Among our many community events every year is a series of free speaker forums that focus on our research and science programs as well as Lyme disease prevention. These events provide new information on various Lyme topics in an open discussion format. Our vision is to make Lyme disease easy to diagnose and simple to cure. We believe the more informed, connected, and inspired we are, the better we feel, and the stronger our families, schools, businesses, and communities become.
Each of these Speaker Series events typically feature one of our esteemed scientific researchers paired with a Lyme survivor sharing their inspirational story. Seating is limited. RSVP information as below.
Recent Speaker Series Events
UCSF’s New Lyme Clinical Trials Center: Addressing the Need for Evidence Based Treatments for Lyme & TBD Patients
Thursday, October 17 • 6:00–8:00 PM
Location: 300 Drakes Landing Road, Suite 10, Greenbrae, CA
RSVP: speakerseries@bayarealyme.org or call: 650 530-2684
Light refreshments will be served
We discussed the new Lyme Clinical Trials Center (CTC) at UCSF, funded by Bay Area Lyme Foundation. The Clinical Trials Center aims to address the need for high-quality, innovative clinical trials to develop evidence-based treatments for patients with chronic/persistent Lyme symptoms—a population that has grown to more than two million Americans and continues to increase. In this gathering, we learned more about plans for this UCSF node of the nationwide Clinical Trials Network and what Dr. Chow and her team hope to accomplish. Our host for the evening was Kirsten Stein, Lyme patient advocate, and member of Bay Area Lyme Foundation’s advisory board. Kirsten shared her Lyme story.
DISTINGUISHED SPEAKERS:
Felicia Chow, MD, Featured Speaker
Dr. Felicia Chow is a board-certified neurologist and neuro-infectious diseases physician who specializes in caring for patients with a wide range of neurological infections, including brain abscesses, neurocysticercosis, neurosyphilis, neurological complications of HIV and infectious causes of meningitis, encephalitis, and myelitis. She directs the UCSF Neuro-Infectious Diseases Clinic on the Parnassus campus and also sees patients at San Francisco General Hospital. In addition, she is involved in the education and mentorship for neurology trainees interested in the field of global health. Dr. Chow earned her undergraduate degree from Columbia University and MD from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She completed an internship in internal medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital followed by a residency in neurology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, where she was selected to serve as chief resident. Dr. Chow is an Associate Professor of Neurology at UCSF and has a joint appointment in the Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases.
Kirsten Stein, Bay Area Lyme advisory board member and Lyme patient
In 2010, Kirsten Stein was stopped in her tracks by Lyme disease and several co-infections. Her life trajectory suddenly changed, a once active lifestyle of Crossfit, mountain biking, and skiing became intolerable, and neurological Lyme forced her to abandon plans for her master’s degree. Ten years since the onset of symptoms and now in remission, Kirsten is on a mission to support those who battle the disease and to protect the next generation from this debilitating illness. Harnessing her experience as the president of her organizing and design company, her extensive training in non-profit leadership, and her political science degree, she is working hard to educate others about tick-borne diseases. She speaks publicly about her struggle with Lyme disease at events, with mainstream media and social media outlets. In addition to her advocacy, she consults newly diagnosed Lyme patients on where to find treatment and how to navigate their own road to recovery. Committed to improving the quality of life for people with Lyme, she has set her sights on educating doctors and insurance companies to support those afflicted with chronic Lyme disease. Kirsten lives in Marin County with her husband and two teenage children.
RSVP to speakerseries@bayarealyme.org or call (650) 530-2684
Distinguished Speaker Series • May 1, 2024 • Boston, MA
Young Hearts, Hidden Battles: A pediatric infectious disease physician’s perspective on Lyme disease and neuropsychiatric manifestations
Approximately 60 attendees joined us for an in-person Speaker Series in Wellesley, MA with distinguished speakers Charlotte Mao, MD, MPH, and Mikki Tal, PhD. This event was hosted by local Lyme patient and ambassador Brandi Dean and moderated by Dana Parish, Bay Area Lyme Advisory Board Member.
For more information and to RSVP, please email: speakerseries@bayarealyme.org
DISTINGUISHED SPEAKERS:
Charlotte Mao, MD, MPH, is a pediatric infectious diseases physician whose area of clinical focus is Lyme disease and associated infections. She graduated from Harvard Medical School and completed her pediatric residency and pediatric ID fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital. Her prior area of subspecialty during 25 years at Boston Children’s Hospital was pediatric HIV clinical care and clinical research. She turned her focus to Lyme disease and associated infections on gaining extensive clinical experience with pediatric Lyme disease in the referral ID clinic there. Later joining the Department of Pediatric Infectious Disease at Massachusetts General Hospital, she provided consultative pediatric ID specialty care in a multidisciplinary clinic for children with complex Lyme disease and associated infections at the Dean Center for Tickborne Illness at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. She is Curriculum Director for Invisible International’s online accredited physician education initiative that focuses on vector-borne and environmental illness. Click here to read her published paper entitled Microbes and Mental Illness: Past, Present, and Future.
Michal Caspi Tal, PhD is Principal Scientist, at the MIT Department of Biological Engineering & Associate Scientific Director, at the MIT Center for Gynepathology Research. Dr. Tal leads the Tal Research Group within the Department of Biological Engineering and also serves as the associate scientific director of the Center for Gynepathology Research. Michal is working to identify the connections between infections and chronic diseases. Her research is focused on creating predictive diagnostics and generating actionable information providers can use to connect with and care for patients to improve diagnosis and treatments for invisible chronic diseases. From tick-borne disease to COVID, there are many similarities across chronic inflammatory diseases and important sex differences in these responses, which are the focus of the Tal group. Michal received her PhD at Yale University in Immunobiology under the mentorship of Dr. Akiko Iwasaki researching how immune responses to viruses are impacted by processes such as aging. Dr Tal then did her postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Irving Weissman at Stanford where she later became an instructor at the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at Stanford University leading the infectious disease team and studying immumodulatory mechanisms which impact immune clearance of infectious disease, with a focus on Lyme disease. Michal has been awarded NIH NIAID F31 and F32 pre and postdoctoral fellowships, as well as the Emerging Leader Award from Bay Area Lyme Foundation.
Brandi Dean founded the Dean Center for Tick-Borne Illness at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in 2015. Acting as an advisor and advocate, she joined hands with physicians and leadership at Spaulding Rehab to help open the first center embedded in a major academic medical institution focused on treating patients with chronic tick-borne illnesses. She continues to serve as an active Advisory Board member for the Dean Center for Tick-Borne Illness. Brandi also led Ride Out Lyme, a charity event she designed to raise financial grants for adults with tick-borne illnesses. The event was held annually at SoulCycle in Boston, NYC, and Los Angeles with expansion into other cities. She is also an active Board member of The Alex Manfull Fund, an organization supporting awareness, education, and research to further understand the incidence, etiology, and best treatment of post-infectious neuroimmune disorders. Prior to her work in the field of Lyme disease, Brandi’s professional life included a four-year tour of duty in the United States Coast Guard plus a decade of experience in leadership in the hospitality industry. She earned a degree in Business from Boston University.
