ME/CFS Doctors, Clinics and Testing Labs

World Map of ME/CFS Doctors and CIRS Specialists
A world map of the leading ME/CFS and CIRS doctors.

Click Here for the Full Size Map

Some international lists of ME/CFS doctors: MEpedia International List of ME/CFS doctors, MEAction List of ME/CFS Doctors, Co-Cure ME/CFS & Fibromyalgia Good Doctor List (good for local doctors). World map of long COVID doctors here.

Chronic inflammatory response syndrome (CIRS) specialists treating mold and biotoxin illness using the Shoemaker protocol listed here. POTS specialists here and here.

Note that some doctors consider ME/CFS to be an "all in the mind" psychologically-caused illness rather than real biological disease; these doctors will typically prescribe psychological therapies such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Doctors who view ME/CFS as psychological are not included in this roadmap.



ME/CFS Doctors and Clinics
Some of the world's leading ME/CFS specialist doctors and clinics are listed in the tables below.

ME/CFS DOCTORS AND CLINICS
USA
Dr John Chia (Torrance, California) • Article on Dr Chia • Video Interview • MEpedia • Invest in ME 2010 • 2015
Dr Chia is an infectious disease specialist with major clinical and research interests in enteroviruses and ME/CFS. He treats enterovirus-associated ME/CFS with the immunomodulator oxymatrine, as well as with antivirals such as Epivir; in some patients he may employ interferon therapy or IVIG. Dr Chia also uses low-dose naltrexone.

Dr Hector Bonilla (Stanford University, California) • Article on Dr Bonilla • MEpedia
Dr Bonilla treats ME/CFS at Stanford. His early career focused on treating HIV and hepatitis C virus. He conducted a study on the benefits of the drug Abilify for ME/CFS.

Dr Jose Montoya (Art and Science of Medicine, California) • Article on Prof Montoya • Video Interview • MEpedia
Dr Jose Montoya treats ME/CFS with anti-inflammatory medications and by suppressing herpesviruses.

Dr Daniel Peterson (Sierra Internal Medicine, Nevada) • Article on Dr Peterson • Video Interview • MEpedia
Dr Peterson is a very experienced ME/CFS doctor and researcher, and has a special interest in natural killer cell functioning in ME/CFS. Dr Peterson uses the antiviral Vistide (cidofovir) in patients with HHV6 and cytomegalovirus infections.

Dr Nancy Klimas (Miami, Florida) • Article on Dr Klimas • MEpedia
Dr Klimas is a ME/CFS doctor and researcher, and director of the Institute for Neuro Immune Medicine (INIM). Dr Irma Rey and Dr Maria Vera also work at INIM. Dr Klimas has significant experience in using immune modulators for treating ME/CFS.

Dr Alison Bested (Miami, Florida) • MEpedia
Dr Bested is a hematological pathologist specializing in ME/CFS. Clinical director at the Institute for Neuro Immune Medicine.

Dr Andreas M. Kogelnik (Open Medicine Institute, Mountain View, California) • Video Interview • MEpedia
Dr Kogelnik is an infectious disease doctor, and an ME/CFS specialist and researcher. He is the founder and director of the Open Medicine Institute. He uses Valcyte on a subset of ME/CFS patients.

Dr David Kaufman (Center for Complex Diseases, Mountain View, California) • MEpedia
Dr Kaufman is an HIV/AIDS researcher with clinical experience in HIV and Lyme disease.

Dr Bela Chheda (Center for Complex Diseases, Mountain View, California) • Article on Dr Chheda
Dr Chheda is an infectious disease specialist.

Dr Charles W. Lapp (Hunter-Hopkins Center, Charlotte, North Carolina) • Article on Dr Lapp • MEpedia
Dr Lapp runs clinical trials for drugs for ME/CFS and fibromyalgia, and has been using the immunomodulator drug Ampligen for ME/CFS. Dr Lapp retired in 2018, and Dr Vincent Hillman has taken over the running of this clinic.

