Lyme Disease Association-Columbia Virtual Conference

21st Annual Lyme & Tick-BorneDiseases Conference

See some LDA conference lecture videos now on You Tube LDAYou Tube Lectures

CONFERENCE COMPLETED 2021 Annual Scientific ConferenceThe Lyme Disease Association Inc. and Columbia UniversityVagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons jointly provided the21st annual CME scientific conference, Lyme & Other Tick-BorneDiseases: Research for a Cure, virtually, on October 2, 2021.This conference is designed to meet the high standards forcontinuing medical education credits for medical & healthprofessionals and researchers. It was also open to the generalpublic (adults only). Limited number of scholarships wereavailable for certain medical students, researchers, recentmedical professionals.

The conference was sponsored by the Stephen & Alexandra CohenFoundation and IGeneX Inc.

Quick Links to check out the conference:AgendaBio talk summariesDisclosureConference planning committee

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See short pre-conference summary video by Dr. Brian Fallonbelow:

Speakers

John Aucott, MD / Keynote

Associate Professor of Medicine

Director, Johns Hopkins Medicine Lyme Disease Research Center

Long Haulers: Lessons from Lyme disease, ME/CFS, and COVID-19

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Brian A. Fallon, MD, MPH (Conference Co-Director, Moderator)

Professor of Clinical Psychiatry, Columbia University VagelosCollege of P & S

Director, Lyme & TBD Clinical & Research Centers, Columbia U.Irving Medical Center

Depression, Suicidal Behaviors, and Lyme: Results from aNationwide Study in Denmark

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Ed Breitschwerdt, DVM

Professor of Medicine and Infectious Disease

Bartonella Bacteremia and Neuropsychiatric Illnesses

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Brandon L. Jutras, PhD

Asst. Professor, Fralin Life Sciences Institute, Department ofBiochemistry, Virginia Tech

Not just another brick in the wall: The unusual peptidoglycanof Borrelia burgdorferi

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Catherine A. Brissette, PhD

Assoc. Professor, Univ. of North Dakota School of Medicine andHealth Sciences

Borrelia colonization of the dura mater induces inflammationin the CNS

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Adrian Baranchuk, MD, FACC, FRCPC, FCCS, FSIAC

Professor of Medicine, Queen’s University

Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Electrocardiology

President Elect, Interamerican Society of Cardiology (SIAC)

All you need to know about Lyme carditis…and more!

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Monica Embers, PhD (Conference Co-Director, Moderator)

Associate Professor and Director of Vector-Borne DiseaseResearch

Tulane National Primate Research Center

Combined Antimicrobial Therapy for Eradication of B.burgdorferi

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Kim Lewis, PhD

Professor of Biology, Northeastern University

Developing therapies for Lyme disease

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Kenneth B. Liegner, MD

Private Practice

Pawling, NY

Disulfiram in the Treatment of Lyme disease: Promise & Perils

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Marna E. Ericson, PhD

T Lab, Inc.- Director of Research

Hormel Institute – Adjunct Faculty

University of Minnesota

Bartonella henselae Detected in Malignant Melanoma

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Ricardo G. Maggi, PhD

Research Professor, Internal Medicine

College of Veterinary Medicine

Simultaneous detection and absolute quantification of Babesia,Bartonella & Borrelia by droplet digital PCR

Lyme DiseaseAssociation/Columbia

University ImportantAnnouncement

Photo Credit: M. White/LDAFile Photo

The Lyme Disease Association (LDA) and Columbia Universityjointly announce we have made a thoughtful but reluctantdecision to postpone our annual fall 2020 CME Lyme & OtherTick-Borne Diseases Conference due to the worldwide COVID-19(SARS-CoV-2) health emergency.

The safety and well being of everyone are primary concerns,and we hope everyone remains safe. See you next year! Thanksfor your support. LDA President, Pat Smith; Columbia University, Brian A.Fallon, MD

2019 Annual ScientificConference – Lyme & Other

Tick-Borne Diseases: 20thAnnual Scientific Update forClinicians & Researchers

The Lyme Disease Association held the 20th annual scientificconference, Lyme & Other Tick-Borne Diseases: 20th AnnualScientific Update for Clinicians & Researchers, on September21 & 22, 2019 in Philadelphia, PA at the Hilton Penn’s Landingon the banks of the Delaware. Columbia University jointlyprovides the conference.

