Upcoming Events
SPEAKERS: Professor Robert Bransfield, Dr. Rosalie Greenberg, and Dr. Charlotte Mao
TITLE: Microbes and Mental Illness: Past, Present, and Future
DATE: Tuesday July 16th 2024
TIME: 19:00
19:00 CET (Central European Time), 14:00 ET (Eastern Time)
DESCRIPTION:
Our Expert Panel will explore the multifaceted relationship between microbes and mental illness, including discussion around PANS (Paediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome) and PANDAS (Paediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections).
Attendees will gain insights into the specific microbes associated with mental illnesses, including, (but not limited to) Borrelia burgdorferi (Lyme disease), Bartonella, syphilis, SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) and group A strep (PANDAS/PANS).
This roundtable webinar aims to foster recognition of the microbe and mental illness association with the hope of developing greater interdisciplinary research, education, and therapy options that may prevent and reduce mental illness morbidity, disability, and mortality.
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ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Professor Robert C. Bransfield, MD, DLFAPA
Professor Bransfield is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in Psychiatry. He is Clinical Associate Professor at Rutgers, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, and also works in private practice. He has held teaching appointments at Hahnemann Medical College and Eastern Virginia Medical School. Dr. Bransfield has a particular interest in psychopharmacology, a unified theory of mental health and illness, the link between microbes and mental illness, Lyme and other tick-borne disease, and the link between microbes and violence.
Dr. Rosalie Greenberg MD
Dr. Rosalie Greenberg is a Board-Certified Adult, Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, known for her expertise in the diagnosis and management of complex psychiatric problems in children, and paediatric psychopharmacology.
Dr. Greenberg brings her 40 years of experience to topics that range from adolescent suicide and paediatric bipolar disorder as well as the many psychological aspects attributed to Lyme disease. Working in New Jersey, where Lyme disease is endemic, she found a sizable number of the children she evaluated, tested positive for tick-borne illness, most of whom never had a known tick bite. For the past few years, she has focused on the psychiatric manifestations of infectious diseases, especially, tick-borne illnesses in children and adolescents.
Dr. Greenberg maintains a private practice in Summit, New Jersey.
Dr. Charlotte Mao MD
Dr. Charlotte Mao is a paediatric infectious diseases physician with special focus on Lyme disease and associated infections.
She turned her focus to Lyme disease and associated coinfections after gaining extensive clinical experience with paediatric Lyme disease patients at BCH’s referral ID clinic.
She moved to the Paediatric Infectious Disease Department at Massachusetts General Hospital and provided consultative paediatric ID specialty care in a multidisciplinary clinic for children with complex Lyme disease at the Dean Centre for Tick Borne Illness at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. She is currently the Curriculum Director at Invisible International.
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REGISTER HERE: aonm.org/MMI
We apologise that due to unforeseen circumstances this webinar has been postponed. We will update this page as soon as we have a new date.
SPEAKERS: Professor Leona Gilbert, Dr. Armin Schwarzbach, Dr. Mihail Pruteanu, Mr. Markus Berger and Mr. Kunal Garg
TITLE: Adaptive Immune Response Investigation in Lyme Borreliosis
DATE: Tuesday 18th June 2024
TIME: 19:00 (BST)
19:00 CEST (Central European Summer Time), 14:00 ET (Eastern Time)
DESCRIPTION:
In this webinar the authors of Chapter 6 in Borrelia Burgdorferi – Methods and Protocols (Edited by Professor Leona Gilbert) – ‘Adaptive Immune Response Investigation in Lyme Borreliosis’ will discuss the nuances of diagnosing Lyme Borreliosis through humoral and cellular immunity.
You will learn about the innovative EliSpot assay, unveiling T cell responses to Borrelia burgdorferi infection and gain an understanding of how this T cell-based approach bridges diagnostic gaps, especially for seronegative patients.
The authors will offer insights into the dissociation between humoral and cellular immune responses, and the great potential of EliSpot in identifying Borrelia infections.
