Video Library

Here you can find the most recent MassME videos. Click the link at the bottom to explore our video archives.

Thank you to our team members and to all who donated to support MassME's essential programs and services!

Team MassME at the 2026 McCourt Foundation Boston Waterfront 5K!

Cece Doucette discussed the health effects of using wifi, cellular phones, and smart meters. Learn the risks, symptoms, public policy failures and what we can do to protect our homes and loved ones from electromagnetic radiation (EMR).

Materials from the presentation are available on the event page: https://massmecfs.org/events/sunday-conversations/sunday-conversations-may-2026/

This program is part of “Sunday Conversations with MassME,” a speaker series with discussion on a wide variety of topics. For more information on this and future Sunday Conversations presentations, please check out https://massmecfs.org/events/sunday-conversations/

Chapters
0:00:00 Introduction
0:01:23 Cece Doucette Presentation
1:06:30 Audience Q&A

Sunday Conversations May 2026 - Wireless Risks & Safer Technology Solutions with Cece Doucette

Aimee Nefcy is an emergency medicine and medical toxicology physician who suffers from ME/CFS. She became ill during the pandemic, starting with fatigue and brain fog, and excessive sleeping without feeling rested. Eventually she developed orthostatic intolerance and post exertional malaise, and came to the conclusion that she met the diagnostic criteria for ME. Now she runs a support group for other physicians with ME, Long COVID, and other infection-associated chronic conditions. In this talk, Aimee discussed how being a physician has shaped her experience as a person with ME, leading to her creating a support group for other physicians. She also shared her thoughts on how medical education can be reformed.

This program is part of “Sunday Conversations with MassME,” a speaker series with discussion on a wide variety of topics. For more information on this and future Sunday Conversations presentations, please check out https://massmecfs.org/events/sunday-conversations/

Chapters
0:00:00 Introduction
0:01:14 Aimee Nefcy Presentation
0:26:16 Audience Q&A

Sunday Conversations March 2026 - Heal Thyself: The Doctor as Patient with Aimee Nefcy, MD

We hear you and we are here for you.

Notes from our Inbox

This is a recording of the Annual Meeting of the Massachusetts ME/CFS & FM Association on Sunday, October 26, 2025 which includes a talk by research scientist Beth Pollack. Please visit https://massmecfs.org/events/annual-meetings/annual-meeting-2025/ for more information about the event.

Beth Pollack discussed aspects of ME/CFS, Long COVID, and co-occurring conditions that profoundly impact patients yet remain under-researched and frequently overlooked. She provided an overview of the current research landscape and findings, shared insights from emerging research at MIT, and highlighted new collaborative projects with her colleagues that are advancing our understanding of these topics.

Focus areas included common comorbid conditions; hypermobility and connective tissue damage; spinal pathologies; environmental sensitivities; reproductive conditions, and more. Her talk synthesized what is currently known, identified critical gaps in understanding, and illuminated the next steps and opportunities for more comprehensive research that can inform clinical care.

Beth Pollack is a Research Scientist in the Department of Biological Engineering in the Tal Research Group at MIT, where she leads research on ME/CFS and the overlaps among infection-associated chronic illnesses. Her work focuses on understudied pathologies that significantly impact patients, with the goal of accelerating knowledge, clinical research, and treatments. She is currently a collaborator on four clinical studies on infection-associated chronic illnesses, and also serves on two NIH RECOVER working groups focused on Long COVID therapeutics and clinical trial design.

Beth was chair of the NIH ME/CFS Research Roadmap subgroup on Less Studied Pathologies, was previously a senior researcher at Harvard, and in 2024 was named a United States Leader by the Obama Foundation. Committed to increasing understanding and awareness of chronic illness, she has been interviewed by The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Guardian, NPR, and other publications.

