chronic Lyme Archives - Bay Area Lyme Foundation

A Leader Who Understands the Journey: Welcoming David Walsey as Bay Area Lyme Foundation’s New Executive Director

By Bay Area Lyme Foundation

Bay Area Lyme Spotlight Series

“Science drives our mission, but patient stories remind us why the science matters.”

– David Walsey

As David Walsey steps into his new role as Executive Director of Bay Area Lyme Foundation, he brings more than professional expertise. He brings lived experience of diagnostic uncertainty, immune dysfunction, co-infections, and the long arc many families travel before answers emerge. For patients, caregivers, and supporters of Bay Area Lyme, David’s leadership signals both continuity and momentum: a future rooted in rigorous science, compassionate leadership, and hope grounded in progress. “It’s been a long journey to get here,” David says. “We’ve spent nearly a decade navigating tick-borne disease as a family. That experience changed everything for us.” Dana Parish interviewed David as part of our Ticktective^™ video podcast series. Watch or listen to the complete interview.

When Symptoms Don’t Fit the Textbook

Nearly ten years ago, David’s son began experiencing a constellation of symptoms that defied easy explanation. Despite multiple medical evaluations, no unifying diagnosis emerged. When Lyme disease was finally identified, the family initially felt relief. “I thought this was a solvable, short-term problem,” David recalls. “You treat it, and life goes back to normal.”

A Foot-Tapper and Smile-Creator! Lyme Patient Releases New Jazz Album

By Bay Area Lyme Foundation

Bay Area Lyme Spotlight Series

“Every listen helps fund Lyme research.”

– Steve Ehrlich

Steve Ehrlich emigrated to the San Francisco Bay Area from South Africa in 1989. Chronic Lyme Disease cut short his career in the software industry, and he turned to writing music. He has released two contemporary jazz albums with his virtual band, The Inter Section. He spends his days on his sofa writing music with his doggie, Frankie, hitting play and paws when needed. The second jazz album is now available on all the streaming apps, and, like his first album, all the proceeds will be donated to Bay Area Lyme.

Ten Years of Data, One Clear Message: We Need to Do Better for Lyme Patients

By Bay Area Lyme Foundation

Bay Area Lyme Leading the Way Series

By Liz Horn, PhD, MBI, Principal Investigator, Lyme Disease Biobank

“The window for effective antibiotic treatment is narrow. Miss it—because of a false negative test, because symptoms are dismissed, or because follow-up doesn’t happen—and patients can develop persistent Lyme, which can be debilitating.”

– Dr. Liz Horn

After a decade of collecting blood samples, testing the samples, tracking patient outcomes, and analyzing data from more than 800 participants, the numbers tell a powerful story about the gaps in our understanding of how we diagnose and treat early Lyme disease. And it’s made all the more urgent by this summer’s explosion in blacklegged (deer) tick populations across endemic areas.

Our latest Lyme Disease Biobank study looked at more than 250 patients with early Lyme disease on Long Island and in Central Wisconsin who provided a blood draw at enrollment and a second blood draw three months later. Published recently in Frontiers in Medicine, these 10 years of data confirm a few important points that have been known in the Lyme field for years, but the wider medical community may not be aware of.

LymeLnk and Bay Area Lyme Foundation Partner to Bridge the Gap Between Research and Public Awareness

By Bay Area Lyme Foundation

Bay Area Lyme Leading the Way Series

“Science moves minds and stories move hearts. This partnership connects two essential parts of the Lyme ecosystem: the research that advances medicine and the communication that inspires action. Together, we’re making education and prevention more accessible.”

– Eva Scarano, Founder and Executive Director, LymeLnk

LymeLnk is a new nonprofit combating Lyme and tick-borne diseases (Lyme+) through community storytelling and education. Founded in 2024 at Parsons School of Design, LymeLnk was born out of founder Eva Scarano’s personal nine-year journey with Lyme+, during which she chose to create meaning from her isolated quest for health.

