Phila Lyme Conference

[philamom]

12th Annual Lyme & Tick-Borne Disease Conference of the LDA and Tick-Borne Diseases Research Center will be held on Sat, Oct 1st and Sun, Oct 2nd at the Hyatt Penns Landing in Philadelphia.

 

 

AGENDA - SATURDAY OCTOBER 1, 2011

7:15 - 8:00 AM

REGISTRATION/BREAKFAST/EXHIBITS

 

8:00 - 8:15 AM

Welcome, Remarks, and Introduction

Patricia Smith, President, Lyme Disease Association

Introduction of Morning Session Facilitator

 

8:15 - 8:55 AM

Keynote Speaker: J. William Costerton, Ph.D.

The Role of Biofilms in Chronic Bacterial Infections

 

8:55 - 9:30 AM

Eva Sapi, Ph.D.

Killing Borrelia: An impossible job?

 

9:30 - 10:05 AM

Thomas Angel, Ph.D.

Lyme disease reflected in the cerebrospinal fluid proteome

 

10:05-10:20 AM

MORNING BREAK

 

10:20-10:55 AM

Richard Marconi, Ph.D.

Cyclic-di-GMP controls critical processes required for completion of the enzootic cycle of the Lyme disease spirochetes

 

10:55-11:30 AM

Chris Earnhart, M.D.

Lyme disease vaccine: an update on recent progress

 

11:30-12:05 PM

Dr. Ed Masters Memorial Lecture: Robert S. Lane, PhD

Diversity of Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. genospecies and genotypes in California, and Implications for human infection.

 

12:05-12:20 PM

Discussion (morning speakers)

 

12:20–1:30 PM

LUNCH BREAK

 

 

Introduction by Pat Smith, Afternoon Session Facilitator: Brian Fallon, M.D.

 

1:30 – 2:05 PM

M. Karen Newell Rogers, Ph.D.

A New Model of Intervention for Lyme Disease by Targeting Chronic Inflammation and Selective Aspects of Immune Activation

 

2:05 – 2:40 PM

Robert Yolken, M.D.

Infections and Human Neuropsychiatric Diseases

 

2:40 – 3:15 PM

Josep Dalmau, MD, PhD

Clinical spectrum and cellular mechanisms of autoimmunity to NMDA and other synaptic receptors

 

3:15 – 3:30 PM

AFTERNOON BREAK

 

3:30 – 4:05 PM

Dr. John Drulle Memorial Lecture: John Aucott, M.D.

Early microbiologic and immunologic events in Lyme disease

 

4:05 – 4:40 PM

Reinhard K. Straubinger, Ph.D.

Canine and equine Lyme borreliosis – The animals’ perspective of the disease.

 

4:40 − 5:15 PM

Benjamin J. Luft, M.D.

Diagnostics: update on protein arrays and new Lyme assays

 

5:15 − 5:35 PM

Discussion (afternoon speakers)

 

5:45 – 6:45 PM

RECEPTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AGENDA - SUNDAY OCTOBER 2, 2011

7:15 - 8:00 AM

BREAKFAST/EXHIBITS

 

8:00 - 8:45 AM

Brian Fallon, MD

What is Chronic Lyme Disease? Models and evidence

 

8:45 - 9:30 AM

Andrew W. Walter, MD

Update on Ehrlichiosis and Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis in Children

 

 

9:30–10:15 AM

Andrea Gaito, MD

Clinical Evaluation and treatment of Lyme Arthritis; An autoimmune perspective

 

10:15–10:40 AM

Q&A Discussion

 

10:40–11:00 AM

BREAK

 

11:00–11:45 AM

Ingeborg Dziedzic, MD

What everyone should know about Eyes & Lyme Disease

 

11:45–12:30 PM

Vijay Thadani, MD

Epilepsy update: Distinguishing Epileptic from Non-epileptic seizures

 

12:30 - 1:15 PM

Steve Bock, MD

Complementary and Integrative Medical approaches to Chronic Tick-borne Disease

 

1:15 – 2:00 PM

 

Elizabeth Maloney, MD

The treatment of Lyme disease - a critical review of the literature – lessons, gaps, and future research needs

[tpotter]

How do we sign up? I am definitely going to be there.

