First Lyme Disease Research Center in Nation Launches at Columbia University Medical Center
Symposium to Cover Frequent Misdiagnosis & Controversial Treatment Guidelines, Rising U.S. Incidence, Imaging of Brains Affected by Lyme
Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) celebrates the launch of the Lyme & Tick-borne Diseases Research Center, the first university center for the study of Lyme disease in the U.S. The center, with the instrumental and ongoing support of Time for Lyme, Inc. and Lyme Disease Association, Inc., will bring together a multi-disciplinary team of CUMC's physician-scientists and the latest advances in medical technology to help unravel the complexities of Lyme and tick-borne diseases. Symposium topics & speakers will include:
Lyme Disease in the United States Today: Charles Ben Beard, PhD, head of vector borne diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Severity of Illness & Misdiagnosis: Mary McDonnell, two-time Academy Award nominee, star of "Battlestar Galactica," "Independence Day" and "Dances With Wolves,." spokesperson for Lyme Disease Association, Inc.
Controversial Diagnostic & Treatment Guidelines: Brian Fallon, MD, MPH, director of Lyme and Tick-borne Disease Research Center at Columbia University Medical Center
Identification of Unknown Pathogens in Ticks: W. Ian Lipkin, MD, PhD, director of the Greene Infectious Disease Laboratory, Mailman School of Public Health, and Rafal Tokarz, PhD, post-doc investigating other human diseases caused by ticks
Neuroimaging of Chronic Lyme Disease: James Moeller, PhD, research scientist and functional neuroimaging expert.
WHEN: Monday, April 30, 2007, 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Press availability from 1:15 p.m. to 2 p.m. or by arrangement with press officers.
WHERE: Columbia University Medical Center/New York State Psychiatric Institute, 1051 Riverside Drive, Hellman Auditorium, 1st floor, subway: A/C/1 to 168th St.
WHY:
Lyme disease is the fastest growing vector borne, or organism-transmitted, disease in the United States. The burden of Lyme disease profoundly affects New York state and its immediate neighbors: 1. New York state accounts for 24 percent of all cases of Lyme disease reported to the CDC annually, with the annual incidence rate over the last 3 years increasing by 15 percent.
2. New York state with its neighboring states of N.J., Conn., and Pa. accounted for 64 percent of all cases of Lyme disease reported to the CDC last year.
3. May to August are the peak months for contracting Lyme disease.
� Lyme disease when diagnosed and treated early is rarely a problem. When early diagnosis is missed, the manifestations can be diverse and the treatment more complex, with some patients developing chronic symptoms with functional impairment comparable to that caused by congestive heart failure.
The treatment of patients with Lyme disease is currently mired in controversy due to conflicting and limited research, resulting in confusion for both patients and doctors.
The Lyme & Tick-borne Diseases Research Center will focus on clinical research aimed at developing novel therapies, basic science to unravel disease mechanisms and to identify better diagnostic tests, and education of both medical students and physicians on how to best evaluate and treat patients. This is the first such center in the United States and in its focus on the particular problems faced by patients with chronic persistent symptoms will lead the country in research to bring the light of science to many unanswered and controversial questions.
Two new research projects will be announced at the center opening, one a multi-institutional diagnostic research project involving Columbia University Medical Center, the National Institutes of Health, the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey, and the U.S. Department of Energy and the second involving the neuropathology of Lyme disease which includes a brain bank for autopsy specimens from patients with neurologic Lyme disease. Results from a recently completed PET imaging study of chronic Lyme disease will be discussed by Columbia researchers. This work highlights ways in which functional brain imaging can be used to identify biomarkers with potentially valuable diagnostic and treatment implications for patients with chronic Lyme disease.
For more information on Lyme disease research at Columbia University Medical Center, visit: http://www.columbia-lyme.org/.
The Scientific Advisory Board for the Columbia Lyme and Tick-Borne Diseases Research Center brings together internationally-renowned scientists, including Dr. Claire Fraser (led the team that mapped the Borrelia Genome), Dr. Janis Weis (pathogenesis of Lyme arthritis), Dr. John Mann (translational neuroscience), Dr. Steven Schutzer (novel diagnostic tests), Dr. Ian Lipkin (foreign pathogen identification), Dr. Jorge Benach (Borrelia and Coinfections), Dr. Scott Hammer (infectious disease), Dr. Diego Cadavid (neuropathology and neurology), Dr. Ronald Van Heertum (neuroimaging), and Dr. Aaron Mitchell (molecular pathogenesis).
-------------------- We are spiritual beings on a human journey...
sometimesdilly
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 9982
posted
thanks so much for posting this!!
i think i'll be able to go! it is open to the public, I hope?? i'll be up in NY seeing my llmd on the 30th anyway... is anyone else going?
dilly
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ByronSBell 2007
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posted
too bad I cant go, I am on my death bed
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Vermont_Lymie
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Member # 9780
posted
Byron,
hang in there! it gets worse before it gets better -- and if you are feeling too badly, call your llmd and back off the antibiotics a bit. Many of us have to do that to get better.
As I have heard from folks here, slow & steady wins the race! Like all athletes, I am sure you know that to be true...feel better!
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valymemom
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Sounds fantastic. I do not have enough time to change my son's doctor appointment and the time to get others to go, though.
I hope they have a great attendance and want to hear all about it.
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dontlikeliver
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posted
I am pretty sure I will be there. I arrive at Newark Airport about 1.30pm. so if I'm really lucky, I might be able to turn up, but not at 2pm. Would be late, maybe 3pm if I drive fast and hit no traffic.
[ 26. April 2007, 09:59 AM: Message edited by: dontlikeliver ]
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sometimesdilly
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
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posted
Byron-
i'm sorry, i didn't mean to make you or anyone else feel bad about not being able to go.
i just feel incredibly fortunate to think i could actually go. i've missed the NY rally and Dr. J hearings i literally ached to go to but couldn't because of my health or my 4 year son's health or my husband's inflexible schedule-- sometimes one, sometimes all.
for once, all of us must be in NY that day no matter what.
so sorry again- hope you feel mre hopeful soon, and for DLL and whoever else makes it- hope to meet you there.
dilly
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Foggy
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dontlikeliver
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posted
Anyone else going?
DLL
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Vermont_Lymie
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Member # 9780
posted
I am going to try -- but cannot confirm until I show up! (It's a busy work time....)
I promise to take notes if I do go on Monday, I am very excited about the opening of this research center!
DLL -- maybe we need a lymenet code to identify lymenetters there, like wearing a lime green ribbon, or a cap backwards...
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sometimesdilly
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posted
Vermont-
hope you can make it! to DLL too- i'll wear a neon green ribbon in my hair-(which is LONG- down to my derriere or so)
dilly
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Vermont_Lymie
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Member # 9780
posted
Hi Dilly -- thanks!!
I hope to make it -- isn't it exciting!
Thanks for the description! I will certainly look for you there if I arrive.
I would probably be sitting towards the back of the auditorium -- one of my lyme symptoms is that I get dizzy in large auditoriums if I sit in the front! (Actually, a marker for me -- I know I will be cured or in deep remission if I ever get rid of that!)
Take care and I know this research center is the start of a great thing for this community!
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