Dr Lucinda Bateman (Salt Lake City, Utah) • Article on Dr Bateman • MEpedia
Dr Bateman is an internist specializing in the treatment of ME/CFS at the Bateman Horne Center.

Dr Nathan Holladay (Salt Lake City, Utah) • MEpedia
Dr Holladay is an internal medicine physician who worked at the Bateman Horne Center prior to opening his own practice.

Whittemore Peterson Institute (Reno, Nevada) • MEpedia
Dr Kenny De Meirleir treats ME/CFS patients at the Whittemore Peterson Institute clinic.

Dr Derek Enlander (New York) • MEpedia
Dr Enlander uses immune modulators for treating ME/CFS, and the antiviral drug Valcyte.

Dr Daniel Dantini (Ormond Beach, Florida) • Article on Dr Dantini • Book: The New Fibromyalgia Remedy
Dr Dantini (who once had fibromyalgia himself) has been treating ME/CFS with antivirals since the 1980s. He prefers the antiviral drugs Valtrex (valacyclovir) and Famvir (famciclovir) for herpesvirus-associated ME/CFS, using Valcyte (valganciclovir) and Cytovene (ganciclovir) less, as some patients find these hard to tolerate.

Dr Kent Holtorf (Holtorf Medical Group: Los Angeles; Foster City CA; Atlanta; Philadelphia)
Dr Holtorf prescribes hormone replacement where necessary (for thyroid hormone, growth hormone, testosterone). He prescribes antivirals, LDN, the peptides thymosin alpha 1, thymosin beta 4 and BPC-157, Imunovir, and others.1

Dr Garth Nicolson (Huntington Beach, California) • MEpedia
Dr Nicolson works with ME/CFS, autoimmune diseases, Gulf War illness, and the infectious causes of autism and neurodegenerative diseases.

Dr Alan Weiss (Annapolis, Maryland)
Dr Weiss is an internist who focuses on treatment with supplements, hormone replacement, diet.

Dr Jacob Teitelbaum (Kona, Hawaii) • Dr Teitelbaum's Blog • MEpedia
Dr Teitelbaum is an internist whose uses his SHINE protocol (Sleep, Hormones, Immunity, Nutrition and Exercise) to treat ME/CFS.

Dr Joseph Garabedian (King of Prussia, Pennsylvania)
Dr Garabedian runs the Integrated Wellness Clinic, and in his ME/CFS treatment focuses on the HPA axis, mitochondria, infections, neurotoxins, hormone replacement, nutraceuticals.

Dr Ritchie Shoemaker (Pocomoke City, Maryland) • MEpedia
Dr Shoemaker specializes in the mold- and biotoxin-triggered illness he named CIRS (chronic inflammatory response syndrome). He has retired from seeing patients, but is still available for phone consultations. There are also many Shoemaker certified doctors who follow his protocol.

Dr Joseph H. Brewer (Kansas City, Missouri) • MEpedia
Dr Brewer is an infectious disease doctor who specializes in ME/CFS, Lyme disease and AIDS. His researches and treats mold infections harbored in the sinuses of ME/CFS patients.

Dr Susan Levine (New, York, New York) • Facebook Page • MEpedia
Dr Levine employs various treatments including low-dose naltrexone, intravenous immunoglobulin, antivirals, ketotifen, Mestinon for dysautonomia, guanfacine for brain fog (especially in long COVID).

Dr William Pridgen (Tuscaloosa, Alabama) • Article on Pridgen Protocol for Fibromyalgia and ME/CFS
Dr Pridgen is a surgeon with interests in fibromyalgia. He developed an antiviral protocol for fibromyalgia and ME/CFS targeting herpes simplex virus infections in the nerve ganglia, which has successfully completed phase II clinical trials.

Metrodora Institute (Salt Lake City, Utah) • Wikipedia • Facebook   
Metrodora is a new medical and research center focused entirely on neuroimmune axis disorders such as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia, dysautonomia, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), and migraine.