This conference was designed for medical & healthprofessionals & researchers, but it was also open forregistration to the general public. Adults only. Scholarshipsfor conference and transportation was available for Medicalstudent; resident; post-doctoral candidate; fellow; nursepractitioner candidate; doctor or nurse practitioner new topractice, i.e., less than 5 years experience; veterinarianwith equivalent status to the aforementioned; physicianassistant whose sponsoring physician writes a letter ofsupport on office letterhead; representative from a publichealth department.

The conference featured faculty consisting of clinicians and

researchers from across the US and other countries. Brian A.Fallon, MD, MPH, Columbia University College of Physicians &Surgeons, the Conference Director, will speak on ClinicalTrials: Biologic & Clinical Measures of Change. Other speakersinclude Charles Chiu, MD PhD: Multi-Omics approaches todiagnosing Lyme & TBD; George Chaconas, PhD: Intravitalimaging to study Lyme dissemination; Adrian Baranchuk, MD:Lyme carditis diagnosis & management; Emir Hodzic, DVM, PhD:Post-treatment persistence of Bb in mouse model; Mark Soloski:PhD, LD host immune response; Holly M. Frost, MD: Pitfalls ofLD serologic assays; Ingeborg Dziedzic, MD: Lyme disease & theeye; Lance A. Liotta, MD, PhD: Shedding of urinary tickpathogen-specific proteins in patients with tick bornediseases; and Osama Haddad, MD: Mitral Valve Endocarditis: ARare Manifestation of Lyme Disease

Additional speakers were Margaret MacDonald, MD, PhD: Powassanvirus; Choukri Ben Mamoun, PhD: Babesia duncani in vitroculture; Philip Strandwitz, PhD: The Gut-Brain-Axis –Potential Therapeutic Targets and J. Stephen Dumler, MD: HumanGranulocytic Anaplasmosis-Emerging Faster than Lyme; DanielSonnenshine, PhD: Expansion of TBD vectors & implications ofspread of TBD; and Paige Armstrong, MD, MHS: Rickettsialdiseases; Robert Naviaux MD, PhD: Lyme & Chronic FatigueSyndrome; Eric Storch, PhD: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder;Peter Novak, MD, PhD: Neurological correlates of PostTreatment Lyme Disease Syndrome; and Joanna Lyon, PharmD, MEd:The possible association between the human ABCB1 gene and PostTreatment Lyme Disease Syndrome. Elizabeth Maloney, MD and SamT. Donta, MD will be conference facilitators.

Speakers represented Columbia University, Johns HopkinsUniversity School of Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, Mayo,Harvard Medical School, Uniformed Services University, CDC,UCSF School of Medicine, Queens University Canada, Universityof Calgary Canada, Northeastern University, University ofColorado School of Medicine, UC Davis Veterinary Medicine,

Rockefeller University, UCSD School of Medicine, University ofMaryland School of Pharmacy, Old Dominion University, GeorgeMason University, University of Oklahoma Health SciencesCenter, Baylor College of Medicine and an ophthalmologypractice.

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Conference RegistrationExhibitor Registration

2018 Annual ScientificConference: Lyme & Tick-BorneDiseases: Turning the CornerThrough ResearchThe Lyme DiseaseAssociation held its 19thannual scientificconference, Lyme & Tick-Borne Diseases: Turning theCorner Through Research, onOctober 27 & 28, 2018 inProvidence, RI at thelandmark MarriottProvidence Downtown hotel.Once again, thiseducational conference was held jointly by Columbia Universityand the LDA.

This conference was designed for medical & healthprofessionals & researchers, but it was also open forregistration to the general public. Adults only. Scholarshipsfor conference/transportation were made available for medicalstudents, residents, post-doctoral candidates, fellows,veterinarians with equivalent status to the above, and nursepractitioner candidates.