Eva’s Lyme+ journey began in 2016 with a textbook case: a bull’s-eye rash and flu-like symptoms. Among the fortunate few to receive a prompt diagnosis, she underwent three grueling months of antibiotics and supplemental treatment and was asymptomatic for two years. Everything changed in 2019 when she moved into a mold-infested apartment, triggering a collapse of her immune system—her Lyme markers were back and higher than ever. Years later, Eva had just begun graduate school at Parsons when she found herself at her “rock bottom.” Struggling to remember class material from the day prior or make it past 3:00 pm without a nap, she remained determined to continue her studies and reclaim her health.

Progress from Partnership: Reflections from the Frontlines

By Bay Area Lyme Foundation

Bay Area Lyme Leading the Way Series

Guest blog by Lyme Advocate, Meghan Bradshaw, Government Relations Manager, Center for Lyme Action

“Bay Area Lyme Foundation’s leadership, fundraising, and commitment to research and patient advocacy have been a bedrock.”

– Meghan Bradshaw

When I look back over the past few years, I’m struck by how much has changed—for me personally, and for the broader Lyme and tick-borne disease community. And perhaps most of all, I see how partnership and persistence have turned what once felt impossible into genuine progress.

Turning Pain into Purpose as a Living Donor

One of the most powerful examples of Bay Area Lyme’s impact is Lyme Disease Biobank—a groundbreaking resource that provides researchers with high-quality, well-characterized samples to accelerate discoveries in diagnostics and treatment.

I know firsthand what it means to contribute to that effort—with my own body. As a living donor, I’ve donated multiple joints to the Biobank following joint replacement surgeries. It was, without exaggeration, a painful process. But I did it because I believe in turning my suffering into solutions—knowing that those tissues may one day help someone else get diagnosed sooner or treated more effectively.

Justin Timberlake’s Lyme Diagnosis and His Struggle to Be Believed

By Bay Area Lyme Foundation

Bay Area Lyme Spotlights Series

Medical skepticism isn’t just cruel, it’s physically, mentally, and emotionally harmful.

When Justin Timberlake revealed his Lyme disease after weeks of criticism for low-energy performances during his recent tour, the Internet did what the Internet does: It immediately questioned whether he was telling the truth.

The skepticism was rife and merciless. Reddit threads quickly surfaced with accusations that he was making excuses, faking illness, or using Lyme as a convenient cover story. “There must be something else going on,” people assumed. “Chronic Lyme isn’t a thing,” they said.

While it’s almost expected to see anonymous Internet commenters take aim at a major celebrity going through a low point, for the millions of Americans living with Lyme disease, Timberlake’s experience is not surprising at all.

New Bay Area Lyme Foundation Study Reports That Only One-Third of Early Lyme Patients with On-Going Symptoms Followed up with their Healthcare Providers

By Bay Area Lyme Foundation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New Bay Area Lyme Foundation Study Reports That Only One-Third of Early Lyme Patients with On-Going Symptoms Followed up with their Healthcare Providers

The new research, published in Frontiers in Medicine, points to need for greater follow-up from medical professionals to address potential treatment failures.

PORTOLA VALLEY, Calif., July 10, 2025—Bay Area Lyme Foundation, a leading sponsor of Lyme disease research in the US, announced the publication of new research in Frontiers in Medicine based on data from Bay Area Lyme Foundation’s Lyme Disease Biobank. This large-scale study conducted over 10 years at sites on the East Coast and the Upper Midwest demonstrates the need for improved diagnostics and increased follow-up by medical professionals for Lyme disease patients.

Only one-fifth of study participants (23%), enrolled with signs and symptoms of early Lyme, were positive by the CDC’s standard two-tiered test for Lyme disease, which supports previous research that found that it misses up to 70% of cases of early-stage Lyme disease. Further, approximately 1 in 5 patients reported ongoing symptoms at 3 months, including joint pain, fatigue, and muscle pain yet only one-third (35%) of these participants followed up with their healthcare providers about these ongoing symptoms. Due to difficulties in diagnosing Lyme disease and resulting treatment delays, as many as two million people may suffer from persistent Lyme disease, which can be debilitating.

