About the Summit

Understanding the problem, the gap, and our approach to closing it.

The Problem

Millions of individuals worldwide report persistent, disabling symptoms following COVID-19 vaccination. Post-Acute Vaccination Syndrome (PACVS) presents with chronic fatigue, cognitive impairment, neuropathy, dysautonomia, exercise intolerance, and multi-organ dysfunction. Despite peer-reviewed evidence of distinct autoantibody profiles, cytokine elevations, and spike protein persistence, there remains no formal case definition, no validated diagnostic panel, and no completed clinical trial for this condition.

The Gap

What's Needed Current Status
Formal diagnostic criteria Does not exist
Validated biomarker panel Does not exist
Completed randomized trial Does not exist
International research network Does not exist

This summit addresses all four.

The Approach

We employ a modified Delphi consensus process — the gold-standard method for establishing expert agreement on medical questions where evidence is emerging but incomplete:

  • Pre-meeting anonymous survey (Round 1): Panelists rate candidate diagnostic criteria, biomarkers, and research priorities on standardized Likert scales.
  • Half-day virtual workshop: Structured breakout groups address contested items. Facilitated discussion ensures all voices are heard.
  • Post-meeting survey (Round 2): Panelists re-rate items in light of the group discussion.
  • Consensus thresholds: Results are reported per ACCORD (Accurate Consensus Reporting Document) guidelines, with pre-specified agreement thresholds.

Who Is Behind This

MH

Matthew Thomas J Halma, MSc, MBA

Director, Open Source Medicine Foundation

Matthew Halma is a researcher with a background in computational biophysics, drug discovery, and clinical research methodology. His peer-reviewed publications on spike protein pathology, metabolic modulation, and post-vaccination syndrome have appeared in Frontiers in Medicine, Advances in Virology, Microorganisms, and other journals. He leads the ViTAL SCAN clinical trial investigating metabolic modulation therapy for PACVS.

Google Scholar Profile →

Position Paper

In Preparation

Scoping Review & Call-to-Action on PACVS Research Gaps

Our scoping review and call-to-action paper on PACVS research gaps is currently in preparation. A link will appear here upon publication or preprint release.