Topics of the conference were: phase 1 of a post-mortem studyon Borrelia & the brain, new treatments for Borreliapersisters, biomarkers of Lyme, metabolomic features ofchronic illness, Lyme research updates, B cell responses inLyme, Lyme pathogenesis, small fiber peripheral neuropathy,Borrelia immune evasion and persistence, alpha-gal meatallergy, serologic diagnosis of TBD, invasive longhorn tick in

the US, genetic modifications of ticks, genetically modifiedmice, Babesia treatments, Powassan, cancer research & thediagnosis and treatment of TBD; Borrelia miyamotoi, preventionstrategies and vaccine development; Bartonella; other tick-borne diseases, and concurrent TBD case report & literaturereview.

The conference lectures included:

Robert Naviaux, MD, PhD, University ofCalifornia San Diego School ofMedicine, Metabolomic Features ofChronic Illness – Lessons from Gulf WarIllness and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome;Claudia Molins, PhD, CDC, Use ofMetabolic Profiles as Diagnostic andPrognostic Biomarkers of Lyme Disease;John Aucott, MD, Johns HopkinsUniversity, Updates on Research in LymeDisease; Rafal Tokarz, PhD,Columbia, Novel Approaches to SerologicDiagnosis of TBD; William Robinson, MD,PhD, Stanford University, Protectiveand Pathogenic B Cell Responses in Lyme Disease; Neil Spector,MD, Duke University, Applying the Lessons From Cancer Researchto the Diagnosis and Treatment of TBD;Jon Skare, PhD, TexasA&M University, Pathogenesis-related features of Borreliaburgdorferi; Utpal Pal, PhD, University of Maryland, ImmuneEvasion of Lyme Disease Agents; James Occi, PhD (candidate),Rutgers University, The Discovery of the “Asian long-hornedtick,” Haemaphysalis longicornis, in New Jersey: A Combinationof Perserverance, Luck and the Joy of Tick Collecting.”

Joanna Buchthal, PhD (candidate), MIT, Genetically ModifiedMice; Thomas Platts-Mills, PhD, FRS, UVA School ofMedicine, Sensitization to Alpha-gal as a Consequence of LoneStar Tick Bite; Beatrice Szantyr, MD, FAAP, Internal Medicine,Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Lyme Disease – An Ounce of

Prevention: Survey of the Evidence for Prevention Strategiesin Lyme Disease; Kim Lewis, PhD, Northeastern University,Developing Therapies for Treating Lyme Disease; Choukri BenMamoun, PhD, Yale University, Targeting the Achilles Heel ofBabesia Parasites’ Mode of Survival Within Human Red BloodCells; Anne Oaklander, MD, PhD, Harvard University, Small-Fiber Peripheral Neuropathy: A Pathway for Some Patients.

Monika Gulia-Nuss, PhD, University of Nevada, GeneratingTransgenic Ticks for Ticks and Tick-borne Disease Management;Shannon Delaney, MD, Columbia University, Borrelia MiyamotoiExposure in a Clinical Population; Kavin Patel, MD & RebeccaReece, MD, Brown University, First Confirmed Case of PowassanNeuroinvasive Disease in Rhode Island; Elizabeth Maloney, MD(Conference Planning Committee) President, Partnership forTick-Borne Diseases Education, Concurrent Tick-borneIllnesses: A Case Report and Review of the Literature; BrianFallon, MD, MPH (Conference Director), ColumbiaUniversity, Borrelia and the Brain Phase 1 of a Post-MortemStudy, Jaroslav Flegr, National Institute of Mental Health,Czechia, The Effect of Pet-Transmitted Diseases on the Mentaland Physical Health of the General Population.

Click here for Agenda

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Pat Smith, President, Lyme Disease Association & Brian Fallon

Oct. 27 & 28, 2018, LDA/Columbia Annual Scientific Conference (LDA file photo)

THANK YOU!This activity is supported by independent educational grants

from:

Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation

IGeneX, Inc.

