Boston Gulf War Illness

Consortium
Kimberly Sullivan, Ph.D.
Boston University School
of Public Health
April 2016

25th Gulf War Anniversary

25th Gulf War Anniversary

www.Liberationofkuwait.com

ELEPHANT AND THE

BLIND MEN
Commonly
Reported
Symptoms

SEEING THE FOREST FOR THE TREES

GWI is a multi-symptom and multi-system illness
with different investigators studying separate
body systems for many years.

GWI consortium has a multidisciplinary

approach to studying GWI.

Fatigue
Joint pain
Headaches
Concentration
and memory
problems
Gastrointestinal
problems
Skin Problems
Respiratory
problems

GWI Consortium (GWIC)

16 collaborators from 9 study sites including US and

Australia
Designed to bring preclinical (cell and animal) and
clinical (human) researchers together to speed
development of understanding pathobiology of GWI
and to develop treatments.
Our focus - study brain-immune pathways and chronic
release of chemical messengers from immune cells of
the brain that lead to chronic Neuroinflammation

Primary Focus of GWIC Research Program

1) To identify objective biomarkers of the

pathobiology of GWI
2) To develop treatments for GWI

Specific Clinical Studies

Clinical Protocol in 300 GW veteran participants
Blood draw inflammatory cytokines, chemokines
Structural MRI/DTI/fMRI
Neuropsychological assessment/questionnaires
Saliva samples immune-genetic studies

Call Back Studies

CSF and blood study Boston
PET pilot studies - Boston University, MGH
Stem cell study Boston

Current Treatment studies

1) D-cycloserine for cognitive improvement

2) Intranasal Insulin for cognitive improvement

3) Co-enzyme Q10 Phase III trial for reduced
fatigue and improved cognitive function

Thank You