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In 2014, after several years of struggling with unexplained pain and fatigue, Donnelly was diagnosed with fibromyalgia at the Bateman Horne Center. Having the correct diagnosis led to treatments that enabled much improved symptom control and in turn a much greater ability to function. She strongly supports BHC’s mission to close the diagnosis gaps and increase knowledge of effective treatment options in ME/CFS and FM. Donnelly has four grown children and two grandchildren.

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Allen’s prior volunteer efforts with the Fatigue Consultation Clinic and BHC include building awareness of the needs of the ME/CFS pediatric population, moderating panels of youth living with ME/CFS and FM, and providing testimony on the educational challenges of youth with ME/CFS at an NIH/CFSAC conference. Her article, “Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Implications for Women and Their Health Care Providers During the Childbearing Years”, was featured in the 2008 Journal of Midwifery and Women’s Health and received an award for its contribution to clinical practice and the literature.

Now retired from her professional roles, Allen continues the role as a parent helping her daughter with ME/CFS navigate young adulthood. She is aware of a whole new set of challenges that face affected individuals and their families in this phase of life and illness. Allen hopes that her involvement with the BHC Board can help create change desperately needed to improve the lives of those profoundly affected by this illness. 

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Hansen met his wife Megan while rock climbing. They both grew up in Colorado Springs and studied at the University of Utah after moving to Utah with their golden retriever, Cosmo. In May of 2020, after a period of time caring for his mother in Colorado after the death of his father, they returned to Utah. During a hike with their friends, Hansen noticed that the issues Megan had been having that resulted in previous visits to neurologists and cardiologists accelerated after the hike and she had her first recognizable crash. Struggling with basic personal needs and recognizing similar struggles from BHC patients, Megan was enrolled with BHC as a patient. With a proper diagnosis and treatment routine, she is starting to improve. Hansen is a committed advocate of the BHC organization and brings many unique perspectives to the BHC Board.

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Light has 21 publications directly related to ME/CFS and/or to FMS. The findings in these publications are that ME/CFS is different from other fatiguing disorders (multiple sclerosis, depression, prostate cancer, FMS), both in the behavioral effects on exercise, and the effects on gene expression in the fatigue signaling pathways. These data provide objective findings that ME/CFS does not have the same gene expression profile as other “functional” disorders. Most recently research projects include: 1) the role of the recently cloned Acid Sensing Ion Channels (ASICs) in muscle fatigue and pain. Research in Dr. Light’s lab has shown that ASIC-3 expression is increased following exhausting exercise, and that C-fibers innervating muscle are responsive to the mixture of fmetabolites activate a combination of purinergic (P2X), TRPV, and ASIC receptors to produce their actions. 2) experiments in patients with Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue syndromes indicate that the receptors described above are dysregulated, and may provide the basis for the symptoms in these syndromes. 3) quantitative mRNA experiments suggest that the above receptors can be used as an objective marker for these and other fatigue related syndromes. 4) exercise experiments in humans indicate that the receptors described above also play a role in detecting fatigue and muscle pain both acutely, and in inflammatory and exercise induced fatigue and muscle pain.

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Dave has been married to Bonnie Harrington for 43 years. They have six children (4 boys and 2 girls) and eight grandchildren. He was very active in youth activities, coaching little league football, Junior Jazz basketball, and serving in the Boy Scout program. He is an avid reader and loves the History Channel and Science Fiction books and movies.

In 2001, Mason was diagnosed with mononucleosis. After struggling to recover for a year, he went to see Dr. Bateman and was diagnosed with CFS. Mason was able to maintain a career until 2009, when he contracted pneumonia twice and had back surgery. The ensuing disability ended his career and after being bed-ridden for the better part of three years, he was able to manage the disease and become somewhat productive. Mason had gone from an active basketball player, biker, and hiker to where he tries to manage walking up to one mile per day.

Mason hopes his BHC board service can help increase understanding of this disease and be of service to those who are struggling with it.

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Milne’s presentations to senior centers, church groups, etc. have reached thousands of our older citizens and their families and she has contributed as a volunteer to many organizations including Region 2 VOAD (Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters) including terms as Vice Chair and Chair, Utah State VOAD Council, and S.A.F.E Neighborhoods Task Force (whose focus is to establish all public elementary school properties to be the gathering place, service center, and communication hub in the event of a catastrophic disaster). Milne has also been a volunteer appointed member to the Millcreek Township Council and Millcreek Community Councils Association and speaks frequently on this topic to other municipal groups. She is an active member to The American Civil Defense Association, trained in the American Red Cross fundamentals of sheltering, and CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) trained.

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