For more information, please email: speakerseries@bayarealyme.org
Top Lifestyle Interventions to Aid Recovery in Tick-borne Illness: An Interactive Discussion with Concrete Takeaways
Wednesday, Oct 4 • 6:00pm Pacific
LIVE ONLINE via Zoom
Link was provided by email once you RSVP
An evening discussion with Sunjya Schweig, MD
Recovering from tick-borne illnesses can be aided through carefully devised combinations of conventional and functional medicine, tailored to the individual person. In this meeting, Dr. Schweig discussed the top four lifestyle areas critical to recovery and explained how and why optimizing each area is key to treating and managing Lyme and tick-borne disease. The lifestyle areas are:
- Diet and nutrition
- Stress reduction and neuroplasticity
- Sleep
- Detoxification
Dr. Schweig also discussed the important role that botanical and herbal medicines have in recovery. There was an open discussion about what people are doing in their own lives to manage their health, and Dr. Schweig provided practical suggestions and concrete takeaways.
DISTINGUISHED SPEAKERS:
Sunjya Schweig, MD, California Center for Functional Medicine, and member of Bay Area Lyme Foundation’s Scientific Advisory Board
Dr. Schweig has been studying, teaching, and practicing integrative and functional medicine for over 25 years . He received his B.A, from the University of California, Berkeley, and attended medical school at the University of California, Irvine, where he helped design and lead the complementary and alternative medicine curriculum. Dr. Schweig completed his family medicine residency at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), Family Practice Residency Program in Santa Rosa, CA. During his residency, he was instrumental in developing and founding the Integrative Medicine Fellowship program. Dr. Schweig continues to be active in medical education and has served as volunteer clinical faculty at the UCSF Santa Rosa Residency. He currently holds an adjunct faculty position at Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine. Dr. Schweig has lectured nationally and internationally at conferences, hospitals, and universities. Dr. Schweig is board certified in integrative and holistic medicine (ABIHM) and, in 2014, launched the California Center for Functional Medicine (CCFM) with Chris Kresser, MS, LAc. Dr. Schweig serves as a Scientific Advisory Board Member for the Bay Area Lyme Foundation. He lives in the Bay Area with his wife and their two children.
Nancy Chimsky
Nancy Chimsky is a retired interior designer residing in Santa Rosa, California. She has been challenged with chronic Lyme disease issues since 1997 but was not diagnosed until September of 2010. For many years prior, Nancy had been treated for Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. She was born with chronic Kidney issues and had Epstein Barr Virus as a teen. She was prescribed a multitude of antibiotics for chronic infections from early childhood throughout her life. This ultimately caused an intolerance to antibiotics and severe allergic reactions and intestinal issues. In early 2010 her symptoms increasingly worsened, becoming unmanageable and debilitating. She sought many various medical opinions and was given very little help or hope. Then in September, a nurse practitioner suggested testing for Lyme. After learning that chronic Lyme disease was at the core of her health problems, Nancy sought medical advice from numerous Bay Area doctors, but allergies to antibiotics was a problem with most treatment protocols. In 2015 traveling out of the country for treatment in Mexico, she found alternative treatments that helped significantly. Nancy is passionate about helping others challenged with Lyme disease and other chronic illnesses. Her interests and involvements include Bay Area Lyme Foundation, Walk to End Alzheimer’s, Santa Rosa Junior College Dance. Department, Sonoma International Film Festival, Palm Springs International Film Festival, Deerfield Ranch Winery, and traveling the world with Rob, her husband of 29 years.
For more information and to RSVP, please email: speakerseries@bayarealyme.org
The Complexity of Tick-borne Diseases, with a Focus on Lyme Disease
September 29, 2022 • 6pm–8:30 pm • San Jose, CA
We welcomed Dr. Steven Harris, the Bay Area’s preeminent Lyme doctor for a patient-focused talk. Our patient speaker for the evening was Raeena Lari who chronicled her family’s tortuous journey with Lyme disease.
Read Dr. Harris’ transcribed presentation with his invaluable insights into novel treatment options.
DISTINGUISHED SPEAKERS:
Steven Harris, MD, has been in private practice since 2001 and is board certified in Family Practice. His private practice was opened as a sole proprietorship until 2006, after which he formed a California medical corporation, Pacific Frontier Medical, Inc.
Since 2001 Dr Harris has focused his practice on the diagnosis and treatment of Chronic Complex Illness including Lyme disease, other tick-borne co-infections as well as myalgic encephalomyelitis, chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia, autistic spectrum disorder, chronic inflammatory response syndrome (CIRS), mold & mycotoxin illness, among others.
In his approach to these conditions he incorporates strategies found in conventional, functional and complimentary medicine. He believes that there are many effective treatments available to those with chronic and persistent infections.
Dr Harris has taken a leadership role in lymedisease.org (formerly CALDA -The California Lyme disease Association), a research, patient advocate group which has been largely responsible for spearheading favorable legislation protecting patients rights, expanding Lyme disease awareness and fostering continued public health education. Dr Harris is also an active member of ILADS (The International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society). This is a professional medical society of physicians and scientists which has become the authority on effective treatment for chronic Lyme disease.
Raeena Lari (Patient Caregiver) is a former economist who has lived in San Jose for the last twenty five years. She has a BA from Bryn Mawr College, and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. She is currently serving as Commissioner on the Health Advisory Commission of the Santa Clara County. Raeena’s family went to 26 different doctors and specialists with myriad misdiagnosis before an accurate Lyme diagnosis was eventually made. Diagnosis ranged from mononucleosis to rheumatoid arthritis to Sjogrens and stress induced illness, wasting valuable time when treatment for Lyme should have been in progress.
For more information, please email: speakerseries@bayarealyme.org
The immune system can protect or attack as researchers and Lyme patients can attest
Wednesday, November 3, 2021 • San Diego, CA
TIME: 4:00–7:00 pm
NEW LOCATION:
Sanford Burnham Prebys, Building 4, Fishman Auditorium
10901 N Torrey Pines Rd, La Jolla, CA 92037
Speakers included a researcher, physician and Lyme patient advocate.
Full vaccination is required for this venue. Thank you.
DISTINGUISHED SPEAKERS:
Liz Horn, PhD, MBI, Principal Investigator, Lyme Disease Biobank and Principal, LHC Biosolutions
Liz has spent the past 15 years building research initiatives and collaborations with non-profit organizations, with a focus on registries and biobanks. She has been working in Lyme disease since 2013 and was part of the team that launched the Lyme Disease Biobank. The Lyme Disease Biobank was created to provide much-needed samples to researchers studying Lyme disease and other tick-borne infections, and each participant’s sample donation supports up to 50 different research projects. Liz earned her doctorate in molecular pharmacology and cancer therapeutics from SUNY at Buffalo, was a National Library of Medicine fellow in biomedical informatics, and received her M.B.I. from Oregon Health & Science University. She has mentored and trained >75 advocacy organizations in the translational research enterprise, and helped these groups initiate collaborations with academia, other non-profits, and industry.
Victoria Blaho, PhD, Assistant Professor, Sanford Burnham Prebys, Immunity and Pathogenesis Program
Dr. Blaho began her research career focused on how bioactive lipids contribute to the innate immune response against bacterial infection, characterizing roles for eicosanoids in the generation and resolution of Lyme arthritis pathology. The wild diversity of lipid species led Dr. Blaho to Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City to pursue postdoctoral training in the field of sphingolipids, particularly sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P), and its receptors. Advancing to Instructor at Weill Cornell and later, Research Assistant Professor at SBP, Dr. Blaho continued her research in lipid chaperones and receptor signaling, with an emphasis on cell-type differential effects on hematopoiesis and immunity in response to cell stressors. In August of 2019, Dr. Blaho joined the faculty at SBP Medical Discovery Institute as an Assistant Professor in the Immunity and Pathogenesis program.