[philamom]

How do we sign up? I am definitely going to be there.

Go to the LDA website. I'll get in touch with you as it gets closer. It would be great to see you again!

[tpotter]

How do we sign up? I am definitely going to be there.

Go to the LDA website. I'll get in touch with you as it gets closer. It would be great to see you again!

 

 

Found it. I hope there will be lots of people to meet up.

[philamom]

Scientific Conference Presents Latest News in Lyme Research

0 0 0

Lyme Disease Cases Increase Almost 10% Nationally

JACKSON, N.J., Sept. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Lyme disease is a growing threat in the U.S., with numbers that continue to rise despite increased awareness about the disease. "Little is being done to stop the spread of Lyme disease and to help those who are suffering from chronic Lyme," says Pat Smith, president of the all-volunteer national Lyme Disease Association (LDA), which funds research, educates the public, and provides scientific conferences for doctors.

 

To provide a venue for research and clinical discussions, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and the Lyme Disease Association are jointly sponsoring the 11th annual scientific update conference on Lyme and Tick-Borne Diseases. Doctors, health care professionals, and the public are all are invited to register for this important Philadelphia conference offering 13 CMEs to registered doctors on Oct. 2 & 3, 2010.

 

Topics include the impact of Lyme disease on the immune system and clinical features of Bartonella henselae. A new test for Lyme from the National Institutes of Health will be examined, since existing Lyme disease tests are not fully reliable and are not sensitive for all stages of disease.

 

It has now been established that the deer tick can transmit more than one disease with a single bite; babesiosis, anaplasmosis/ehrlichiosis, and tularemia are some of the infections that humans can acquire besides Lyme from a tick bite. Thus, information will be presented on reducing the risks of tick-borne diseases, and an ongoing study of the various microbes and strain variations found in ticks will be discussed.

 

Doctors will talk about the clinical aspects of Lyme disease. Topics include inflammation & pain, women's issues, movement disorders, antibiotics, skin manifestations, vitamin D regulating immunity, differential diagnosis, emergency room protocols, and IV IG treatment. Acupuncture, herbs, nutrition, and integrative medicine approaches to pain will be addressed as well.

 

The Lyme Disease Association is associated with 39 other organizations nationwide, and with its Connecticut affiliate, Time for Lyme, Inc., has funded the creation of the Lyme & Tick-Borne Diseases Research Center at Columbia University in New York. Its Director, Dr. Brian Fallon, an internationally known researcher in the field, is also the Course Director for the conference. Nationally, LDA has supported research on the neurologic aspects of the disease, proteins, multiple diseases caused by ticks, testing, treatment, and mapping the genome of various strains of the Lyme disease organism. Results of LDA-funded research have been published in 17 peer-reviewed journals to date.

 

Lyme disease is a serious multi-systemic infection which can cause arthritic, musculo-skeletal, cardiac, neurologic, ophthalmologic, and psychiatric manifestations. The classic bull's eye rash is found in less than 50% of patients, so a clinical diagnosis is essential, since early diagnosis and appropriate treatment help to prevent Lyme from becoming chronic.

 

For complete information and registration, go to http://www.LymeDiseaseAssociation.org . See also workshop hosted by LDA affiliate Lyme Disease Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania on Friday, Oct. 1, same location.

[PhillyPA]

I can not believe that Josep Dalmau is speaking at this conference. Can't believe it. I am strongly considering attending it just to hear him speak. He is "the" NMDA expert. Saved many lives. I can also say hello to my son's old Lyme doctor.