Some other chronic fatigue syndrome doctors: Dr Ginevra Liptan (Lake Oswego, Oregon), Dr Benjamin Natelson (New York), Dr Alan Pocinki (Washington DC), Dr Peter Rowe (Baltimore, Maryland), Dr Mark Sivieri (Columbia, Maryland).

AMMES List of US ME/CFS Doctors 

List of US and Canadian ME/CFS Doctors (Compiled by Erica Verrillo)

Some famous but deceased ME/CFS doctors:

Dr Martin Lerner (Oakland, Michigan) • Article on Dr Lerner • MEpedia
Dr Lerner was a leading researcher in ME/CFS associated with herpesvirus and used antivirals (Valtrex and Valcyte) to treat these infections. Dr Lerner died in 2015, after decades of work helping ME/CFS patients.

Dr Paul Cheney (Asheville, North Carolina) • Article on Dr Cheney • MEpedia
Dr Cheney was one of the original doctors involved in the Incline Village, Lake Tahoe ME/CFS outbreak of 1984. Dr Cheney died in 2021, but his clinic still treats ME/CFS patients.

UK / Europe
Dr Kenny De Meirleir (Himmunitas, near Brussels, Belgium) • Article on Dr Meirleir • Video Interview • MEpedia
Dr Meirleir is a leading ME/CFS doctor and researcher who runs a ME/CFS clinic in Brussels. Dr De Meirleir has a particular interest in the intestinal dysfunction and intestinal dysbiosis of ME/CFS. Dr Meirleir also sees patients at the Whittemore Peterson Institute.

Dr Nigel Speight (Durham, UK) • MEpedia
Dr Speight is pediatric medical adviser to the ME Association. He treats ME/CFS using drugs like amitriptyline for sleep and pain, melatonin for sleep, methylphenidate (Ritalin) for brain fog.

Dr Sarah Myhill (Powys, Wales, UK) • MEpedia
Dr Myhill is a GP with significant experience of ME/CFS, has published research on mitochondrial dysfunction in ME/CFS. On her website, lab tests can be ordered and interpreted. Dr Myhill treats ME/CFS with a Paleolithic diet, vitamin B12 injections, supplements such magnesium and Q10, low-dose amitriptyline for sleep.

Dr William Weir (10 Harley Street, London) • MEpedia
Dr Weir is a retired consultant physician with a special interest in ME/CFS.

Dr Amolak Bansal (London, UK) • MEpedia
Dr Bansal is a private consultant immunologist with interests in allergy, autoimmunity, immunodeficiency and ME/CFS, and uses antivirals to treat ME/CFS.

Prof Vinod Patel (Nuneaton, Warwickshire, UK)
Prof Patel uses amitriptyline, gabapentin, melatonin, duloxetine and testosterone replacement to treat ME/CFS.

Dr Paul Worthley (Brighton, UK)
Dr Worthley uses nimodipine to treat the cognitive dysfunction of ME/CFS. He offers telephone consultations and home visits in the south and south-east England area.

Breakspear Medical Group (Hertfordshire, UK) • MEpedia
Breakspear focuses on allergy and environmental illness. For ME/CFS treatment they use antivirals, gamma globulins for parvovirus, and test and treat rickettsial and bacterial co-infections.

Optimum Health Clinic (London, UK) • MEpedia
Use nutritional and psychological approaches, and offer vitamin B12 injections, hormone treatments, gut dysbiosis treatment among others.

Professor Carmen Scheibenbogen (Charité University Hospital, Berlin, Germany) • MEpedia
Professor Scheibenbogen specializes in the role of Epstein-Barr virus in ME/CFS.

Professor Carl-Gerhard Gottfries (Gottfries Clinic, Mölndal, Sweden) • Video Interview • MEpedia
Professor Gottfries pioneered the use of the vaccine Staphypan to treat ME/CFS, which showed major benefits in two clinical trials (unfortunately the manufacturer withdrew Staphypan). The Gottfries Clinic uses vitamin B12 and folate to treat ME/CFS.