David N. Haney, PhD, Researcher & Family Caregiver
Dr. Haney is a long-time La Jolla resident. After receiving his doctorate in biochemistry from Northwestern University, Dr. Haney spent over 40 years as a research scientist studying biochemistry, human disease and computational design of pharmaceuticals. This has included early research on hemoglobin A1C, now a standard measure of diabetic control. Dr. Haney’s wife Nancy is a pediatric physical therapist who has Tick-Borne Diseases (TBDs). Both of his sons (Seth & Sean) have doctorate degrees. Sean (1987-2021) tragically passed this year due to misdiagnosis and heart complications of TBDs. He had a brilliant mathematical mind who applied his talents to studying fluid dynamics of the ocean.
Dr. Haney will share his concerns that most physicians and LLMDs do not test for all types of TBDs, don’t agree on treatments, aren’t trained to recognize or treat heart problems, and over-prescribe powerful immune suppressants which can be deadly for TBD patients
For more information, please email: speakerseries@bayarealyme.org
Complex chronic conditions: Approaches to Lyme disease
POSTPONED • New date TBD • San Jose, CA
6:00pm–8:30pm • light bites and refreshments
Join us for an informative evening as we welcome Suruchi Chandra, MD, Board-certified psychiatrist specializing in integrative and holistic approaches to challenging medical conditions. Dr. Chandra’s practice focuses on the root causes of Lyme symptoms. She will also discuss the effectiveness of herbal treatment in fighting Lyme disease and its co-infections, and important steps to building resilience to support recovery. Our patient speaker for the evening will be Raeena Lari who will chronicle her family’s tortuous journey with Lyme disease. The evening will commence at 6:00 p.m. with light bites and refreshments, concluding after the presentation and a Q&A period. Free to attend.
DISTINGUISHED SPEAKERS:
Dr. Suruchi Chandra
Dr. Chandra is a psychiatrist who specializes in integrative approaches for emotional, behavioral, and other brain-based conditions. She is committed to improving outcomes for these conditions, and is passionate about raising awareness and understanding of integrative psychiatry through education, mentoring, and research.
After graduating from Harvard College with honors, Dr. Chandra obtained her medical degree from Yale School of Medicine. She then completed a psychiatry residency at the MGH/McLean psychiatry program at Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Chandra has board certification in adult and general psychiatry, and did additional clinical training in child and adolescent psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. She also has board certification in neurofeedback from the Biofeedback Certification International Alliance.
Beyond her clinical work, Dr. Chandra lectures and teaches nationally on topics related to integrative medicine and psychiatry at conferences, think tanks, and educational institutions.
Raeena Lari
Raeena is a former economist who has lived in San Jose for the last twenty-five years. She has a BA from Bryn Mawr College and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. She is currently serving as Commissioner on the Health Advisory Commission of Santa Clara County. Raeena likes to spend time in both the Bay Area and Karachi and is a devout citizen of both places.
Raeena will chronicle her family’s tortuous journey with Lyme disease. It entailed going to 26 different doctors and specialists over an entire year before a diagnosis was eventually made, taking the family from local San Jose doctors to the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, Stanford University, and Concierge doctors. Diagnoses ranged from Mononucleosis to Rheumatoid Arthritis to Sjogrens and stress-induced illness, wasting valuable time when treatment for Lyme should have been in progress.
Her family is working to raise awareness about Lyme disease so that others do not have to go through the diagnostic quagmire that they found themselves mired in. They continue to be dedicated and passionate activists for finding a cure for this highly complicated illness, and the availability of better diagnoses and improved treatment options. The family was a strong advocate for the passage of the TICK Act including talking and writing to US Congresspersons, promoting a letter-writing campaign, and running a Change.org petition in support of the legislation.
6:00pm – 8:30pm • light bites and refreshments
LOCATION: Private home in San Jose’s Evergreen area (exact location to be disclosed upon RSVP).
For more information and to RSVP, please email: speakerseries@bayarealyme.org
Alternative Treatments for Tick-borne Diseases
Wednesday, May 19, 2021 • 6:30–8 pm
LOCATION: Live via Zoom. Click on this link to watch the video recording.
Increasingly, Americans with chronic diseases are pursuing complementary and alternative medicine to improve general health or quality of life. This discussion offered inspiration for people living with persistent tick-borne diseases that do not respond to current treatments. This event focused on the importance of using a broad and comprehensive diagnostic and treatment approach.
DISTINGUISHED SPEAKERS:
Sunjya Schweig, MD, Integrative Family Medicine, Board Certified.
Dr. Schweig has been studying, teaching, and practicing integrative and functional medicine for over 25 years . He received his B.A, from the University of California, Berkeley, and attended medical school at the University of California, Irvine, where he helped design and lead the complementary and alternative medicine curriculum. Dr. Schweig completed his family medicine residency at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), Family Practice Residency Program in Santa Rosa, CA. During his residency, he was instrumental in developing and founding the Integrative Medicine Fellowship program. Dr. Schweig continues to be active in medical education and has served as volunteer clinical faculty at the UCSF Santa Rosa Residency. He currently holds an adjunct faculty position at Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine. Dr. Schweig has lectured nationally and internationally at conferences, hospitals, and universities. Dr. Schweig is board certified in integrative and holistic medicine (ABIHM) and, in 2014, launched the California Center for Functional Medicine (CCFM) with Chris Kresser, MS, LAc. Dr. Schweig serves as a Scientific Advisory Board Member for the Bay Area Lyme Foundation. He lives in the Bay Area with his wife and their two children.
Lia Gaertner
Lia Gaertner, MS serves as a Bay Area Lyme Advisory Board member and is Director of Education and Outreach. She is passionate about cultivating better research and recognition for tick-borne illnesses. Lia has experienced, first hand, the obstacles to effective diagnosis and treatment of tick-borne illness. She was first bitten by a Lyme-carrying tick while while in graduate school at Cornell in 1998, but was misdiagnosed until 2008 when she was infected by another tick bite while camping in Mendocino, California. Lia has worked as a principal at Halteres Associates, a bioscience consulting company, and she has over 20 years of international experience in scientific and field research, technical writing, teaching, and project management. She has also worked for several science and medical companies as consultant, project manager, content producer, and affiliate relations director. Ms. Gaertner earned her BS in Environmental Science with minors in Ethnobotany and Agroecology from UC Berkeley and her MS in Ethnobotany from Cornell University. She lives in the Bay Area with her Lyme-literate physician husband, Sunjya Schweig, MD, and their two children.
For more information and to RSVP, please email: speakerseries@bayarealyme.org
Wednesday, October 2, 2019 • San Diego, CA
Treating Lyme and Tick-Borne Diseases: How Antibiotics and the Immune System Work to Fight Infection
Tick-borne diseases, and Lyme disease in particular, cause complex, multi-system health issues with devastating consequences. This event focused on the importance of using a broad and comprehensive diagnostic and treatment approach. We explored important avenues for testing and treatment including a discussion on the role that antibiotics play in supporting the immune system:
- Understand the role antibiotics play in fighting infection
- Identify and treat hidden triggers
- Optimize immune function
- Decrease auto-immune activation
- Decrease systemic inflammation
- Improve the body’s ability to detoxify and tolerate treatments
- The importance of optimizing lifestyle factors such as stress reduction, diet, exercise, sleep. Specific tools and suggestions were discussed
With careful attention to both conventional infection-fighting tools and a new understanding of how the immune system mounts its response to threats, patients can have the ability to recover their health more quickly and completely.
