May Awareness Guest Blogging Campaign

 

William V. Padula OD, SFNAP, FAAO, FNORA

Coming Wednesday, May 1st

The Visual Consequences of Lyme Disease:
Early Diagnosis & Treatment

William V. Padula, OD is Director of the Padula Institute of Vision Rehabilitation in Guilford, CT.  He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry and the Founding President of the Neuro-Optometric Rehabilitation Association (NORA).  Dr. Padula is on the faculty for Western University of Health Sciences College of Optometry and Salus University of Health Sciences College of Optometry.

Dr. Padula has conducted research discovering Post Trauma Vision Syndrome (PTVS) and Visual Midline Shift Syndrome (VMSS).  Dr. Padula has written numerous publications including a book titled: Neuro-Optometric Rehabilitation and Neuro Visual Processing: An Integrated Model of Rehabilitation. He is the primary author of a chapter on vision in Brain Injury Medicine: Principles and Practice.  He has also been awarded six U.S. Patents.

James L. Occi, MA, MS, PhD in progress

Coming Wednesday, May 8th

Occi.Headshot.2018.Square

“Scientists Predict a Bad Year for Ticks.” Oh Really?

James (Jim) Occi is a microbiologist who has been involved in searching for new antibiotic entities for almost 30 years. He has done research in big pharma for over 20 years and as a research microbiologist at New Jersey Medical School in the Department of Emerging Pathogens (Newark).  Jim has recently joined the New Jersey Department of Health. Jim is pursuing his PhD at Rutgers University wants to be a medical entomologist when he grows up. For his thesis, Jim is studying tick-borne diseases in New Jersey tick populations. He has a BS and MA in Biology from Montclair State University and an MS in Microbiology from Seton Hall University.

Richard Horowitz, MD

Coming Wednesday, May 15th

Dr. Richard Horrowitz co-author of the published case study on Lyme disease and COVID-19

Have Hope: “Persister” Drug Regimens Provide Novel Solutions for Many Suffering Lyme Patients

Dr. Richard Horowitz is a board-certified internist and medical director of the Hudson Valley Healing Arts Center, where he has treated over 13,000 Lyme and tick-borne disease patients during the past 30 years. He is the author of two best-selling books, Why Can’t I Get Better? & How Can I Get Better? An Action Plan for Treating Resistant Lyme and Chronic Disease. Dr Horowitz was also a member of the HHS Tick-borne Disease Working Group and Co-chair of the “Other Tick-borne Diseases and Co-infections” subcommittee which provided recommendations to Congress to improve the care of those suffering with tick-borne disorders.

Congressman Christopher H. Smith (NJ-04)

Coming Wednesday, May 22nd

Congressman Chris Smith

A Message from Congressman Chris Smith

Elected in 1980, Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) is currently in his 20th term in the U.S. House of Representatives, serving New Jersey’s Fourth Congressional District.

Since the early 1990s, Smith has authored comprehensive amendments and legislation to increase federal funding for Lyme research and enhanced treatment access for Lyme patients.  Smith co-founded and currently co-chairs the bipartisan Lyme Disease Caucus, which serves as an incubator for Lyme disease legislation and promotes Lyme disease awareness in the House of Representatives. 

Smith’s legislation (H.R. 611; H.R. 2557; H.R. 1179; H.R. 741; H.R. 3427) to create a Tick-Borne Diseases Advisory Committee served as the prototype and was ultimately incorporated as Section 2062 in the 21st Century Cures Act (P.L. 114-255).  Section 2062 established the first federal Interagency Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease Working Group dedicated to facilitate research, development, and collaboration on Lyme disease.  In November 2018, the Working Group released its first report to Congress, stating: “[i]ncreased Federal funding, prioritization, and leadership are needed to reverse the alarming trends associated with tick-borne diseases.”  Smith is already working on legislation to help the federal government pursue this mandate.

Brian Dashore

Coming Wednesday, May 29th

Dashore.Sq

How My Differing Childhood Experiences Impacted My Educational Life

Brian Dashore is a 17-year-old teen who has had Lyme Disease, Mold Biotoxin illness, and other co-infections. He has been undergoing treatment for eight years with multiple world-renowned doctors. Brian is the son of Jodie Dashore who is a well-known doctor in this field. He recently established a website called teenlymehub.com with a Facebook group.  He will be talking about the educational aspects of a child with Lyme Disease.