Open Source Medicine Foundation
OSMF is a registered research foundation building the scientific evidence base for post-acute chronic conditions — through rigorous peer-reviewed research, open data infrastructure, and clinically actionable diagnostic standards.
Research Programme
Each initiative addresses a distinct gap in the current research landscape for chronic post-acute conditions — from therapeutic evidence to biological infrastructure to clinical recognition.
Initiative 01
Publishing systematic reviews and evidence syntheses on existing approved drugs that show therapeutic promise for post-acute conditions — accelerating access to treatments without the decade-long development timelines of novel compounds.
Initiative 02
Establishing a curated biological sample and data repository from patients with post-acute COVID-19 vaccination syndrome and related conditions — enabling reproducible biomarker research and accelerating hypothesis-driven investigation.
Initiative 03
Developing evidence-based, consensus-informed diagnostic criteria for Post-Acute COVID-19 Vaccination Syndrome — providing clinicians with a structured framework to identify and classify affected patients with reproducible precision.
Initiative 01
Novel drug development for rare and emerging conditions is economically untenable. Repurposing approved compounds with known safety profiles is the fastest path to validated treatments — but the evidence base requires rigorous, independent synthesis.
Approved compounds have decades of safety data, established dosing, and accessible supply chains. For a patient population that has been largely ignored by large pharma, repurposing represents the only near-term therapeutic path.
OSMF's research programme focuses on metabolic modulators, mitochondrial support agents, and anti-inflammatory compounds that address the underlying biological mechanisms identified in post-acute conditions — particularly the metabolic dysregulation, vascular dysfunction, and immune dysregulation characteristic of PACVS.
Our published systematic reviews synthesise the mechanistic rationale, pre-clinical evidence, and available clinical data for each candidate — providing clinicians and researchers with the structured evidence needed to design trials and inform treatment decisions.
Research focus areas
| Compound class | Target mechanism | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Metabolic modulators | Mitochondrial function, ATP synthesis | Published |
| Anticoagulants (low-dose) | Microclot pathology, platelet activation | Published |
| Mast cell stabilisers | Histamine dysregulation, MCAS | In review |
| Antivirals (repurposed) | Viral persistence hypothesis | In progress |
| Immunomodulators | Autoimmune activation, T-cell dysregulation | Planned |
OSMF has published a registered randomised controlled trial protocol for metabolic modulation in PACVS — the first such protocol specifically designed for this patient population. The trial is designed to evaluate whether metabolic support interventions produce measurable improvements in symptom severity and biomarker profiles in patients with laboratory-confirmed PACVS.
The protocol is published, registered, and peer-reviewed. Funding is the remaining prerequisite for execution. With adequate support, recruitment can begin within months of funding confirmation.
Fund the RCT →Trial design overview
Initiative 02
Reproducible biomarker research requires standardised biological specimens from well-characterised patients. The OSMF biobank is being established to fill the most critical infrastructure gap in the field.
The absence of a curated, well-annotated biobank has been one of the primary obstacles to progress in PACVS research. Most published studies rely on convenience samples, inconsistent collection protocols, and inadequate clinical phenotyping — making it impossible to replicate findings or build a coherent mechanistic picture.
The OSMF biobank is designed from first principles to support hypothesis-driven research: standardised collection, longitudinal design, and rich clinical annotation including symptom profiles, exposure histories, and treatment responses.
Multi-site recruitment through established PACVS clinical networks including React19 and affiliated physician practices
Standardised blood, serum, and plasma collection with validated pre-analytical protocols to ensure cross-site reproducibility
Systematic symptom documentation, exposure history, and validated questionnaire instruments at each collection timepoint
Six-month and twelve-month follow-up collections tracking disease progression, spontaneous recovery, and treatment response
Open-access data sharing under ethics-approved protocols, with participant consent and de-identification standards meeting EU and US requirements
Application-based access for qualified researchers, with priority access for OSMF research programme and affiliated academic partners
Initiative 03
Post-Acute COVID-19 Vaccination Syndrome lacks consensus diagnostic criteria — the foundational tool that enables clinical recognition, epidemiological measurement, and trial enrolment.
New or significantly worsened symptoms emerging within a defined window following COVID-19 vaccination, with no pre-existing condition fully accounting for the clinical picture.
Symptoms persisting beyond 12 weeks from symptom onset, distinguishing PACVS from transient post-vaccination reactions and establishing chronicity as a defining feature.
Clinical features spanning two or more organ systems — cardiovascular, neurological, immunological, and/or musculoskeletal — with a characteristic symptom cluster including fatigue, post-exertional malaise, and cognitive dysfunction.
At least one reproducible objective finding — including but not limited to elevated inflammatory markers, autoantibody profiles, autonomic dysfunction on tilt-table testing, or abnormal immune activation markers — supporting a biological basis for symptoms.
Systematic exclusion of conditions that fully explain the clinical presentation, with documentation of the differential diagnostic process and any conditions managed concurrently.
Clinically significant impairment in social, occupational, or other major areas of functioning attributable to the symptom complex, assessed using validated functional status instruments.
The Research Team
OSMF's research programme is led by researchers with an established track record in the specific fields the foundation addresses.
Dr Matthew Halma
Founder & Director of Research
Lead and corresponding author on 30 peer-reviewed publications including systematic reviews on PACVS mechanisms, metabolic modulation, biomarker identification, and clinical recognition. Former Director of Scientific Research at the Independent Medical Alliance. MSc, PhD candidate. h-index 11, 436 citations.
Prof Jack Tuszynski
Scientific Co-founder
Allard Chair in Oncology, University of Alberta. Computational biophysicist with approximately 400 peer-reviewed publications. Expertise in tubulin biology, motor proteins, and computational drug design — including CCI-001, currently in clinical trials for metastatic bladder cancer. Brings academic institutional credibility and computational modelling expertise to OSMF's research programme.
Support independent research
OSMF operates without pharmaceutical funding, institutional capture, or commercial conflicts. Every contribution goes directly to research.