DISTINGUISHED SPEAKERS:
Sunjya Schweig, MD, Integrative Family Medicine, Board Certified.
Dr. Schweig has been studying, teaching, and practicing integrative and functional medicine for over 25 years . He received his B.A, from the University of California, Berkeley, and attended medical school at the University of California, Irvine, where he helped design and lead the complementary and alternative medicine curriculum. Dr. Schweig completed his family medicine residency at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), Family Practice Residency Program in Santa Rosa, CA. During his residency, he was instrumental in developing and founding the Integrative Medicine Fellowship program. Dr. Schweig continues to be active in medical education and has served as volunteer clinical faculty at the UCSF Santa Rosa Residency. He currently holds an adjunct faculty position at Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine. Dr. Schweig has lectured nationally and internationally at conferences, hospitals, and universities. Dr. Schweig is board certified in integrative and holistic medicine (ABIHM) and, in 2014, launched the California Center for Functional Medicine (CCFM) with Chris Kresser, MS, LAc. Dr. Schweig serves as a Scientific Advisory Board Member for the Bay Area Lyme Foundation. He lives in the Bay Area with his wife and their two children.
Andrei Osterman, PhD, is a member of the Immunity and Pathogenesis Program in the Center for Infectious and Inflammatory Diseases at Sanford Burnham Prebys
The main focus of Dr. Osterman’s research team is on fundamental and applied aspects of the key metabolic subsystems in a variety of species, from bacteria to human.This group uses a systems biology approach to reconstruct and explore metabolic and transcriptional regulatory networks.This approach combines comparative genomics and other bioinformatic techniques with biochemical and genetic experiments for pathway, gene and target discovery. Using this approach this group predicted and experimentally verified numerous enzyme families in the metabolism of co-factors, carbohydrates, and amino acids. Recent breakthroughs included prediction and characterization of novel transporters, transcriptional regulators and carbohydrate utilization pathways in a number of model bacterial systems. Applications in the field of infectious disease include identification of novel drug targets and structure-based development of novel anti-infective agents. New directions in cancer research are based on application of metabolic profiling technology for identification of novel diagnostic and therapeutic targets. Other directions of the on-going research include bioinformatics of regulatory proteolysis and applications of structural modeling for exploration of metabolic networks and gene discovery.
Sharon Wampler, PhD, is a Lyme patient, activist and co-founder of the San Diego Lyme Alliance
In 2008 La Jolla biochemist Sharon Wampler PhD experienced declining health following a tick bite in Germany. She never developed the infamous “bull’s-eye rash,” but experienced progressive symptoms and was eventually diagnosed with Lyme disease. Coincidentally, Sharon’s father Whitfield (W.E.) Wampler died from complications of Lyme disease in 2016, a year after he was diagnosed, and is one of the pilot tissue donors to the Bay Area Lyme Foundation’s Lyme Disease Biobank. While it is unknown exactly how long W.E. lived with Lyme, his symptoms spanned at least ten years. Father and daughter struggled together to make sense of their collective medical mystery. Professionally, Sharon has held research and business development positions in several biotech companies and held director-level management positions at UCSD. In addition to managing her own health regimen, she has provided support to numerous Lyme patients in the San Diego region and beyond. She is co-founder of the San Diego Lyme Alliance and serves as a Lyme Disease advocate to state and national politicians. Sharon’s major focus for the coming year will be as the Lyme Disease patient pioneer for Project Apollo, a precision-healthcare research effort in collaboration with UCSD. Sharon will talk about her family’s Lyme journey and her efforts to bring Lyme awareness to the San Diego region.
LOCATION: Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute
Building 12 Auditorium, 10905 Road to the Cure, San Diego, CA 92121
Graciously hosted by Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute
Wednesday, September 25, 2019 • Carmel, CA
Lyme and Tick-Borne Diseases—the Ticks, the Science, and the Controversy
Why is Lyme such a polarizing topic? Why are tick-borne diseases on the rise? Why are tick-borne pathogens so difficult to diagnose and treat? And why aren’t we doing more to combat these insidious threats to human health?
In this talk, Wendy Adams, research grant director at Bay Area Lyme Foundation, addressed these questions, bringing her considerable insight and expertise to bear on an increasingly complex and controversial medical topic.
Wendy was joined by Pebble Beach resident Liz Hulme, who shared her family’s Lyme journey.
DISTINGUISHED SPEAKERS:
Wendy Adams, Research Grant Director & Advisory Board Member
Wendy Adams joined the Bay Area Lyme Foundation in 2012. As Research Grant Director and a member of the Advisory Board, she identifies, vets and leads our research opportunities, including the Lyme Disease Biobank. Her unique perspective and knowledge as a former Lyme patient—as well as her background in product development and business strategy for companies like Cowen, Genentech and Aviron—make her skillset valuable to BAL. Wendy has spent over 20 years in the biotechnology field and most recently served as Chief Business Officer at Full Spectrum Genetics, Inc., an antibody engineering company pursuing programs in immuno-oncology and autoimmune disease. Previously, she ran B2DC LLC, a business development consultancy to biotech clients in infectious and autoimmune disease, therapeutic and prophylactic vaccines, oncology, drug delivery and neurology. Wendy holds an MBA from the Haas School of Business, University of California at Berkeley, where she also served on the faculty in Entrepreneurship, and an AB from Duke University. She was also a member of the Health and Human Services Tick-Borne Disease Working Group federal advisory committee, 2017–2019.
Liz Hulme
Liz Hulme will offer a patient perspective on living with and recovering from Lyme. Her journey back to health began almost a decade ago with the onset of what appeared to be a debilitating flu. Shortly after, she was diagnosed with a rarer form of Lyme, and later, a coinfection. “While recovering from Lyme has been one of the hardest things I have experienced in my life, recovery has offered unexpected gifts in the midst of the darkest days, not the least of which has been the shared experience with other Lyme patients. I could not have made it to the other side of illness without the compassion, courage, and generosity of patients, caregivers, and gifted physicians. Bay Area Lyme Foundation is just one more manifestation of the good people, research, and advancements that are making it possible for many of us to resume our lives. There is so much more to do to, but tremendous progress has been made since I was first diagnosed and there is hope.” Liz is a certified integrative health coach through Duke Integrative Medicine and directs the health and wellness program at a school in Monterey, CA.
LOCATION: Carmel Woman’s Club, 9th Ave and San Carlos, Carmel-By-The-Sea, CA 93923
Wednesday, June 5, 2019 • Portola Valley, CA
Bitten: The Secret History of Lyme Disease and Biological Weapons
Evening began at 6:00 p.m. Light refreshments was served. This speaker series was an evening of discussion with science writer and Stanford University communications manager Kris Newby, also senior producer for the award-winning documentary Under Our Skin. Kris was bitten by a tick and contracted Lyme disease while on vacation on Martha’s Vineyard. That one bite changed her life forever, pulling her into the abyss of a devastating illness that took ten doctors to diagnose and years to recover. Perplexed by the controversy and lack of understanding around this disease, she put her first-hand experience and investigative talents to work, culminating in the book Bitten: The Secret History of Lyme Disease and Biological Weapons.
Ms. Newby will dive into the mystery surrounding one of the most controversial 
and misdiagnosed conditions of Lyme disease and will explore the character of Willy Burgdorfer, the man who discovered the microbe behind it, revealing his secret role in developing bug-borne biological weapons, and raising terrifying questions about the genesis of the epidemic of tick-borne diseases affecting millions of Americans today. Pulling from her work of narrative journalism, Ms. Newby will help us investigate these claims, uncovering darker truths about Willy. It also leads her to uncomfortable questions about why Lyme can be so difficult to both diagnose and treat, and why the government is so reluctant to classify chronic Lyme as a disease.