If you found this recording, or others on our channel, helpful, please support MassME: https://massmecfs.org/donate/

Chapters
0:00:00 Welcome - Creighton Ward
0:03:37 Annual Report - Susan Buckley
0:12:36 Introducing Beth - Phil Chernin
0:14:11 Main Presentation - Beth Pollack
1:25:15 Audience Q&A - Beth Pollack & Leah Williams
1:36:34 Wrap-up - Creighton Ward

MassME 2025 Annual Meeting: Less Studied Pathologies across ME and Related Illnesses - Beth Pollack

The Boston Waterfront 5K fundraiser was a huge success! The weather smiled on us this year, and everyone had a great time before the race, on the course, and celebrating afterwards.

Perhaps most importantly, we exceeded our fundraising goal of $20,000. Team MassME was the second highest overall fundraising team at the event. And five of the top ten individual fundraisers were on Team MassME, including our own Phil Chernin in the top position!

Enormous thanks to all participants: team members, those who came out to cheer, those who got the word out and cheered from home, and of course, all 200 generous donors.

THANK YOU!

2025 Boston Waterfront 5K Recap

May 12th is International ME Awareness Day, also known as World ME Day.

International ME Awareness Day provides an opportunity to raise public awareness of ME/CFS and those living with the illness.

MassME arranged for several bridges in Massachusetts to be illuminated in blue on the night of May 12.

In Boston and Cambridge, the Zakim Bridge and the Longfellow Bridge were in beautiful blue lights. Also lit was the Burns Bridge in Worcester, and the Fore River Bridge in Quincy/Weymouth.

#MECFSAwareness, #GoBlueforMECFS, #GoBlueforME

May 12, 2025 Bridges In Massachusetts Light Up Blue for World ME Day

In this edition of Sunday Conversations, Sallie Rediske, MPT, provides a casual yet informative exploration of the functional implications of ME/CFS and hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS). She talks about the ways fatigue affects people with both ME/CFS and hEDS, highlighting the shared experiences and challenges faced in daily life and how to navigate the demands of both ME/CFS and hEDS. She also provides practical strategies to address mechanical issues associated with hEDS within the context of ME/CFS. Craniocervical instability (CCI) and occult tethered cord will also be included in the discussion as they are significant coexisting concerns for many with ME/CFS and hEDS. The presentation was followed by questions from the audience.

This program is part of “Sunday Conversations with MassME,” a speaker series with discussion on a wide variety of topics. For more information on this and future Sunday Conversations presentations, please check out https://www.massmecfs.org/sunday-conversations

Chapters
0:00:00 Introduction
0:01:49 Sallie Rediske Presentation
0:51:20 Audience Q&A

Resources from the presentation
* The mast cell disease society - "Great information for mast cell issues for both patients and providers" https://tmsforacure.org/
* Bateman-Horne page on rehab professionals - "Excellent resource for understanding PEM for both patients and providers" https://batemanhornecenter.org/providers/mecfs/diagnosing-managing/rehab-professionals/
* Histamine elimination diet - "Dietary guidelines that can be used to start a low histamine diet and to initiate conversations with healthcare provider" https://www.histaminintoleranz.ch/downloads/SIGHI-Leaflet_HistamineEliminationDiet.pdf
* 2017 Ehlers-Danlos diagnostic criteria for hEDS https://www.ehlers-danlos.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/hEDS-Dx-Criteria-checklist-1-Fillable-form.pdf
* Workwell Foundation PEM Timecourse https://workwellfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/WW-PEM-Timecourse.pdf
* Bibliography for the presentation https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jMYuK0PJR_zGWgMiO5NRBKZWAGUrx_6e/view?usp=sharing

Sunday Conversations April 2025 - ME/CFS and hEDS with Sallie Rediske

Requests and responses that we received from our community this year.

