Trump ends ME/CFS research program at Columbia

A slap in the face: Why the closure of Columbia University's ME/CFS research program is so upsetting

Imagine you have a serious illness. Your body is exhausted to the core, your brain is foggy, and even taking a shower can leave you incapacitated for days. Now imagine that the few scientists who take your illness seriously and are researching it are losing their jobs and funding has been cut with immediate effect.

That is exactly what has happened.

In March 2025, it was announced that the renowned ME/CFS research program at Columbia University would have to cease operations. For many ME/CFS sufferers worldwide, this news feels like a kick in the gut.
Not only because it means the loss of a center that offered real hope, but because it symbolizes a much bigger problem: ME/CFS continues to be overlooked, underestimated, and underfunded.

A beacon goes out

The team at Columbia University was one of the few that really got to the bottom of the disease – using state-of-the-art methods, an interdisciplinary approach, and biological evidence. For many, it was one of the few research centers that did not look for psychological causes, but rather for the real physical mechanisms behind this complex disease.

But it was precisely this work that was repeatedly thwarted by official bodies. Now the program has gone down in history.

The team at Columbia University was one of the few that really got to the bottom of the disease – using state-of-the-art methods, an interdisciplinary approach, and biological evidence. For many, it was one of the few research centers that did not look for psychological causes, but rather for the real physical mechanisms behind this complex disease.

ME/CFS is no longer a marginal phenomenon. Millions of people worldwide are affected – including in Germany. And since the pandemic, the situation has worsened dramatically: many long COVID sufferers are developing ME/CFS-like symptoms and are also permanently unable to participate in everyday life.

And yet the cuts continue. The ignorance continues. The denial continues.

Those who fall ill with ME/CFS not only rarely receive medical help, but also have to watch as even the few beacons of hope in research gradually disappear.

But what does this mean for us as a society?

When millions of people silently and invisibly drop out of life – many of them for years or decades – there are consequences. Not only for those affected and their families, but also for our social systems, our healthcare, and our economy.

A Norwegian study shows that hardly anyone with ME/CFS manages to return to work.
No economy can afford this reality in the long term.

With each new wave of COVID-19, thousands of new long-term illnesses arise, and some of them end in ME/CFS.
From an economic point of view alone, there is a pressing need for massive research, investment, and support.

What is important now

This news is bitter. But it is also a wake-up call.

Because research does not die only from a lack of money—it also dies from social indifference. If we don't start speaking up, nothing will change.

What we ME/CFS sufferers need is not pity. We need visibility, serious research, and medicine that finally stops looking the other way.

A ray of hope from Berlin

As devastating as the news from the US is, there is hope. And it comes from Berlin.
At the Charité Fatigue Center, Prof. Dr. Carmen Scheibenbogen has been working tirelessly for years to put ME/CFS on the medical map. Her team is conducting research with the utmost scientific precision into the biological causes of the disease and has succeeded in bringing ME/CFS into serious discussion, at least in parts of the medical community.

The Charité is one of the few places in Germany where those affected are not labeled as psychosomatic cases, but are seen as seriously ill people.
Even though resources there are still limited, the commitment gives hope and shows that with perseverance, expertise, and public support, change is possible.

Finally, to put it simply:

When one door to hope closes, we must open ten new ones. And if you're reading this, you could be one of them!
Und wenn du das hier liest, kannst du eine davon sein!