RSVP speakerseries@bayarealyme.org
Wednesday, April 3, 2019 • Sea Ranch/Gualala, CA
Lyme Disease in California: Keeping Your Community Safe in the Face of this Growing Epidemic
Evening began at 6:00 p.m. Light refreshments was served. Lyme disease is the fastest-growing vector-borne disease in the United States and tick season is year-round in California. California residents need to develop heightened vigilance around ticks and tick-bites—especially in Mendocino Country where 41% of ticks harbor bacteria known to cause disease in humans. This presentation will give you the latest hard facts on Lyme, plus offer materials that you can use immediately to remind yourselves, and your families and friends to check themselves for ticks and keep themselves safe. School-age children are particularly susceptible to Lyme and tick-borne infections, so we advise on the best ways to speak to young children without negatively impacting their enjoyment of the outdoors. The evening will also include a caregiver perspective from long-time Sea Ranch resident, Cheryl Buscaglia.
Location: Sea Ranch—Gualala Arts Center, 46501 Old State Highway, Gualala, CA • MAP LINK
Jo Ellis is Director of Education Outreach at Bay Area Lyme Foundation. Jo Ellis has 20+ years of experience developing and marketing educational programming for schools, nonprofits, and corporations. A native of the UK, Jo received her BA/MA from Cambridge University, and a post-graduate high-school teaching certification from the University of London. Jo is a nationally recognized educator with Johns Hopkins University.
Cheryl Buscaglia will share her family’s Lyme journey, charting the long, frustrating, and costly illness which lead, eventually, to her adult daughter’s diagnosis of Lyme disease. Career woman, wife, mother and triathlete — her daughter’s life has been completely derailed by this insidious infection that is still without an absolute cure. Several years, doctors, medical treatments, and enormous medical bills later, Cheryl’s family knows only too well the helpless frustration of witnessing the pain and suffering Lyme can wreak on the life of a loved one, and the toll it takes on a patient’s extended family.
A Bay Area native and member of the Sea Ranch community, Cheryl attended San Jose State University, studying business. With a long and varied career in commercial construction, sales and administration, Cheryl also owned her own successful retail store for almost 20 years. Outside of work, Cheryl was an ambassador in the Chamber of Commerce, counseled women re-entering the workforce at Travis Air Force Base, and served on the Board of Directors for the Easter Seals. In retirement, Cheryl continues to give back to the community volunteering at Kaiser and John Muir Hospitals as well as being active in the American Association of University Women and the Philanthropic Educational Association.
Wednesday, February 27, 2019 • Lafayette, CA
Current Lyme Treatments and Prevention—What You Need to Know
Evening began at 6:00 p.m. Light refreshments were served. This was a very informative evening with Sunjya Schweig, MD, Board certified in integrative and holistic medicine (ABIHM) explained Lyme prevention and how to keep your family safe from tick-borne diseases. Eric Gordon, MD, founder and Medical Director of Gordon Medical Associates, discussed the pilot study with the Bay Area Lyme Foundation Biobank to collect blood samples from patients with chronic Lyme disease. Caregiver, Emily Fairbairn, also spoke about her family’s Lyme journey since their diagnosis in the Fall of 2017.
Location: Lafayette Library and Learning Center, 3491 Mt. Diablo Boulevard,
Lafayette, CA 94549
Distinguished Speakers:
Sunjya Schweig, MD: Integrative Family Medicine, Board Certified. Dr. Schweig has been studying, teaching, and practicing integrative and functional medicine for over 25 years and received his B.A, from the University of California, Berkeley. He attended medical school at the University of California, Irvine, where he helped design and lead the complementary and alternative medicine curriculum. He served on the Board of the Susan Samueli Center for Complementary and Alternative medicine and was chosen as one of twenty medical students to attend the NIH Leadership Training Program in Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Dr. Schweig completed his family medicine residency at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), Family Practice Residency Program in Santa Rosa, CA. During his residency, he was instrumental in developing and founding the Integrative Medicine Fellowship program. Dr. Schweig continues to be active in medical education and has served as volunteer clinical faculty at the UCSF Santa Rosa Residency. He currently holds an adjunct faculty position at Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine. Dr. Schweig has lectured nationally and internationally at conferences, hospitals, and universities. Dr. Schweig is board certified in integrative and holistic medicine (ABIHM) and family practice (FAAFP). In 2014, Dr. Schweig launched the California Center for Functional Medicine (CCFM) with Chris Kresser, MS, LAc. He lives in the Bay Area with his wife and their two children.
Eric Gordon, MD is the founder and Medical Director of Gordon Medical Associates, a medical practice serving patients with complex chronic illness in Santa Rosa and San Rafael, CA. In addition to seeing patients in his practice, Dr. Gordon organized and served as medical advisor and moderator for a series of medical symposia in Northern California, bringing together extraordinary faculties consisting of 30 leading international academic medical researchers and cutting-edge clinicians, respectively focusing on CFS, Lyme, autoimmune diseases and autism. In 2019, GMA is participating in a pilot study with the Bay Area Lyme Foundation project Lyme Disease Biobank to collect blood samples from patients with chronic Lyme disease. These samples will be used by researchers to better understand the disease and to evaluate solutions.
Emily Fairbairn will offer a caregiver and patient perspective: “In 2017, my entire family was diagnosed with Lyme, even the dog. For years, we all suffered many ailments that numerous doctors improperly identified. We “looked fine,” but had all lost our abundant energy and health. We began to accept that our symptoms were from old age and overwhelming stress. Fortunately, we eventually found the proper answer and, after several rounds of treatments, we have our lives back. We have lived in this community for 22 years, and have now realized how prevalent tick-borne diseases are. To help ensure others stay healthy, we want to promote awareness around Lyme literacy and tick-borne disease prevention.”
Moderator: Linda Giampa, Executive Director, Bay Area Lyme Foundation
Wednesday, November 28 • Woodside, CA
An Epidemic, Minimized: An Investigative Reporter’s View of Lyme Disease
Evening began at 6:00 pm • at a private home in Woodside • light bites & refreshments were served
Distinguished Speakers:
Mary Beth Pfeiffer
Journalist and author of Lyme: The First Epidemic of Climate Change. Based on her review of 300 scientific papers and interviews with scores of experts, Ms. Pfeiffer will show how the American view of Lyme disease has minimized the damage of ticks and dismissed the documented pain of thousands of patients.
Mary Beth Pfeiffer’s six-year investigation is unique among mainstream journalists, who have largely accepted prevailing dogma on Lyme disease. Instead, Pfeiffer challenges medicine’s biggest institutions and premier journals, and, in her book and talks, faults how we test for, treat and manage tick-borne illness. Pfeiffer will discuss new findings that suggest why some 10 to 20 percent of patients remain ill after treatment and how this new research is giving hope for future treatments. Based on her review of 300 scientific papers and interviews with scores of experts, she will show how the American view of Lyme disease, which prevails worldwide, has minimized the damage of ticks and dismissed the documented pain of thousands of patients. As they blanket the globe, these tiny eight-legged creatures have reshaped our view of nature and, Pfeiffer warns, have been enabled by human-driven climate change and patterns of development.
Karen Lynch
Karen spent over 20 years in Executive Sales Management. After a pulmonary embolism in July 2013 and her Mother’s diagnosis of Stage 4 urothelial cancer in October 2013, she quit her job and start private coaching to have more time with family.