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ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Professor Leona Gilbert is a Docent / Adjunct Professor of Cell and Molecular Biology and the CEO of Te?ted Oy. Leona has over 20 years’ experience in research driven initiatives that provided valuable tools for patients.
She has a doctorate in biotechnology and a very long experience in bio-innovation and bio-business. She has supervised numerous PhD, MSc and BSc students and her various peer-reviewed articles span turning research results into translational value with developing novel delivery vectors as well as diagnostic lab-on-chip platforms. In addition, Leona’s publications also demonstrate the thorough investigation of how a common virus or bacterium can contribute to autoimmune diseases. Another highlight in these publications is the demonstration of a multi-disciplinary background and collaborative efforts between clinicians, microbiologists, diagnostic developers, nano-scientists, physicists, and engineers. Gilbert’s research initiatives into complete diagnostic platforms and clinical profiling of patients for tick-borne and autoimmune diseases will allow a better understanding of how chronic conditions could be established with infectious pathogens.
Professor Gilbert is Editor of Borrelia Burgdorferi – Methods and Protocols. “Cutting-edge and comprehensive, Borrelia burgdorferi: Methods and Protocols encompasses a wide range of techniques and caters to scientists from various disciplines and career stages, such as cell and molecular biologists, statisticians, and clinical researchers.” (https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-1-0716-3561-2#about-this-book )
Dr. Armin Schwarzbach is a world expert in the field of laboratory medicine and infectious diseases. He is committed to working tirelessly on refining the various diagnostic tests for Borrelia burgdorferi and coinfections, a research area to which he has devoted more than 20 years of his professional life.
His unparalleled expertise in testing for tick-borne disease culminated in the creation in 2015 of his own laboratory, ArminLabs, in Augsburg, Germany. Under his watchful eye, his 30-strong, hand-picked laboratory team has processed over 150.000 samples from patients with tick-borne disease, in addition to all the other medical and specialised tests run daily for practitioners from over 150 countries.
Read Dr. Schwarzbach’s full profile HERE
Dr. Mihail Pruteanu, born in Moldova in 1979, is a skilled physician specialising in microbiology, virology, and infection epidemiology, with expertise in parasitology. He obtained qualifications as a “Physician for Hygiene and Epidemiology” and later as a “Specialist in Infection Epidemiology, Microbiology, and Virology” in Moldova. He conducted research and lectured at Nicolae Testemițanu State University of Medicine and Pharmacy before managing a medical laboratory focused on parasitology, mycology, and viral infections.
Moving to Germany, Dr. Pruteanu has held various medical roles, including medical product developer, laboratory assistant, and research associate at the University Hospital in Augsburg. In 2022, he joined ArminLabs as a physician specialising in parasitology and infectious diseases, where he applies his extensive experience to patient care. In 2023, he received medical recognition in Germany from the Technical University of Munich.
He has authored numerous publications.
Mr. Markus Berger graduated in 2012 with a degree in sports economics at the German University for Prevention and Health Management in Leipzig. Until August 2018 he worked as a health coach, nutritionist and rehabilitation trainer in a clinic for tick-borne diseases. Since September 2018, Markus Berger is Sales Manager of ArminLabs, a laboratory specialised in the diagnosis of tick-borne infections and other chronic infectious pathogens. Besides this position, Markus Berger is the managing director of PhytoBox. He advises patients, patient groups and therapists regarding physical training, nutrition, and dietary supplements.
Mr. Kunal Garg is the co-founder and chief technology officer at Tezted Ltd, Finland. He graduated from VIT University, India, in 2013 and from the University of Jyväskyla, Finland, in 2015, with B.Tech and M.Sc. degrees, respectively. His academic background in biotechnology and experience as an entrepreneur has provided him with a broad range of skill sets to create and commercialise in vitro diagnostics. Kunal has developed a diagnostic tool to simultaneously test several pathogens and multiple disease stages in patients suspected of tick-borne disease. He is currently developing tools to help directly detect and confirm fungal toxins in humans.
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REGISTER HERE: aonm.org/Chapter6