 

As you all know, my son tested negative many times for Lyme and other tic borne illness. I am 110% confident that a tick bite is not my son's problem. I am however curious about how most people on this board feel about this conference. It appears to be run by the University and Doctor that gave me the all clear for Lyme. I received many PM's from concerned forum members questioning this famous Lyme doctor's diagnosis and methods. I was told in a round about way that people on this board disliked when I mentioned my admiration and trust in this particular Lyme doctor. So my question is - is this Lyme conference something that is considered "a good thing to attend" or is this conference "no good". I am so curious because of who is running the show at this conference.

 

I am asking this question without a bit a sarcasm, contempt,or obnoxiousness. I know that it is hard to read people's intentions via the written word. I have been critiqued in the past about my written word and my intentions and I was clearly misunderstood. I ask this with a pure heart.

[LNN]

I'll take a stab at answering your question by starting with a very big caveat - I am not "in the know" about the politics and philosophies of the various lyme organizations or the big name doctors. So I'm not in a position to speculate about any agendas or biases that anyone involved with the conference may have. I do have a lot of respect for Time for Lyme and the research it funds. It was the group that funded Dr Newell's research on lyme that then connected her with some people who started to share what they know about Pandas. If I could make the trip, I'd go just to hear her speak. TFL also funds a lot of Dr Sapi's work at Univ of New Haven, which has come out with some good stuff.

 

I don't know as much about the work coming out of Columbia. Of the brief readings I've done of Dr Fallon's work, my only "gripe" - and that's too strong a word - is that, as with any professorial writings - it looks at a problem with a very narrow, pre-defined lens. That's certainly appropriate for research. But it tends to get people focused on a very narrow view of the whole disease. That somehow, if you don't fit the research definition, you don't have the disease. If you have outlier symptoms, you don't have the disease. I think micro-organisms are too complex for simple definitions. As we've seen in the Pandas world, it's the collective voice of parents who've gotten the researchers to broaden their definition of the disease so that it's now more of a patient-driven definition of symptoms rather than a petri-dish driven one. I sometimes feel lyme research in general misses the mark by being too narrow and not making enough room for outlier clinical symptoms that are shared by many patients. Like Pandas, too much time has been wasted on the need to "prove it exists" instead of getting on with the business of developing practical, affordable treatments.

 

I look at the group of families on this forum and picture a Venn diagram. One circle has a lyme label. Other circles are labeled with "mold", "viruses", "parasites", "vitamins/minerals", "genetics", etc and when you do research, you can only look at one circle at a time. B ut in the real world, patients live in the overlap between multiple circles. So you can go to a conference that focuses only on lyme and learn a lot about spirochetes. But you can also be left feeling a little disenfranchised because maybe you don't have "classic" lyme. That can cause you (not you specifically - the "you" in general) to think lyme isn't your problem because you don't see yourself described in the presentations. What's more likely is that you fit in that overlap with lyme and something else contributing to your problems.

 

What I like about bigger conferences - such as autism one and ILADS - is that you have both clinicians and researchers presenting their experiences and discussing co-morbid things and various treatments that produce a cross-pollination of ideas. It's more of a two way dialogue rather than researchers presenting a lecture on their findings. It fosters an evolving definition of the patient's problem rather than an academic view of an organism. I'm not knocking this conference or anyone associated with it. I know there are both clinicians and researchers presenting. As I said, I don't know much about the people or sponsors. So I guess I'm not really answering your question. If I lived in the area, I'd go, just to learn more. But it would be with the understanding that I'd only be getting exposed to a portion of the things that have been relevant in our personal quest. That there's more to the picture than maybe any conference can cover.

 

PS - for anyone going to the October ILADS conf - Saturday's schedule -please let me know how this presentations goes:

9:15am-9:30am Lyme disease and PANDAS — Hanna Rhee, MD

Edited August 28, 2011 by LLM

[Santi]

12th Annual Lyme & Tick-Borne Disease Conference of the LDA and Tick-Borne Diseases Research Center will be held on Sat, Oct 1st and Sun, Oct 2nd at the Hyatt Penns Landing in Philadelphia.