During this time, Karen researched treatment for her older son’s restrictive eating (ARFID), OCD and anxiety issues. After two years of treatment with a naturopath, she found an osteopath who suspected Bartonella. In 2017, Karen tested positive for Bartonella, Ehrlichia, and Babesia; she was clinically diagnosed with Lyme 39 years after a known tick bite and a history of chronic illness. Both of her sons tested positive for Bartonella (maternal-fetal blood transmission).
She blogs about Lyme, family, and life; her mission is to inspire women to learn, grow and live life according to their values rather than through fear.
She and her family reside in Burlingame Hills. She is active in the local community and loves Pilates, hiking, and time with family.
Thursday, March 15, 2018 • San Rafael, CA
Preventing and Treating Lyme in Marin—Keeping Your Family Safe from Tick-Borne Diseases
Distinguished Panel Discussion
Lyme and tick-borne diseases have reached epidemic proportions across the US, and the number of cases reported in Marin County continues to grow each year. Our panel of distinguished speakers provided answers to pressing questions in the field of Lyme offering important health information, advice and support. Young children are most at-risk for tick bites, so this was a must-attend event for parents.
Time: 6:00 – 8:00 pm • light bites & refreshments
Location:
Dominican University • Creekside Room (next to Caleruga Hall) • 100 Magnolia Ave • San Rafael, CA 94901
Panel:
Wendy Adams, Research Grant Director and Advisory Board member, Bay Area Lyme Foundation. After suffering from undiagnosed Lyme disease for many years, Wendy Adams is passionate about the development of reliable diagnostics and improved treatment for this devastating disease. As a member of the science committee and advisory board, she provides strategic research advice and identifies, vets and manages our research opportunities, including the Lyme Disease Biobank. Her unique perspective and knowledge as a former Lyme patient—as well as her background in finance, strategy and business development. Wendy has spent over 20 years in the biotechnology field and holds an MBA from the Haas School of Business, University of California at Berkeley, where she also served on the faculty in Entrepreneurship, and an AB in Comparative Area Studies from Duke University.
Ramzi Asfour, MD is Board Certified in Infectious Diseases and Internal Medicine. He graduated from New York Medical College then completed an Internal Medicine Residency Program at California Pacific Medical Center followed by a Fellowship in Infectious Diseases at UCSD. He has worked for the World Health Organization (WHO), Colombia University in South Africa, and in private practice. Prior to attending medical school, Ramzi majored in genetics at UC Davis. He is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at UCSF. He works at the California Center for Functional Medicine alongside Dr. Sunjya Schweig. Dr. Asfour offers a holistic, patient-centered approach to enable long-lasting recovery from chronic illness and optimal health. He uses diet, lifestyle interventions, parasympathetic system strengthening, investigative laboratory testing, supplements, herbs, and when necessary, prescription medications. Among other conditions, Dr. Asfour is interested in auto-immune disorders, chronic infections including Lyme, tick-borne diseases and other acquired infections, gut imbalances and disorders, detoxification, and mold and environmental illness. He understands how challenging many of these conditions are to overcome and partners with his patients who suffer from chronic conditions or those who seek to achieve and maintain optimal health.
Doris Mitsch, Marin County parent of a child with Lyme. Doris is a Bay Area parent who found out the hard way that “you can do all the right things to protect your family—make sure they use insect repellent, stay out of tall grass, do regular tick checks, get ticks tested—and still have you or one of your children end up with a tick-borne disease.” Doris wants all parents to be aware that Lyme exists here in California, be able to recognize the early symptoms of the disease, and be prepared to push past the family doctor’s insistence that it “must be the flu… or mono… or in your head”—anything but Lyme. Over the course of a year of battling multiple tick-borne infections with her child, Doris learned to be her daughter’s advocate, caregiver, and teacher. Doris grew up in the Bay Area, graduated from Stanford University, and now lives in Marin with her family. She has worked for many years as a designer and photographer.
Moderator:
Linda Giampa, Executive Director, Bay Area Lyme Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to making Lyme disease easy to diagnose and simple to cure through research funding and awareness efforts. Drawing on the skills and know-how developed in the high-tech industry, Linda has brought the practice of responsibility and accountability to the foundation and its donors. Since joining, Linda has more than quadrupled the organization’s research funding. Before devoting herself to philanthropy, Linda spent 25 years in high tech, beginning with 8 years at Oracle, followed by executive leadership positions, including CEO, in a number of successful software start-up companies. Those companies include Pure Software (IBM), Optimal Networks (Compuware), Ejasent (Symantec) and Versata.
RSVP speakerseries@bayarealyme.org
Wednesday, November 29, 2017 • Martinez, CA
What is Lyme Disease? How Should it be Treated?
6:00–8:00 pm (speakers began at 6:30) • at a private home in Alhambra Valley, Martinez, CA • light bites & refreshments • free to attend
To RSVP, please email jo@bayarealyme.org.
Synopsis of presentation:
Tickborne diseases, and Lyme disease in particular, cause complex, multi-system health issues with devastating consequences. This talk focuses on the importance of using a broad and comprehensive diagnostic and treatment approach. We will explore important avenues for testing and treatment to help:
- Identify and treat hidden triggers
- Optimize immune function
- Decrease auto-immune activation
- Decrease systemic inflammation
- Improve the body’s ability to detoxify and tolerate treatments
- The importance of optimizing lifestyle factors such as stress reduction, diet, exercise, sleep. Specific tools and suggestions will be discussed
With careful attention to these factors, patients have the ability to recover their health more quickly and completely, using important new tools beyond simply trying to eradicate the infections.
Featured speakers:
Sunjya K. Schweig, MD
Sunjya K. Schweig, MD, has been studying, teaching, and practicing integrative and functional medicine for over 25 years. Dr. Schweig received his B.A, from the University of California, Berkeley. He attended medical school at the University of California, Irvine, where he helped design and lead the complementary and alternative medicine curriculum. He served on the Board of the Susan Samueli Center for Complementary and Alternative medicine and was chosen as one of twenty medical students to attend the NIH Leadership Training Program in Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Dr. Schweig completed his family medicine residency at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), Family Practice Residency Program in Santa Rosa, CA. During his residency, he was instrumental in developing and founding the Integrative Medicine Fellowship program. Dr. Schweig continues to be active in medical education and has served as volunteer clinical faculty at the UCSF Santa Rosa Residency. He currently holds an adjunct faculty position at Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine. Dr. Schweig has lectured nationally and internationally at conferences, hospitals, and universities. Dr. Schweig is board certified in integrative and holistic medicine (ABIHM) and family practice (FAAFP). In 2014, Dr. Schweig launched the California Center for Functional Medicine (CCFM) with Chris Kresser, MS, LAc. He lives in the Bay Area with his wife and their two children.
Lia Gaertner
Lia Gaertner, MS serves as a member of the Bay Area Lyme Foundation Science Committee. She is passionate about cultivating better research and recognition for tick-borne illnesses. Lia has experienced, first hand, the obstacles to effective diagnosis and treatment of tick-borne illness. She was first bitten by a Lyme-carrying tick while while in graduate school at Cornell in 1998, but was misdiagnosed until 2008 when she was infected by another tick bite while camping in Mendocino, California. Lia has worked as a principal at Halteres Associates, a bioscience consulting company, and she has over 20 years of international experience in scientific and field research, technical writing, teaching, and project management. She has also worked for several science and medical companies as consultant, project manager, content producer, and affiliate relations director. Ms. Gaertner earned her BS in Environmental Science with minors in Ethnobotany and Agroecology from UC Berkeley and her MS in Ethnobotany from Cornell University. She lives in the Bay Area with her Lyme-literate physician husband, Sunjya Schweig, MD, and their two children.
