Open Medicine Foundation (OMF) is proud to announce the addition of two distinguished experts to our esteemed Scientific Advisory Board (SAB): Dr. Michelle James and Dr. David Kaufman.
Their appointments underscore OMF’s commitment to driving progress in ME/CFS and Long COVID research and patient care. Both Dr. James and Dr. Kaufman bring unparalleled expertise, leadership, and dedication to the scientific and patient communities.
Michelle James, PhD
Dr. James is a world-renowned expert in molecular imaging with over 20 years of experience in radiochemistry and developing novel positron emission tomography (PET) tracers for imaging innate and adaptive immune responses in the context of neurological diseases. Currently, she is pioneering clinical PET/MR imaging methods to investigate whole body inflammation in patients with ME/CFS, using an inflammation-targeting tracer she developed.
She is an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Radiology and Neurology, within the Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford (MIPS). She received her BS in pharmacology and organic chemistry at the University of Sydney, where she also earned her PhD in pharmacology and was awarded the University Medal. Dr. James has multiple patented radiotracers, four of which are currently being used in clinical neuroimaging research studies at Stanford and around the world. The overall goal of her work is to create imaging tools to uncover the molecular underpinnings of chronic illnesses and facilitate the development and optimization of effective treatment strategies for such diseases.
David L. Kaufman, MD
Dr. Kaufman earned his MD from New York Medical College and completed his Internal Medicine Residency and Board Certification at St. Vincent’s Hospital and Medical Center in New York City. During the course of his 32 years in practice in NYC, in addition to his focus on HIV disease, he provided primary care to multiple family generations and to a widely diverse population of patients.
In 2012, he joined the Open Medicine Institute, a clinic focused on the diagnosis and management of people with ME/CFS. In 2017, he opened a new clinic, the Center for Complex Diseases, with a focus on patients suffering from ME/CFS, Dysautonomia, Autoimmune Diseases, and Chronic Infectious Diseases including Tick borne diseases, Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth Syndrome, and Mast Cell Activation Syndrome.
Dr. Kaufman is a member of the ME/CFS Collaborative Research Center at the Stanford University Genome Technology Center, the U.S. Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) Clinical Coalition, and part of the Guideline Committee. He helped write the ME/CFS diagnosis and treatment consensus recommendations published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings. After the COVID-19 pandemic, he has also become very involved in the diagnosis and management of people with Long COVID. He has been a principal investigator for over 20 clinical trials and published over 30 papers.
We are honored to have Dr. Michelle James and Dr. David Kaufman join the OMF SAB and look forward to the invaluable insights and contributions they will bring to the SAB. Welcome, Dr. James and Dr. Kaufman!
Donate your appreciated stock directly to OMF and you can receive an immediate income-tax deduction for the fair market value of the securities on the date of transfer (even if you originally paid much less for them).