Francisco Westermeier

Since 2018, I have been leading a line of research focused on myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), a complex multisystemic disease characterized by persistent and debilitating fatigue that shares several similarities with the post-acute sequelae of COVID-19, also known as 'Long COVID.' Supported by ME Research UK, Solve ME (USA), and currently the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), our research has focused on studying various cardiometabolic aspects, along with potential sex-related differences, in cohorts of ME/CFS patients from the UK and Austria (Blauensteiner et al., 2021; Bertinat et al., 2022; Pipper et al., 2024).

In line with my research activities, I serve as a Deputy Editor for Cardiovascular Diabetology, a solicited reviewer for over 20 international peer-reviewed journals and more than five research agencies, and a member of the Chilean and Austrian Physiological Societies.

In parallel, I have been lecturing in pre- and post-graduate courses at the Department of Health Studies (listed below).

Publications:

#44 articles published in international peer-reviewed journals.

Selected articles as a corresponding author (*)

Pipper C, Bliem L, León LE, Mennickent D, Bodner C, Guzmán-Gutiérrez E, Stingl M, Untersmayr E, Wagner B, Bertinat R, Sepúlveda N, Westermeier F. (*)
Sex and disease severity-based analysis of steroid hormones in ME/CFS.
Journal of Endocrinological Investigation, 2024, doi: 10.1007/s40618-024-02334-1.

Bertinat R, Villalobos-Labra R, Hofmann L, Blauensteiner J, Sepúlveda N, Westermeier F. (*)
Decreased NO production in endothelial cells exposed to plasma from ME/CFS patients.
Vascular Pharmacology, 2022, doi: 10.1016/j.vph.2022

Blauensteiner J, Bertinat R, León LE, Riederer M, Sepúlveda N, Westermeier F. (*)
Altered endothelial dysfunction-related miRs in plasma from ME/CFS patients.
Scientific Reports, 2021, doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-89834-9