2018 Scientific Conference Jointly Provided by

2017 Annual ScientificConference: What CliniciansNeed to Know about anExpanding EpidemicLooking for the real facts onLyme disease and other tick-borne diseases− what’shappening with coinfectionssuch as Powassan, B.miyamotoi and withBartonella? Why do Lymepatients often have low bloodpressure–how does Lyme affectthe heart, breathing, anddigestive process when theautonomic nervous system is disrupted? How does inflammationfrom Lyme affect the brain and how can it be treated? Biofilmsand persisters, what are they and are they causing chronicLyme disease?

The Lyme Disease Association (LDA) & Columbia University’s18th annual, conference, Lyme & Other Tick-Borne Diseases:

What Clinicians Need to Know about an Expanding Epidemic washeld at the Hilton Penns Landing on the banks of the DelawareRiver, in Philadelphia, PA, on Sept. 23 & 24, 2017.

The conference is designed for physicians and researchers butthe public was invited to register and all registrants couldattend a reception and network with the conference faculty.Medical students/post docs were encouraged to apply forscholarships. CME credits were offered by Columbia Universityto CME-registered physician attendees. The conference featured20 faculty consisting of clinicians and researchers fromacross the US and one from Canada.

The conference lectures detailed very current research thatcould alter the field. The Keynote speaker, Nicole Baumgarth,UC Davis, discussed Bb outmaneuvering the adaptive immunesystem. Other faculty included Garth Erlich, Drexel, Pan-Diagnostics for Lyme & Co-Infections; Eva Sapi UNH, Lyme &biofilms; Ying Zhang, Johns Hopkins, persisters & Lyme; JohnAucott, immune biomarkers & Lyme; Sheila Arvikar, Mass GenHospital, autoimmune disorders following Lyme; Brian Fallon,Columbia, also Conference Director, Why Do Symptoms Persist?;Robert Bransfield, Rutgers-RWJ, inflammation & neuro Lyme;Diego Cadavid, Harvard/Biogen, treatment of neuro Lyme.

More speakers: Saravanan Thangamani, University of TexasMedical Branch, Powassan; Travis Taylor, University of Toledo,Powassan/Tick-Borne Flavivirus; Sam Telford, Tufts whodiscusses Babesia microti, duncani, & B. miyamotoi; EdBreitschwerdt, NCSU, Bartonella; Maya Jeraf, UNC, Alpha-galmeat allergy; Monica Embers, Tulane, next generationdiagnostics; Safwan Jaradeh, Stanford, autonomic dysfunction &Lyme; Adrian Baranchuk, Queen’s University, Lyme Carditis andHigh Degree AV Block; Ahmet Z. Burakgazi, Virginia Tech, opticneuritis and probable Lyme; Christopher D. Paddock, CDC,Rickettsial Zoonoses Branch, Rickettsioses in the U.S.;Lorraine Johnson, LymeDisease.org, big data on Lyme researchpriorities; and a panel discussion of chronic Lyme. Poster

presenters also presented their studies and were available toanswer questions.

Thanks to the support of the Cohen Foundation for scholarshipand other support. Thanks also to IGeneX for commercialsupport of the program.

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Click Below for Pre-Conference Video

Dr. Brian Fallon, Columbia University; Dr. Monica Embers,Tulane National Primate Research Center; and Dr. DiegoCadavid, Rutgers, and Fulcrum Therapeutics, discuss topics ofresearch to be presented at upcoming LDA / Columbia CMEConference September 23-24, 2017.

THANK YOU!The LDA received educational gift support for this

conference from

Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation

The LDA received commercial support from

IGeneX, Inc.

2017 Scientific Conference Jointly Provided by

2016 Annual ScientificConference: New Strategies toTackle an Expanding EpidemicThe Lyme Disease Association, Inc. with joint

provider Columbia University, held its 17th

annual scientific CME* conference, Lyme &

Other Tick-Borne Diseases: New Strategies to

Tackle an Expanding Epidemic. Brian Fallon,

MD, Columbia University was Conference

Director. It was held at the Doubletree by

Hilton St. Paul Downtown, 411 Minnesota Street, St. Paul, Minnesota, 55101, USA on

Saturday October 15 and Sunday October 16, 2016.

