In August, Dr. Dane Cook helped coordinate the first Virtual Gulf War Illness State of the Science Conference. The two-day conference coincided with the 30-year anniversary of the start of the 1990-1991 Gulf War, Operation Desert Shield. “The virtual conference created a forum for Gulf War Veterans to engage directly with scientists and learn about the studies that are being conducted to further understand and treat the disease.”
The ability of veterans to participate in the virtual even allows scientist to ensure that their research is focused on veterans’ needs. Research topics included consortia, biorepositories, treatments, epidemiology, definition and diagnosis/biomarkers, and pathobiology. According to Dr. Cook, “There were several themes woven throughout as well, such as Veteran satisfaction and needs from the healthcare system and the recognition that multiple biological systems likely interact, perhaps in unique ways, to impact the heterogeneous disease collectively referred to as GWI.”
Read more about the conference, veteran input, and research and treatment updates in the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) article here.