International ME/CFS Conference on 7-8 May 2026 in Berlin, supported by ME/CFS Research Foundation

The fourth instalment of the International ME/CFS Conference, hosted by Charité Fatigue Center (CFC), and organised in cooperation with the ME/CFS Research Foundation, will take place in Berlin on 7-8 May 2026. The two-day hybrid event will once again bring together some of the world’s leading experts in the field of ME/CFS (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) and Long COVID/post-COVID syndrome. The event is aimed at a specialist audience and will focus on the latest results from ongoing ME/CFS research, while also covering post-COVID syndrome. The afternoon of day two of the Conference will feature a Symposium for a German speaking audience.

The "International ME/CFS Conference 2026 – Understand, Diagnose, Treat" on 7 and 8 May 2026 is aimed at the medical and research community working on post-acute infection syndromes (PAIS), including clinicians, medical professionals, scientists and interdisciplinary experts from the fields of medicine and biosciences. Held shortly before the official international ME/CFS awareness day on 12 May, the scientific meeting will be centred on the latest findings from research on disease mechanisms; ranging from insights into genetics, biomarkers, and imaging, to vascular, neuronal, immune and metabolic dysfunctions. Day two of the Conference will be entirely centred on showcasing recent data and results from clinical trials investigating treatments. 

The Conference will also feature a wide range of scientific posters. Application details and the deadline for the submission of poster abstracts will be announced in due time. CME points will be applied for at the Ärztekammer Berlin.

Presentations will be held in English, while an afternoon Symposium aimed at patients and the public on 8 May will summarise projects and research results in German. Registered participants can attend the two-day hybrid event online via live stream. Online participation will be free of charge. Details on the agenda, speakers, and more will be available on the official event website in January 2026. Videos, presentations and short summaries of the lectures will be made available on the event website after the Conference.

Under the stewardship of Prof Carmen Scheibenbogen, Director of the Division of Immunodeficiencies and Post-infectious Diseases and the Charité Fatigue Center (CFC) at Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, the Conference will feature around 40 presentations on ME/CFS and post-COVID syndrome from leading international clinicians and scientists.

List of confirmed speakers and chairs (as of 19 December 2025):

• Marlen Alisch, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
• Christopher Armstrong, University of Melbourne, Australia
• Uta Behrends, Technical University of Munich, Germany
• Carsten Finke, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
• Michelle James, Stanford University, USA
• Alain Moreau, University of Montreal, Canada
• Karl J. Morten, Oxford University, UK
• Luis Nacul, University of British Columbia, Canada
• Chris Ponting, University of Edinburgh, Scotland
• Valentina Puntmann, Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany
• David Putrino, Icahn School of Medicine, USA
• Helena Radbruch, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
• Keyla Sá, Yale University, USA
• Birgit Sawitzki, Charité University Medicine Berlin, Germany
• Carmen Scheibenbogen, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
• Claudia Schilling, Central Institute of Mental Health (CIMH), Germany
• Martina Seifert, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
• Karl Johan Tronstad, University of Bergen, Norway
• Maria Vehreschild, University Clinic Frankfurt, Germany
• Klaus Wirth, Mitodicure GmbH, Germany

Following the successful joint organisation of two previous Conferences in 2023 and 2025, with this year’s hybrid events having brought together around 4,000 participants in total, the International ME/CFS Conference will from now on be organised on an annual basis. The organisers seek to establish this important event series as one of the world’s leading scientific gatherings in the field of post-acute infection syndromes, and ME/CFS specifically.

Summaries and video recordings from the International ME/CFS Conference 2025 and the ME/CFS Symposium 2025 are available on our website.

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How can you support the work of the ME/CFS Research Foundation?

While progress has been made, there is still a long way to go before diagnosis, care and treatment of ME/CFS patients will one day become an established medical and social standard. We at the ME/CFS Research Foundation are focussing on biomedical research, which we see as a key element in solving these problems (more on this in our research funding strategy and in our half year report summer 2025, which summarises our activities). To achieve this, we rely on broad support from private donors – those affected, relatives, families, friends, associations, schools, networks, companies, initiatives, event organisers and all supporters. If you are not able to provide direct support, you can share our stories and motivate others to help. Because only together can we achieve. this goal.

We fully translate donations and other support into scientifically excellent research, networking and ultimately visible successes, i.e. better ME/CFS diagnostics and therapies. We are happy to work together with other organisations and initiatives - please contact us!

Thank you for your support!