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Global Lyme Alliance will be the largest tick-borne disease organization in the nation. It will carry on the mission and important work of the other two groups -- to conquer Lyme and tick-borne diseases through research and education.
“The merger will harness our individual strengths and combine them to pursue our shared mission to develop a reliable diagnostic test and discover effective treatments for Lyme disease, while continuing to educate the public about the growing threats of Lyme and other tick-borne illnesses,” said Debbie Siciliano, co-founder and co-president of the Lyme Research Alliance.
“By consolidating our two groups, we are combining LRA’s research expertise and its vast network of world-renowned medical experts, physicians, researchers and key medical institutions with our proven grass roots awareness campaigns and national fundraising events. We will now be able to speak with a single, more powerful voice to advance the fight to end tick-borne illness forever,” said Charles Balducci, co-chairman of the Tick-Borne Disease Alliance.
The new group will be led by a board of directors consisting of board members from both organizations. Robert Kobre, a member of LRA’s Scientific Advisory Board, will serve as chairman of the board. Diane Blanchard, LRA’s co-founder and co-president, along with David Roth, TBDA’s co-chairman, Siciliano and Balducci will serve as vice chairmen. Staci Grodin, formerly TBDA’s president, was named to GLA’s Executive Committee and will continue to play a major role in the new organization.
The groups first announced merger plans in May 2014 and signed a definitive agreement in late February.
“Over this period, our teams have worked diligently to complete the merger,” Kobre said.
The number of Lyme cases reported annually has increased nearly 25-fold since national surveillance began in 1982. There are no accurate diagnostic tests for the tick-borne disease, no tests to prove that Lyme bacteria are eradicated or that an individual is cured.
According to the CDC, some 15 percent to 20 percent of individuals treated for Lyme continue to experience symptoms such as severe arthritis, persistent fatigue, impaired vision, memory loss and other cognitive problems.
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