Nia Bowers
Solve M.E.
Solve ME/CFS Initiative’s (Solve M.E.) Catalyst Awards provide targeted funding to help studies in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), Long COVID, and related infection-associated chronic conditions advance toward meaningful scientific milestones. The program supports research projects that have already demonstrated strong potential and are positioned to move toward publication, clinical translation, or expanded investigation.
“The Catalyst Awards program is meant to help research keep moving, especially as funding landscapes change,” says Solve M.E. CEO and President Emily Taylor. “Supporting studies that are ready for their next phase may serve as a bridge between early discoveries and real‑world applications. We want to give researchers a better chance to continue building toward improved diagnostics, treatments, and long‑term care insights.”
This program aligns with the broader mission of Solve M.E., a nonprofit organization dedicated to making ME/CFS, Long COVID, and other infection-associated chronic conditions widely understood, diagnosable, and treatable. Through research funding, policy engagement, data-driven initiatives, and patient-centered advocacy, the organization supports collaboration across scientific, medical, and patient communities worldwide. Solve M.E. envisions a future in which these conditions become more clearly defined through research and clinical insight, enabling more personalized approaches to care.
The development of the Catalyst Awards also draws upon the lived experience and professional journey of Taylor, whose background as a caregiver and policy advocate shaped her approach to research investment strategy. Her early career in health policy evolved alongside a deeply personal chapter when she stepped away from her professional path to care for her mother during a prolonged illness involving ME/CFS and autoimmune complications.
“Caring for my mother with ME/CFS helped me see where medicine, support, and policy can grow stronger,” Taylor shares. “ME/CFS is a condition marked by profound fatigue, pain, post-exertional malaise, and a range of neurological and systemic symptoms. Living alongside those realities showed me how important it is to design systems that truly meet people’s needs.”
That perspective carried forward into her professional life, where Taylor sought roles that allowed her to translate personal insight into systemic change. Before joining Solve M.E. in 2016, she worked in health policy and advocacy in Southern California, focusing on autism services and family support. These experiences honed skills she would later apply to ME/CFS and Long COVID: coalition-building, legislative strategy, and community-centered program design.
At Solve M.E., Taylor began by leading advocacy and community-building efforts, which evolved into initiatives, including a national advocacy week that brings patients and allies to Capitol Hill, leadership networks for individuals with Long COVID, and campaigns that aim to translate lived experiences into concrete policy priorities. Each program demonstrates her belief that lived experience must guide both research and decision-making.
As her advocacy work expanded, Taylor observed growing scientific interest in post-infectious conditions alongside a rapidly evolving research environment. “Scientists who were already producing high-quality work sometimes faced resource gaps when transitioning between research phases,” she shares. The Catalyst Awards emerged as a response to this evolving landscape. The program complements earlier-stage grant initiatives by providing support at later, highly technical phases of research.
Early Catalyst-supported projects show the range of work the program aims to encourage. Recent awards include studies examining how GLP-1 receptor agonists such as semaglutide may affect symptom burden and quality of life for people with ME/CFS. Other projects focus on immunological pathways, including efforts to identify proteins that may contribute to dysfunctional immune responses in ME/CFS and Long COVID.
“These studies reflect a mix of near‑term clinical possibilities and longer‑term biological exploration,” Taylor says. “Innovation in complex disease research doesn’t usually move in a straight line. Supporting different scientific approaches can give researchers more opportunities to uncover insights that reflect the range of patient experiences.”
Alongside these scientific outcomes, Taylor notes that targeted funding models can encourage broader scientific investment across the field. “We found that early, well‑placed funding can encourage additional research down the line and may create a helpful ripple effect across academic and clinical environments,” she states. This dynamic continues to inform how the organization approaches future research investments and partnership opportunities.
Ultimately, as scientific understanding of infection-associated chronic conditions continues to evolve, programs like the Catalyst Awards hope to contribute to a research environment that values continuity, collaboration, and patient-informed discovery. Solve M.E.’s Catalyst Awards reflect a long-term strategy focused on sustaining scientific momentum while expanding the pathways available to researchers and patients. The goal remains to translate scientific insight into practical advances that may influence future clinical care and quality-of-life outcomes.