Thursday, October 19, 2017 • New York City
It’s not hopeless—a much-needed perspective and information about Lyme disease
6:00–8:30 pm (Speakers began at 6:30) • light bites & refreshments • by invitation only
Featured Speakers:
Steven Phillips, MD
Steven E. Phillips, MD is a Yale-educated, world-renowned expert on zoonotic infections who has treated over 20,000 patients from over 20 countries. He is well-published in the peer-reviewed medical literature, acclaimed for his work in linking chronic diseases to occult infections, and successfully treating some of medicine’s most complex cases. He specializes in the management of stealth pathogens, which include Lyme disease, bartonellosis, babesiosis and other vector-borne diseases. With over two decades of experience in successfully treating patients with zoonotic infection, he discovered that inflammatory and rheumatic conditions were associated with bartonellosis. He is currently involved in drug development to bring public a durable and effective treatment for this infection and change the face of rheumatology forever.
David Roth
David Roth is a Senior Managing Director in Blackstone’s Real Estate group where he serves as the head of Latin America investments, based in New York. Before joining Blackstone, Mr. Roth was a Principal in the acquisitions group at Walton Street Capital. Early in his career David ran acquisitions in Europe for Security Capital Group and was an associate attorney at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. Mr. Roth received a BA with a major in Government from Dartmouth College, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude. He also received a JD from New York University School of Law and is a Chartered Financial Analyst charter holder. David is a sufferer of Lyme and Babesia and was one of the founders of the Tick Borne Disease Alliance. He currently serves on the Board of Jazz Aspen Snowmass and the International Board of the Sao Paolo Biennale.
Honoring Dana Parish
Dana Parish is a NYC-based SonyATV singer/songwriter known for her powerful voice and emotional delivery. Parish’s first single, “Not My Problem”, from her debut album Uncrushed, charted at #23 on Billboard, and she soon became one of the highest-charting independent artists ever. This led to several appearances on major talk shows, including The CBS Morning Show, Good Morning America, and KTLA. An in-demand songwriter, Parish penned two songs (Thankful and Always be Your Girl) on the most recent Celine Dion album and had the #1 song in China with “Someday I’ll Fly” by G.E.M. Her song “Broken Ones” performed by Jacquie Lee, The Voice Season 5 finalist, was a chart success. She is now working on the albums of superstars. While still fully engaged in her music career, Dana has become an advocate and champion for those suffering with Lyme and other tick-borne diseases. In May 2016, she performed “Pull You Through” at LymeAid, Bay Area Lyme’s annual fundraiser, helping to raise more than $815,000 to fund research for Lyme disease. Read her Lyme Disease Story here.
Wednesday, March 8, 2017 • Berkeley, CA
Treating Lyme Disease: A Functional and Integrative Medicine Approach to Lyme Disease
6:00–8:00 pm (speakers begin at 6:30) • home of Anna Lappé and John Marshall, Berkeley • light bites & refreshments • free to attend
Synopsis of presentation:
Tickborne diseases, and Lyme disease in particular, cause complex, multi-system health issues with devastating consequences. This talk focused on the importance of using a broad and comprehensive diagnostic and treatment approach. We explored important avenues for testing and treatment to help:
- Identify and treat hidden triggers
- Optimize immune function
- Decrease auto-immune activation
- Decrease systemic inflammation
- Improve the body’s ability to detoxify and tolerate treatments
- The importance of optimizing lifestyle factors such as stress reduction, diet, exercise, sleep. Specific tools and suggestions will be discussed
With careful attention to these factors, patients have the ability to recover their health more quickly and completely, using important new tools beyond simply trying to eradicate the infections.
Featured speakers:
Sunjya K. Schweig, MD
Sunjya K. Schweig, MD, has been studying, teaching, and practicing integrative and functional medicine for over 25 years. Dr. Schweig received his B.A, from the University of California, Berkeley. He attended medical school at the University of California, Irvine, where he helped design and lead the complementary and alternative medicine curriculum. He served on the Board of the Susan Samueli Center for Complementary and Alternative medicine and was chosen as one of twenty medical students to attend the NIH Leadership Training Program in Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Dr. Schweig completed his family medicine residency at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), Family Practice Residency Program in Santa Rosa, CA. During his residency, he was instrumental in developing and founding the Integrative Medicine Fellowship program. Dr. Schweig continues to be active in medical education and has served as volunteer clinical faculty at the UCSF Santa Rosa Residency. He currently holds an adjunct faculty position at Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine. Dr. Schweig has lectured nationally and internationally at conferences, hospitals, and universities. Dr. Schweig is board certified in integrative and holistic medicine (ABIHM) and family practice (FAAFP). In 2014, Dr. Schweig launched the California Center for Functional Medicine (CCFM) with Chris Kresser, MS, LAc. He lives in the Bay Area with his wife and their two children.
Lia Gaertner
Lia Gaertner, MS serves as a member of the Bay Area Lyme Foundation Science Committee. She is passionate about cultivating better research and recognition for tick-borne illnesses. Lia has experienced, first hand, the obstacles to effective diagnosis and treatment of tick-borne illness. She was first bitten by a Lyme-carrying tick while while in graduate school at Cornell in 1998, but was misdiagnosed until 2008 when she was infected by another tick bite while camping in Mendocino, California. Lia has worked as a principal at Halteres Associates, a bioscience consulting company, and she has over 20 years of international experience in scientific and field research, technical writing, teaching, and project management. She has also worked for several science and medical companies as consultant, project manager, content producer, and affiliate relations director. Ms. Gaertner earned her BS in Environmental Science with minors in Ethnobotany and Agroecology from UC Berkeley and her MS in Ethnobotany from Cornell University. She lives in the Bay Area with her Lyme-literate physician husband, Sunjya Schweig, MD, and their two children.
Thursday, November 3, 2016 • Corte Madera, CA
Lyme in Marin? What You Need to Know and How to Protect Your Family
Synopsis of presentation:
Tickborne diseases, and Lyme disease in particular, cause complex, multi-system health issues with devastating consequences. This talk will focus on the importance of using a broad and comprehensive diagnostic and treatment approach. We will explore important avenues for testing and treatment to help:
- Identify and treat hidden triggers
- Optimize immune function
Decrease auto-immune activation
Decrease systemic inflammation
Improve the body’s ability to detoxify and tolerate treatments
The importance of optimizing lifestyle factors such as stress reduction, diet, exercise, sleep. Specific tools and suggestions will 2be discussed
With careful attention to these factors, patients have the ability to recover their health more quickly and completely, using important new tools beyond simply trying to eradicate the infections.
Featured speakers:
Todd Maderis, ND, LAc
Founder & Medical Director, Marin Natural Medicine Clinic • “Lyme disease in Northern California: information to help you protect yourself and your family”
Dr Todd Maderis is the founder and Medical Director of Marin Natural Medicine Clinic in Larkspur, CA. He specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of complex chronic illness, including tick borne infections. It was through his interest of finding and treating the cause of illness that he discovered the world of Lyme disease. Dr. Maderis is a member of the international Lyme and Associated Disease Society (ILADS).