The conference is designed for physicians and researchers but the public was invited

to register. 14.0 AMA PRA Category 1 CreditsTM were offered by Columbia University to

CME-registered physician attendees. The conference featured twenty faculty

consisting of clinicians and researchers from across the US and one from

Switzerland.

The conference featured very current research that could alter the field. Saturday’s

Keynote speaker, Dr. Robert Moir from Harvard presented his breaking in vitro

results on Beta Amyloid, Alzheimer’s and Lyme Disease. This was followed by a talk

by Dr. Judith Miklossy, International Alzheimer Research Center, reviewing evidence

suggesting a link between spirochetal infection and Alzheimer’s Disease. The newest

breakthrough in the combination of novel biotechnologies (proteomics and

nanotechnology) for improved Lyme diagnostics has led to the nanotrap; results from

an initial study will be presented by Dr. Alessandra Luchini from George Mason

University. A new species of Borrelia was recently discovered to cause Lyme in the

US; this will be discussed by Dr. Bobbi Pritt from the Mayo Clinic. Dr. Ying Zhang

from Johns Hopkins discussed new in vitro antimicrobial strategies to eradicate

“Borrelia persisters”, that offer promise for more effective interventions for human

Lyme disease. Dr. John Aucott from Johns Hopkins Medical Center presented new

findings regarding the human immune response in Lyme disease.

In the area of prevention, the latest on a novel mouse vaccine was discussed by Dr.

Steve Zatechka, US BIOLOGIC. Work so new it is generating discussions from

scientists around the world on the impact it might have on ecology in general was

presented by Dr. Kevin Esvelt, from MIT Sculpting Evolution Lab, his talk addressed

Community-Guided Ecological Immunization to Prevent Tick-Borne Disease using CRISPR

technology.

Other talks discussed diagnosing neurologic Lyme disease by Dr. Patricia Coyle,

Stony Brook; acute and chronic neuropsychiatric disease by Dr. Brian Fallon,

Columbia; a cardiac Lyme case by Dr. Betty Maloney, Partnership for Tick-Borne

Diseases Education, a Lyme CME Provider; a review of clinical trials of Lyme Disease

by Internist/epidemiologist Dr. Daniel Cameron; isolation of spirochetes from

patients in the Southern U.S. by Dr. Kerry Clark, University of N. Florida;

diagnosis and treatment of pediatric Lyme arthritis by Dr. Lise Nigrovic, Boston

Children’s Hospital; controlling the inflammatory response in the mouse model of

Lyme arthritis by Southern Research Institute’s Dr. Timothy Sellati; studies of

viruses in ticks by Dr. Rafal Tokarz of Columbia University; clinical review of

other TBDs such as Tularemia by Nantucket clinician Dr.Timothy Lepore, Bartonella by

Dr. Marna Ericson of University of Minnesota, and Babesia in the blood supply by Dr.

Evan Bloch of Johns Hopkins. Finally, the conference concluded with a public health

talk on the spread of Lyme disease vector into the United States by the CDC’s Dr.

Ben Beard.

Agenda

Faculty Bios/Talk Summaries

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2016 Scientific Conference Jointly Provided by

THANK YOU!

2015 Annual ScientificConference: Science Bridgingthe GapThe Lyme Disease Association, Inc. held its16th annual scientific CME conference:

Lyme & Other Tick-Borne Diseases: Science Bridging the Gap, November 14 & 15, 2015

at the Providence-Warwick Crowne Plaza, Warwick, Rhode Island. Jointly provided by

Columbia University, with Brian Fallon, MD as Director and Richard Marconi, PhD, as

Co-director.

13.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits were offered by Columbia University to physician

attendees. The conference featured twenty faculty consisting of clinicians and

researchers. In addition to the co-directors (above) and one speaker from England,

Dr. Tim Brooks, and the remainder of the faculty from the US were Drs. W.Robinson,

K.Strle, K.Lewis, Y.Zhang, G. Ramesh, H. Minhas, R.Ostfeld, J.Aucott,

E.Breitschwerdt, C. Chiu, E.McGintee, P.Molloy, R.Stricker, S.Donta, W.Padula, N.

