PORTOLA VALLEY, Calif., May 16, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Bay Area Lyme Foundation, a leading sponsor of Lyme disease research in the United States,  brought together scientists, philanthropists, celebrities and patients for the sixth annual LymeAid^®, an event aimed at raising funds to make Lyme disease easy to diagnose and simple to cure.  This year's benefit dinner and concert raised more than $1 million, of which 100 percent will go directly to fund research and education projects for Lyme disease.

"Support for Lyme disease research continues to grow, perhaps because of the increasing numbers of people who are severely impacted," remarked Linda Giampa, executive director, Bay Area Lyme Foundation. "We are honored to have renowned scientists and up-and-coming researchers lending their expertise to our efforts, and taking the time to educate and engage philanthropists and high-profile personalities through our annual LymeAid event."

Multiple Bay Area Lyme Foundation research projects are supported by funds raised at LymeAid each year, including studies to better understand the ecology of ticks, and to identify better diagnostics and treatments that will work for all patients. 

During her welcome remarks at LymeAid 2018, Giampa led attendees in a moment of silence for all those who have died from Lyme disease. Among these are four women from the San Francisco Bay Area, one of whom experienced cardiac involvement of the bacteria that causes Lyme disease, and the other three succumbed to the complicated neurologic effects of the disease.

Guest speakers and special guests at LymeAid 2018 helped to reinforce the devastating impact of Lyme disease, and encourage attendee engagement. Colonel Nicole Malachowski, USAF, Retired, the first female fighter pilot selected to fly as part of the elite US Air Force Thunderbirds, shared her personal experience with Lyme disease, which forced her medical retirement from the military. "Tick-borne illness brought me to my knees," said Malachowski, who suffered for more than four years before obtaining an accurate diagnosis, harboring long-term complications from the disease. "I needed every bit of mental and physical endurance training I was given as a fighter pilot to survive this disease."

Wendy Adams, Bay Area Lyme Foundation's research grant director, shared statistics demonstrating the impact of Lyme disease, and offered details about studies being funded by the Foundation, including the Lyme Disease Biobank, and research being conducted at Brandeis University, Colorado State University, Johns Hopkins, Stanford, and Tulane.

During the event, the Bay Area Lyme Foundation also announced the recipients of the annual Emerging Leader Awards. George Church, Ph.D. and Ting Wu, Ph.D., were each awarded a $250,000 grant to launch the Genomic Lyme Disease Research Initiative project at Harvard Medical School. Michal Caspi Tal, Ph.D. and Steven E. Phillips, M.D. will each receive $100,000 toward therapeutic research related to immunotherapy and an innovative new drug aimed at eliminating chronic tick-borne infections, respectively.

John Aucott, M.D., Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Christine Green, M.D., clinician, Nate Nieto, Ph.D., Northern Arizona State University; Sunjya K. Schweig, M.D., and William Robinson, M.D., Ph.D., Stanford University, were among the Bay Area Lyme Foundation Scientific Advisory Board members who participated in the 2018 event. Other scientists and clinicians in attendance included Andreas Koglenik, M.D., Ph.D., Open Medicine Institute, Dan Salkeld, Ph.D., Colorado State University, and Jayakumar Rajadas, Ph.D., Stanford Lyme Working Group.

Jay Leno served as master of ceremonies for this year's LymeAid, and generously donated visits to his personal garage, raising $70,000 for the Foundation on this auction item alone. Following the speakers and formal program, Chris Isaak entertained the enthusiastic crowd with his songs, "Wicked Game" and "Baby Did a Bad, Bad Thing," among other hits.

Lucy Kuchan, Carolyn Margiotti, Kathleen O'Rourke, Amy Rao, and Jennie Savage were chairs of LymeAid 2018, along with Laure Woods, who hosted the event at her home in Portola Valley.

Honorary hosts included: Marc Benioff, Daryl Hall, Elet Hall, Jane Seymour, Dr. Richard Horowitz, Dana Parish, Davorin Kuchan, Elaine Mellis, Jim Mair, Gib & Susan Myers, Kirsten and Josh Stein, Mason Tenaglia, and Amy Rao and Harry Plant.

Premier event sponsors included: Salesforce, Whittier Trust and LARC.  Other event sponsors included: Aggie's Toffee, Butterfield & Robinson, Erin Mac Jewelry, Old World Spirits, Sawyer Products and SurfAir.

About Lyme disease

One of the fastest-growing infectious diseases in the country, Lyme disease is a potentially disabling infection caused by bacteria transmitted through the bite of an infected tick to people and pets. There are about 329,000 new cases of Lyme disease each year, according to statistics released in 2015 by the CDC. As a result of the difficulty in diagnosing and treating Lyme disease, as many as one million Americans may be suffering from the impact of its debilitating long-term symptoms and complications, according to Bay Area Lyme Foundation estimates.

About Bay Area Lyme Foundation

Bay Area Lyme Foundation, a national organization committed to making Lyme disease easy to diagnose and simple to cure, is the leading public foundation sponsor of innovative Lyme disease research in the US.  A 501c3 non-profit organization based in Silicon Valley, Bay Area Lyme Foundation collaborates with world-class scientists and institutions to accelerate medical breakthroughs for Lyme disease. It is also dedicated to providing reliable, fact-based information so that prevention and the importance of early treatment are common knowledge.  A pivotal donation from The LaureL STEM Fund covers all overhead costs and allows for 100% of all donor contributions to Bay Area Lyme Foundation to go directly to research and prevention programs. For more information about Lyme disease or to get involved, visit www.bayarealyme.org or call us at 650-530-2439.

SOURCE Bay Area Lyme Foundation