 

 

AGENDA - SATURDAY OCTOBER 1, 2011

7:15 - 8:00 AM

REGISTRATION/BREAKFAST/EXHIBITS

 

8:00 - 8:15 AM

Welcome, Remarks, and Introduction

Patricia Smith, President, Lyme Disease Association

Introduction of Morning Session Facilitator

 

8:15 - 8:55 AM

Keynote Speaker: J. William Costerton, Ph.D.

The Role of Biofilms in Chronic Bacterial Infections

 

8:55 - 9:30 AM

Eva Sapi, Ph.D.

Killing Borrelia: An impossible job?

 

9:30 - 10:05 AM

Thomas Angel, Ph.D.

Lyme disease reflected in the cerebrospinal fluid proteome

 

10:05-10:20 AM

MORNING BREAK

 

10:20-10:55 AM

Richard Marconi, Ph.D.

Cyclic-di-GMP controls critical processes required for completion of the enzootic cycle of the Lyme disease spirochetes

 

10:55-11:30 AM

Chris Earnhart, M.D.

Lyme disease vaccine: an update on recent progress

 

11:30-12:05 PM

Dr. Ed Masters Memorial Lecture: Robert S. Lane, PhD

Diversity of Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. genospecies and genotypes in California, and Implications for human infection.

 

12:05-12:20 PM

Discussion (morning speakers)

 

12:20–1:30 PM

LUNCH BREAK

 

 

Introduction by Pat Smith, Afternoon Session Facilitator: Brian Fallon, M.D.

 

1:30 – 2:05 PM

M. Karen Newell Rogers, Ph.D.

A New Model of Intervention for Lyme Disease by Targeting Chronic Inflammation and Selective Aspects of Immune Activation

 

2:05 – 2:40 PM

Robert Yolken, M.D.

Infections and Human Neuropsychiatric Diseases

 

2:40 – 3:15 PM

Josep Dalmau, MD, PhD

Clinical spectrum and cellular mechanisms of autoimmunity to NMDA and other synaptic receptors

 

3:15 – 3:30 PM

AFTERNOON BREAK

 

3:30 – 4:05 PM

Dr. John Drulle Memorial Lecture: John Aucott, M.D.

Early microbiologic and immunologic events in Lyme disease

 

4:05 – 4:40 PM

Reinhard K. Straubinger, Ph.D.

Canine and equine Lyme borreliosis – The animals’ perspective of the disease.

 

4:40 − 5:15 PM

Benjamin J. Luft, M.D.

Diagnostics: update on protein arrays and new Lyme assays

 

5:15 − 5:35 PM

Discussion (afternoon speakers)

 

5:45 – 6:45 PM

RECEPTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AGENDA - SUNDAY OCTOBER 2, 2011

7:15 - 8:00 AM

BREAKFAST/EXHIBITS

 

8:00 - 8:45 AM

Brian Fallon, MD

What is Chronic Lyme Disease? Models and evidence

 

8:45 - 9:30 AM

Andrew W. Walter, MD

Update on Ehrlichiosis and Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis in Children

 

 

9:30–10:15 AM

Andrea Gaito, MD

Clinical Evaluation and treatment of Lyme Arthritis; An autoimmune perspective

 

10:15–10:40 AM

Q&A Discussion

 

10:40–11:00 AM

BREAK

 

11:00–11:45 AM

Ingeborg Dziedzic, MD

What everyone should know about Eyes & Lyme Disease

 

11:45–12:30 PM

Vijay Thadani, MD

Epilepsy update: Distinguishing Epileptic from Non-epileptic seizures

 

12:30 - 1:15 PM

Steve Bock, MD

Complementary and Integrative Medical approaches to Chronic Tick-borne Disease

 

1:15 – 2:00 PM

 

Elizabeth Maloney, MD

The treatment of Lyme disease - a critical review of the literature – lessons, gaps, and future research needs