Kirsten Stein
Lyme Patient • “A personal story: Lyme’s effect on your well-being”
A mother of two, business owner and a prolific community volunteer Kirsten became disabled from Lyme and co-infections over 6 years ago. She put her dreams on hold of an MBA (and more) until receiving the correct diagnosis in 2013. Recovery has been slow but significant. Today, she is focused on raising her children, maintaining her organizing business and writing on her terrifying experience, diagnosis, and healing process. Setting her sights on the future she will be taking steps to become a Health Coach, specializing in Lyme Disease. As a regular volunteer with the Bay Area Lyme Foundation she reflects “Lyme disease is what I have, but no longer defines who I am.”
Jo Ellis
Director of Education & Outreach, Bay Area Lyme Foundation • “Lyme disease: prevalence and prevention”
Jo Ellis has over 20 years of experience developing and marketing educational programming for schools, nonprofits, and corporations. A native of the UK, Jo was Product Development Executive for BBC Education & Training, developing award-winning educational programs distributed worldwide. Here in the US, Jo worked as Director of Executive Education at Stanford and then for Charles Schwab, launching “Schwab U,” the company’s internal management education provider. When Jo started a family, she went back to school and got her Montessori teaching qualification. She received her BA/MA from Cambridge University, and a post-graduate high-school teaching certification from the University of London. Jo holds the AMI middle school teaching certification, and is a nationally recognized gifted and talented educator with Johns Hopkins University.
A special thank you to Kirsten Stein and Carolyn Margiotti for helping us build awareness in Marin with this exciting event.
Wednesday, September 14th, 2016 • Portola Valley
“No Give Up” : What I Learned from my 9-1/2-year Struggle with Tick-borne Illness
Featured speaker:
Jordan Fisher Smith
Cast member of “Under Our Skin” and “Under Our Skin 2: Emergence,” writer and author of ENGINEERING EDEN and NATURE NOIR, and former Lyme patient
In June of 1998, Jordan Fisher Smith was bitten by a tick while working as a park ranger. By 2005 he had lost his job, written a bestselling book and was working for Andy Abrahams Wilson on the first “Under Our Skin” movie. By 2010, when “Under Our Skin” made the Oscar Shortlist for Best Documentary Feature, Jordan was cured and had settled his ten-year court battle against his insurance company. In this Speaker Series, Jordan will share what he learned about himself in the process.
Wednesday, June 1, 2016 • Palo Alto
Transmission Cycles & Risk Factors for Lyme in CA
Featured speakers:
Robert S. Lane
Professor Emeritus of Medical Entomology and Professor of the Graduate School, University of California, Berkeley
Dr. Lane studies the ecology and epidemiology of Lyme disease with a focus on the transmission cycles of the Lyme-causing spirochete and other emerging bacterial disease agents. His work has yielded the identification of several new species of spirochetes not previously documented in North America and clarified the role of over 50 bird species in the ecology of Lyme bacteria in the far Western US. Dr. Lane has also developed predictive models to assess county and state level variations in Lyme disease risk and is working on environmentally safe pesticides that target rodent reservoir hosts. Dr. Lane is a fellow of the California Academy of Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Alix Mayer
Lyme Patient
Non-Profit Development & Health Coach
Alix Mayer, MBA, worked in corporate research for Fortune 100 companies until becoming disabled by late Lyme disease. She is happy to report she is substantially recovered. She is featured along with Mariel Hemingway and Gabby Reese in an upcoming documentary, Blood, Berries or Butter, about health mavericks who didn’t settle for the top-down approach to healing. Her story is featured in Gifted and Sick by A.M. Runyan, now available on Kindle. She is co-authoring an academic book on Lyme disease and works as a health coach and consultant to non-profits.
Wednesday, March 2, 2016 • Portola Valley
The Primary Care Doctor & Emerging Tick-borne Disease: How Does the Diagnosis Get Made?
Featured speakers:
Christine Green, MD
Director of Education for International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society Board Member, International Lyme and Associated Disease Society (ILADS) and LymeDisease.org (formerly CALDA) and Board Member, Bay Area Lyme Foundation Scientific Advisory Board
Dr. Green is a recognized leader in Lyme disease diagnosis and treatment who practices complementary, integrative, and othomolecular medicine from her private family practice, Green Oaks Medical, in northern California. She serves on the board of ILADS (International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society) and lymedisease.org and has helped to bring greater awareness to the medical community through patient research and advocacy. She currently serves as the Director of Education for ILADS. Dr. Green has a true passion for her profession and patients, demonstrated by her commitment to constant collaboration and ongoing research within the patient and medical community and she possesses a unique ability to problem solve patient issues, seeking out unconventional uses of therapy, based on Western Medicine research and clinical studies.
Allie Cashel
Allie is the author of Suffering the Silence: Chronic Lyme Disease in an Age of Denial, a collection of stories from Lyme patients all over the world and their struggles for recognition and treatment of this debilitating disease. Learn about Allie’s story in our blog and on our Faces of Lyme page or visit SufferingtheSilence.com, an online community designed for people living with chronic illness, co-founded by Allie and a good friend.
Wednesday, December 2, 2015 • Portola Valley
The Role the Immune System Plays in Lyme Diagnosis and Treatment
Featured speakers:
Lisa K. Blum, PhD
Postdoc Fellow, Stanford University School of Medicine (Immunology & Rheumatology)
Dr. Blum is a 2014 Bay Area Lyme Foundation Emerging Leader Award winner and fellow at Stanford University in the laboratory of Dr. William Robinson, where she is currently working on DNA sequencing of human antibody responses to Borrelia burgdorferiinfection. She received her Ph.D. in immunology from Cornell University in the laboratory of Dr. Judith Appleton studying parasitic pathogens and infectious diseases. For a description of her current Lyme research, click here.
Shelby Anderson
Medical student and Lyme Patient Advocate
Shelby Anderson is a courageous young student who has battled Lyme disease for over 19 years. Inspired by the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge and determined to raise awareness about Lyme disease, she launched #Lime4Lyme — a revisit of the ALS Ice bucket challenge (see the inspiring story here). Shelby’s challenge inspired hundreds of donations and many more challenges, and she continues to work diligently towards Lyme disease awareness using social media and key events to share her harrowing story.
Wednesday, September 9, 2015 • Portola Valley
Hunting the Elusive Culprit of Lyme
Featured speakers:
Jerome F. Bouquet, PhD,
Postdoc Fellow, UCSF (Microbiology)
Dr. Bouquet is a 2014 Bay Area Lyme Foundation Emerging Leader Award winner and Postdoc Fellow at University of California, San Francisco in the laboratory of Dr. Charles Chiu studying infectious disease, particularly Lyme and other tick-borne illnesses. His current project focuses on RNA transcriptome profiling with intent to develop a host biomarker assay for Lyme diagnosis. Learn more.
Robert Buelteman
Artist and Lyme patient, author of Living with Lyme: One Artist’s Interpretation
Robert Buelteman is a globally collected fine art photographer and native Woodsider whose passion is life and light. From his widely collected black-and-white landscape works to his unique camera-lens-and computer-free “energetic photograms,” his ongoing inquiry into nature celebrates and questions our role in the found world. Over the last 20 years Mr. Buelteman has been a guest of the Santa Fe Institute, Stanford University, and the Djerassi Resident Artists Program in Woodside. First diagnosed with Lyme Disease in 2007 and now disabled as a result, his writings about his illness and decline have been widely published in an effort to warn the larger community and illuminate the danger posed by this insidious infection. See more of Robert’s work at Buelteman.com.
Read more about this informative evening in our blog.