Notes from our Inbox

You may find it easy or challenging to relate to each of your doctors and other providers in ways that help you get what you need from them. Both doctor and patient contribute to that relationship, usually in different ways, based on our personalities, roles and expectations. This presentation and discussion aimed to offer you some tools that can help make that relationship both effective and fulfilling. The discussion was led by Ruth Axelrod, who drew on her career in healthcare and academia, as well as her personal health journey, to facilitate conversation.

This program is part of “Sunday Conversations with MassME,” a speaker series with discussion on a wide variety of topics. For more information on this and future Sunday Conversations presentations, please check out https://www.massmecfs.org/sunday-conversations

Chapters
0:00:00 Introduction
0:02:01 Ruth Axelrod Presentation
0:46:53 Audience Q&A
1:07:30 Concluding remarks

Sunday Conversations November 2024 - Your Doctor is Human Too! with Ruth Axelrod

This is a recording of a medical education mini-symposium on ME/CFS and Long COVID held at University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School on October 4, 2024.

The symposium, held in partnership with the Massachusetts ME/CFS & FM Association, features three presentations:
* Introduction to ME/CFS, Long COVID, and IACCs: Shared complexity and health inequity. Presented by Hayla K. Sluss, PhD. Dept of Medicine, UMassChan. RECLAIM study lead PI
* ME/CFS and Long COVID: Clinical Considerations from a Phase Perspective. Presented by Patricia Fennell, MSW, CSW-R. President and CEO of Albany Health Management Assoc. Inc.
* Unmasking PEM: Assessing disability and its pathophysiology using the 2-day Cardio-Pulmonary Exercise Test. Presented by Staci Stevens, MA. Founder of Workwell Foundation, and Todd Davenport, PhD, MPH. Professor, Chair in the Dept. of Physical Therapy, University of the Pacific. Chair, Long COVID Physio.

Chapters
0:00:00 Hayla Sluss - Introduction to ME/CFS, Long COVID and IACCs - Shared complexity and health inequity
0:42:11 Patricia Fennel - ME/CFS and Long COVID: Clinical considerations from a phase perspective
1:44:23 Staci Stevens & Todd Davenport - Unmasking PEM: Assessing disability and its pathophysiology using a 2-day cardiopulmonary exercise test
2:31:21 Staci Stevens & Todd Davenport - Questions from the audience
2:43:09 Hayla Sluss - Conclusion

ME/CFS, Long COVID, and other IACCs: What They Teach Us - UMass Chan Medical School presentation

This is a recording of the Annual Meeting of the Massachusetts ME/CFS & FM Association on Saturday, October 26, 2024 which includes a talk by clinician, researcher, educator, and author Patricia Fennell, MSW, LCSW-R. Please visit https://massmecfs.org/news-events/905-2024-annual-event-a-powerful-paradigm-for-living-with-chronic-illness for more information about the event.

Living with what was then commonly referred to as Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome (or its popular pseudonym, “Yuppie Flu”), Patricia had experienced the disbelief, dismissal, fear, and isolation familiar to many of us. Drawing from her professional experience, she developed strategies and solutions for “taking back her life,” and then shared them. In her work as research scientist, clinician, and educator, Patricia describes a powerful paradigm for understanding how ME/CFS challenges one’s very sense of self and role in society and, more importantly, how to go about accepting and managing those challenges. We spoke with Patricia about her experience applying her methods to her clients, her experience teaching other health professionals in a variety of disciplines to use these methods, and how things have changed in the last three decades for those living with ME/CFS.

If you found this recording, or others on our channel, helpful, please support MassME: https://massmecfs.org/donate/

Chapters
0:00:00 Welcome - Amanda Mathiesen
0:05:02 Annual Report - Susan Buckley
0:15:27 Introducing Patricia - Phil Chernin
0:18:52 Main Presentation - Patricia Fennell
1:13:48 Audience Q&A - Patricia Fennell & Phil Chernin
1:49:08 Wrap-up - Amanda Mathiesen

MassME 2024 Annual Meeting: A Powerful Paradigm for Living with Chronic Illness - Patricia Fennell

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