to serve as the Institute’s full-time Research Director. She immediately planned a comprehensive research program to answer questions that would support the development of diagnostics to help define those who had this illness. She began by building a repository of patient samples and organizing her studies to generate sufficient data to justify an NIH grant, which was submitted in June, 2007 and finally funded in October, 20096.

Having the support of University leadership—President Milton Glick and Ole Theinhaus, Dean of the Medical School—was also critical to our success. Experienced scientists such as Steven St. Jeor, a CMV researcher; Greg Pari, an expert in Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV); and Ian Buxton, a pharmacologist, offered their assistance. Soon after moving to the University, we organized a small conference as a means to formally introduce ourselves. Researchers from the University, the National Cancer Institute, and the WPI came together with ME/CFS physicians, to discuss their areas of expertise. The following year Dr. Mikovits led the first meeting of the Institute’s new scientific advisory board. Today, the WPI Scientific Advisory Board engages scientists with expertise in cancer, infectious disease, autoimmune diseases, immunology, and virology7.

WPI has had to use a combination of funding mechanisms to pay for the many different activities neccessary for the creation of a working institute. Like many medical research non-profits, WPI must rely on the talents of its researchers to receive grant support and the ability of its administrators to raise funds from the larger community. When a disease is not well understood and often maligned, it is an even more daunting task. For example, it took WPI three years to receive NIH funding for reasons unrelated to the quality of the proposal.

Donations to the Institute come in many forms. WPI has a yearly gala dinner which raises hundreds of thousands of dollars. We ask private foundations, companies, and individuals for their help in a variety of ways. We have also used year-end gift appeals and a new Facebook Cause page to raise money and awareness. The WPI Web site has been a source of donations, as well8. The urgent need for a continuous source of income to support the clinical work of the Institute is now our greatest priority.

Generous patients, hopeful for answers, make up a significant part of the funding in this disease. They must choose between several organizations who claim to be doing important research work. It is difficult for most laymen to decipher the kind of science they are funding or whether or not the scientists are qualified to do the work. Thus, private donations which are very competitive can be spent on research that does not provide significant results. Educating the public about the importance of our organization’s own research capabilities is time consuming and requires a full time effort, but is extremely necessary if one is to gain public support.

The Intramural NCI Program: The Value Of Basic Research

The selection of Dr. Mikovits as the research director of the WPI was fortuitous in that she had worked for twenty years in the Intramural Program for the NCI as research technician, graduate student, postdoctoral fellow and finally as head of the NCI contractor’s lab of Antiviral Drug Mechanisms. The NCI’s tumor virus program of the late 1970s supported the identification of retroviral oncogenes in human tissue and of the tumor-causing human retrovirus, human T cell leukemia-lymphoma virus type I (HTLV-I) by Bernie Poiesz and Frank Ruscetti, in the laboratory of Bob Gallo. By 1984, NCI investigators were co-discoverers of a new retrovirus, HIV-1, which is the causative agent of AIDS. It was natural for Dr. Mikovits to enlist the help of her former NCI colleagues, Frank and Sandy Ruscetti, Mike Dean and Rachel Bagni, to look for an infectious agent. Thus, NCI’s investment in funding basic research in animal and human virology made the discovery process possible.

Initially, the discovery process focused on the use of a virus-chip assay similar to the one used to discover xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV) in the tissue of men carrying RNase L mutations who had prostate cancer (4). After two and a half years of trying to make sense of the viral chip data, we narrowed our focus to XMRV, because many CFS patients also suffer from an RNase L defect, and initiated a collaboration with Bob Silverman, a co-discoverer of the virus, of the Cleveland Clinic. All patient material used in this study were subjected to four separate XMRV assays: DNA PCR from peripheral blood cells (PBMC); viral protein expression in PBMC; presence of antibodies in plasma; and the recovery of infectious virus from plasma transmitted to indicator permissive cell lines. After five months of a rigorous review process, the journal Science published our findings (1).

The Aftermath: Still Stuck In Osler’s Web

By attempting to bring chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) research out of the shadows and squarely onto the nation’s health agenda, we knew that we would be the object of much criticism from both the medical establishment and those individuals invested in other theories of disease causation. Previous experiences had shown that some of these activities would parallel what happened during the early days after the discovery of HIV and AIDS.

CFS was belatedly recognized as a legitimate disease entity by the Centers for Disease Control in 19979 but is still denied recognition as an infectious immune disorder. The HHV6 foundation believes that HHV6 is the sole cause of CFS. A major CFS patient advocacy organization10 is on record, having concluded that a retrovirus has nothing to do with the pathophysiology of CFS. Much of the opposition outside of the CFS community firmly believes this disease and others that are similar arise from psychiatric disturbances. Within a week of the Science online publication, several scientists publicly announced that they would not be able to replicate the findings, negative findings were reported on blogs, and within a month, three negative papers had been written and submitted about the lack of XMRV in CFS.

Without directed research allocations from a Director of an NIH institute, it can take between three to five years before money can be allocated to study the role of XMRV in disease. Fortunately, Robert Wiltrout, Director of the National Cancer Institute’s Intramural Center for Cancer Research, has already requested that the scientists in the intramural program begin to develop reagents to determine the role of XMRV in the development of cancer and other chronic diseases.

The other difficulties surrounding funding of governmental research grants are numerous, including the time it takes for the entire process to be completed. NCI has developed a mechanism to rapidly give new research funding to existing cancer centers. Unfortunately, when a new, non-traditional entity such as the WPI is created, it must often delay work until the funding is already in place. To solve these problems, we have found it beneficial to work with other institutions and experienced investigators who have offered to co-author grants in a mentoring relationship. But we have also learned a valuable lesson: a non-traditional entity may point out a new research direction, but it must be confirmed by traditional engrained mechanisms.

Although the challenges have been significant, the personal rewards one receives by helping others through the work of this institute have been tremendous. We meet and talk often with hundreds of individuals who are thankful that the WPI is creating a scientific program of discovery that will improve their lives. They have spent too many years suffering in silence, often opting out of the medical world when they can’t find relief.

Scientific efforts to solve the many questions surrounding neuroimmune diseases have brought a renewed interest in the field and hope to millions throughout the world. Below are just two of thousands of messages sent to our offices. “Canada cheered when we heard the news.” Another patient wrote, “I do not have words to thank you for the work you have done. It has now been 30 years since I fell ill and I truly never thought I would see the day this terrible knot was untied.” Therein lies the motivation, despite all obstacles, to continue this vital mission.