Gulf War Illness Clinical Trials and Interventions Center

The Gulf War Illness Clinical Trials and Interventions Center (GWICTIC) will focus on phase 1 and phase 2 clinical trials in a collaborative group, engaging many of the clinical and preclinical experts in the field, in partnership with an advocacy coalition. This ensures expertise, dedication, and subject access for the studies we propose.

The studies will build on the growing knowledge of the illness, as the investment in pathogenesis and preclinical studies of Gulf War Illness (GWI), funded by the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) and Veterans Administration (VA) GWI programs, have yielded a deeper understanding of mediators, biologic subgroups and the utility of illness modeling to focus therapeutic strategies. Specifically, we aim to capitalize on the two previously funded GWIC consortia through CDMRP:

Understanding GWI: An Integrative Modeling Approach (CDMRP Award # W81XWH-13-2-0085 Morris, NSU)

Brain-Immune Interactions as the Basis of GWI: Gulf War Illness Consortium (GWIC) (CDMRP Award # W81XWH13-2-0072 Sullivan, BU)

Over the last four years, Dr. Klimas and her research team, as well as, Dr. Sullivan and her research team, through their respective consortia, have identified biomarkers of disease activity including, but not limited to, mitochondrial dysfunction, chronic oxidative stress, and neuroinflammation. Both research teams have joined forces due to the complexity of GWI to produce innovative, efficient and evidence-based clinical trials.

It is with this understanding that treatment will rely on approaches that address more than a single mechanism of action, whether using single agents that target multiple organ systems and mechanisms of action or combination approaches that should have synergistic effects. Specifically, utilizing approaches that address chronic oxidative stress and neuroinflammation in an effort to reset homeostasis and/or correct the brain environment that leads to multi-symptom illness.

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