Accurate, timely detection of Lyme disease is critical to preventing long-term complications. Moreover, follow-up from medical professionals with all patients after they complete antibiotic treatment could improve outcomes and reduce the burden of Lyme disease,” said lead author Liz Horn, PhD, MBI, Principal Investigator of Lyme Disease Biobank, a Bay Area Lyme Foundation program which helps to accelerate research by collecting, storing and providing much-needed human biological samples for use in research. “Our data also confirm the limitations of serology testing in early Lyme disease and after antibiotic treatment.”

The Lyme-Mold Connection: An Incredible Guide to Healing

By Bay Area Lyme Foundation

Bay Area Lyme Quick Bites Series

“I think I prevented a lot of chronic Lyme cases by doing adequate early treatment. But I had a subset of patients who just were not getting better. These cases had either a current or a past exposure to mold.”

– Jill Crista, ND

In this latest episode of Ticktective^™, our host, Dana Parish, talks with Dr. Jill Crista, a leading expert on the diagnosis and treatment of toxic mold exposure and illness. Dr. Crista started her practice in southern Wisconsin, which is often in the top five states for Lyme disease cases, even though Lyme is often thought of as a Northeast issue.

Click here to watch or listen now.

Parish and Crista discuss the complex nature of mold toxicity, including its impact on the immune system, the brain, and various organ systems. Crista emphasizes the importance of identifying the underlying causes of mold exposure, such as water damage and poor indoor air quality, rather than just addressing the symptoms.

Dr. Neil Nathan: When You’re Not Getting Better. Best-selling Author and Chronic Illness Expert has Answers.

By Bay Area Lyme Foundation

Bay Area Lyme Quick Bites series

“If you have Lyme disease and your treatment is stalled out or not moving or you’re not progressing the way you should, please check for mold. It’s almost certain that’s what you need to be working on next.”

– Neil Nathan, MD

Our Ticktective host, Dana Parish, interviews Dr. Neil Nathan, renowned physician and best-selling author. Dr. Nathan specializes in treating chronic illnesses, particularly those related to environmental toxins, vector-borne infections, and complex systemic disorders. With decades of experience in clinical practice, he focuses on understanding the impact of toxins on health and is dedicated to helping patients recover from illnesses that conventional medicine often struggles to address. His bestselling book, Toxic: Heal Your Body from Mold Toxicity, Lyme Disease, Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, and Other Chronic Environmental Illnesses, provides a comprehensive guide to recognizing, diagnosing, and treating various chronic conditions linked to environmental factors.

Click here to watch or listen now.

Award-Winning Short-Form YouTube Series ‘Girl at a Bar’ Depicts Challenges of Living with Chronic Lyme

By Bay Area Lyme Foundation

Bay Area Lyme Spotlights Series

“I hope people with Lyme can see themselves on screen and they resonate with it.”

– Tracy Mulholland

We sat down with Tracy Mulholland, actress, writer, producer, and Lyme patient, who wrote, produced, and stars in the award-winning short-form series Girl at a Bar, made possible by a grant from Bay Area Lyme Foundation. The short-form series, now available on YouTube, aims to provide an entertaining, accessible narrative to raise awareness about Lyme. Tracy hopes it will resonate with those living with chronic conditions and spark more conversations and content about these experiences. We discuss Tracy’s personal story as the inspiration behind the show and how the series explores challenges relevant not only to people navigating chronic illness but also to life in general. Conversation topics include:

How the show is inspired by the creator’s own experiences with Lyme disease, including the social isolation and impacts on relationships that can occur during chronic illness.
An exploration around themes of identity, vulnerability, and empathy, drawing parallels to other chronic and invisible illnesses beyond Lyme.
In addition to the short-form series, Tracy is launching a related spin-off podcast series where others are challenged to push their comfort zones.
Each episode aims to humanize the Lyme experience, foster greater understanding, and inspire more diverse storytelling about chronic illnesses in media and entertainment.