Komar, and S.Schutzer.

Topics featured very current research and clinical data such as the keynote lecture

on Next Generation Diagnostics, Point-Counterpoint on whether Lyme can be sexually

transmissible, persisters, alpha gall meat allergy from lone star ticks,

neuroborreliosis, suicide case report, visual disturbances, viral coinfections

including Heartland virus, bartonella, Borrelia miyamotoi, tick populations, vaccine

development, cytokine & chemokine biomarkers, microbial and host factors in immune

response, and PANS, PANDAS & Lyme.

The Lyme Disease Association, Inc. offered scholarships to the conference to

eligible medical students, residents, post-doctoral candidates, fellows,

veterinarians with equivalent status to the above, and Nurse Practitioner candidates

in a doctoral program.

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View Channel 10 video interview with Julie Merolla, Lyme Disease Association Chapter

Chair

16th Annual Lyme CME Conference (11/14-15)

2015 Scientific Conference Jointly Provided by

THANK YOU!

2014 Annual ScientificConference: Medical,Neuropsychiatric & PublicHealth Implications

The Lyme Disease Association, Inc. held its 15th annual scientific conference, Lyme

& Other Tick-Borne Diseases: Medical, Neuropsychiatric & Public Health Implications

in the Providence Marriott Downtown, Providence RI, on Saturday May 3 and Sunday May

4, 2014. 13.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits were offered by Columbia University to

physician attendees, and CEs were offered to social workers and psychologists. The

conference featured twenty-one faculty consisting of clinicians and researchers,

including one from Germany, Dr. Susanne Nimrich, who discussed refractory childhood

Lyme arthritis. Others included Dr. Nicole Baumgarth, University of California,

Davis, who spoke on immune suppression during infection of mice with Bb; Dr. Joseph

Forrester, CDC, on cardiac Lyme deaths; Dr. Travis Taylor, University of Toledo

School of Medicine on tick-borne viruses; Dr. Sam Telford, Tufts University, on

Borrelia miyamotoi. A number of speakers participated in a mental health component.

The audience consisted of many physicians, researchers, health care providers, and

the public.

Click here for Dr. Brian Fallon’s video on the conference

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2013 Annual ScientificConference: Science, Research& Myth1st Upper Midwest Lyme Conference

The Lyme Disease Association, Inc. held its 14th annualscientific conference, Lyme & Other Tick-Borne Diseases:Science, Research & Myth at the University of Minnesota, St.Paul, MN, on Saturday June 1 and Sunday June 2, 2013. 11.0Prescribed CME Credits were offered to physician attendees.Seventeen faculty consisting of clinicians and researchers,one from Switzerland, Dr. Judith Miklossy, discussing Lyme andits relationship to Alzheimer’s, another Dr. Charlie Johnson,a physicist from UPenn, presenting a novel test for Lyme usingnano technology, educated an audience consisting of manyphysicians, researchers, health care providers, and thepublic. CBS News came and interviewed LDA president Pat Smith,and took clips from clinician Dr. Sam Shor as he presented.Portions of the conference were also taped and will bebroadcast on public television in the Minneapolis area and maybe featured on the LDA website.. Further details will follow.

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Click here for video of 14th Annual Scientific Conference (Part 1 of 6)Click here for video of 14th Annual Scientific Conference (Part 2 of 6)Click here for video of 14th Annual Scientific Conference (Part 3 of 6)

2012 Annual Scientific

Conference: MicrobialPersistence & Tick-BorneDiseases New Scientific &Clinical DirectionsCo-sponsored by Columbia University & Lyme Disease Association, Inc.

13th Annual Scientific Conference

Held on Saturday, September 29 & Sunday September 30, 2012

Hyatt Bellevue, Philadelphia, PA

View Brochure: List of Speakers, Agenda, Program Accreditation and Miscellaneous

View Conference Summary: by Jessica Thomson

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