NSU’s Institute for Neuro Immune Medicine, a $5 million research and treatment facility, celebrated its grand opening in Davie, Fla. on Feb. 12.
The institute — part of the Health Professions Divisions’ College of Osteopathic Medicine — will treat patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), gulf war syndrome (GWS) and other neuro-immune conditions. NSU researchers will study neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis, using new genomic techniques.
The researchers will study individual genes and what they code for in order to gain a better understanding of what causes the illnesses. The ultimate goal is to produce treatment.
Nancy Klimas, the institute’s director, said, “We’re going to keep going and we’re going to cure GWS and CFS. That’s our big vision.”
Students have already begun signing up to conduct research and participate in rotations. Although there is another NSU neuro-immune facility in Kendall, Fla., opened in 2012, the Davie location provides a unique all-in-one environment.
According to Elma Rey, Klimas’s associate and physician at both the Kendall and Davie locations, the biggest difference between the two facilities is in size.
“This is much bigger, has a lot more storage for specimens,” she said about the new Davie location. “It’ll have the computational biology department right here and, although we do clinical research at both facilities, here we’ll be able to do clinical and lab research also.”
Klimas added, “People, unless you have [Chronic Fatigue Syndrome] in your family or have it yourself, have no idea how serious an illness this is. This is a disabling condition. More than a quarter of the people with this illness can’t work. The same with GWS; about a quarter are completely disabled.”
Because this condition exists in many age groups and nationalities, the new facility has attracted patients from around the world.
Kathy Assaf, whose daughter has chronic fatigue, said, “There are so many patients out there and there is such a crying need. There was just a woman last week who called to make an appointment and the next available wasn’t until September and the facility hasn’t even opened yet.”
One of Klimas’ patients, Susan Cunningham, traveled from Key Largo, Fla. to attend the grand opening. Cunningham said, “This is fantastic. From a patient’s viewpoint, to see all this stuff coming together in one place is amazing.”
Anthony Silvagni, dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine, expressed the importance of educational research in three ways — the first being that it creates pride, since medical schools are measured by their research, not by education. Secondly, it allows the brains of that building or institution and university to make contributions to improve people’s health, welfare and education. Third, it takes pressure off students’ search for revenue by developing other revenue sources.
“[This facility] is actually a step forward,” Silvagni said. “It’s not just another piece. It’s a bigger piece. This is a diamond for an area in which there’s very little opportunity for people to solve their problems and improve the quality of their lives.”
Anyone interested in donating to the new facility should contact Ashley Sharp, director of development, at 954-262-1510 or asharp@nova.edu.
“We need to raise the funds to help them get the studies done that will allow them to come up with new possible medication, if not, cure these illnesses.” said Assaf.