Dr Jonas Axelsson (Amelie Clinic, Sweden) • Recovery story of a patient
Dr Axelsson is an immunologist at the Karolinska Institute who also works at the Amelie Clinic. The Amelie Clinic specializes in ME/CFS, and the experts who work there are interested in viral etiologies of this illness. They may treat ME/CFS with antiviral drugs such as ritonavir, valganciclovir and raltegravir.

Dr Igor Markov (Markov Clinic, Kiev, Ukraine)  
Dr Markov says he has discovered ME/CFS is due to intoxication with bacterial toxins which leak into the bloodstream from a chronic bacterial dysbiosis in the kidneys. He treats ME/CFS with autovaccines which target and eliminate this dysbiosis. He claims a 93% cure rate for ME/CFS using this autovaccine therapy.

List of Italian ME/CFS Doctors

List of Dutch and Belgium Doctors

Canada
Dr Byron Hyde (Nightingale Research Foundation, Ottawa) • MEpedia
Dr Hyde uses SPECT scans to demonstrate dysfunction in the brain in ME/CFS patients.

Complex Chronic Diseases Program (Vancouver)
They use drugs such as Cymbalta, Fentanyl patch, modafinil; and supplements such D-ribose, Q10, L-carnitine. Also offer acupuncture.

List of ME Friendly Canadian Doctors

Australia
Australian ME/CFS Good Doctor List


New Zealand
Dr Rosamund Vallings (Howick, Auckland)
Dr Vallings is one of New Zealand's leading authorities on ME/CFS and has over three decades' experience in treating this disease. Dr Vallings uses the immunomodulator and antiviral Imunovir as one of her treatments for ME/CFS. Update: Dr Vallings has now retired from clinical work, but continues to research ME/CFS, and continues to teach other doctors about ME/CFS.

Asia
List of ME/CFS doctors in Japan



Testing Laboratories
Testing laboratories (pathology labs) where the tests detailed in this roadmap can be obtained are listed below. In the US, to search for LabCorp and Quest tests, see here.

TESTING LABORATORIES
USA
UK / Europe
Canada
LabCorp
Quest Diagnostics
Viracor
ARUP Laboratories
Esoterix (owned by Quest)

Medical Diagnostic Laboratories
Genova Diagnostics
Life Extension Tests (via LabCorp)
Mosaic Diagnostics
DirectLabs

World Health Labs
InfectoLab Americas
The Doctors Laboratory (TDL)
TDL Manchester
South West London Pathology
Dr MyHill's Test Portfolio
Genova Diagnostics

Neuro Lab
Invivo Clinical
YorkTest Laboratories
MELISA Diagnostics Ltd
Pure Health Clinic

The following labs allow ordering tests without involving your doctor:
Medical Diagnosis
Medichecks (sends samples to TDL)
Blue Horizon (sends to TDL)
Blood Tests London (uses TDL)
PrivateBloodTests (Spire hospitals)

Red Labs (Belgium)
IMD Laboratory (Germany)
MDI Laboratory (Germany)
CellTrend (Germany)
Hellenic Pasteur Institute (Greece)
In Vitro Labs (Greece)
Rudas Lab (Cyprus)
World Health Labs (Netherlands)
Your Labs (Netherlands)
Blood Tests Canada

Australia
New Zealand
Ireland
Centre for Digestive Diseases
LabPLUS
Pathlab




Sourcing Pharmaceutical Drugs
ME/CFS specialist doctors who provide helpful drugs for chronic fatigue syndrome patients are rare, and the average primary care doctor is often reluctant to prescribe drugs for ME/CFS patients. Thus it may be necessary to buy the drugs you are interested in trying directly from a reliable online pharmacy.

The law in some counties allows 3 months worth of prescription drugs to be imported for personal use. Courtesy of this law, it is possible to legally obtain drugs from overseas pharmacies, usually without needing to provide a prescription.

Some reliable prescription-free online pharmacies are listed in this thread. An easy-to-use search tool to find the drugs you require at those pharmacies is found here (click on the Pharma tab).

Note that ME/CFS patients may only need or tolerate a fraction of the usual doses for medications.1