In this episode, we talk with Dr. Richard Rusk, a public health leader specializing in health promotion, disease prevention, and the management of complex chronic conditions. 

Trained as a veterinarian and physician with advanced credentials in public health and preventive medicine, Dr. Rusk operates at the intersection of epidemiology and frontline implementation across Manitoba Canada.

Previously serving as Provincial Chief Occupational Medical Officer and the Medical Officer of Health with Manitoba Health CDC Lead, Dr. Rusk now serves as Medical Director of Rusk Medical Solutions. 

Dr. Rusk’s recent peer reviewed publication on the incidence of clinician-diagnosed Lyme disease in Manitoba investigates the gap between reported and real cases of Lyme. 

• DOI: 10.1089/vbz.2024.0088
• www.lookingatlyme.ca
• www.canlyme.com

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Michael Howlett, a veterinarian based out of Cumberland County, Nova Scotia. When Dr. Mike returned to Nova Scotia to practice veterinary medicine, he did not expect to see so much Lyme disease; however, his location on the South Shore proved to be a hot spot for Lyme. Dr. Mike has become very passionate about increasing awareness and prevention of Lyme disease during his time as a veterinarian. 

We are very interested in what goes on for non-human animals and how this might affect the human experience. 

In this episode, we speak with Blake Corbin. Blake grew up in the Ottawa Valley and became an avid hunter and outdoorsman. He’s been very involved with local fish and game clubs and other organizations that mostly focus on youth initiatives, wildlife and habitat restoration. Blake volunteers his time to educate fellow outdoors enthusiasts about avoiding ticks and how best to prevent getting bitten.

• CanLyme Flyer (PDF)
• Geneticks tick testing
• Educators' Resource
• Tick removal kits
• Bulk pricing for tick removal kits

Dr. Tim Cook is an Internal Medicine Specialist who has spent decades helping patients with complex illnesses. He worked abroad with the Canadian Armed Forces and he has been the physician for multiple officials at Rideau Hall. 

In today’s episode, we hear how medicine is evolving to handle Lyme Disease, and learn more about an upcoming conference for medical professionals all about tick-borne diseases.

Resources

• Horowitz questionnaire (PDF)
• Geneticks tick testing
• Practitioner’s conference (tell your family practitioner!)
• CTD Conference poster (PDF) to share with your health practitioner

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Kendall Soucie and Marissa Rakus. Dr. Kendall Soucie is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Windsor, in Ontario Canada. She studies women’s health, particularly the social and institutional impacts of living with chronic health conditions.

Marissa Rakus is a PhD candidate in the Applied Social Psychology program at the University of Windsor. Her research examines gender-based violence and women's interactions with formal support systems.

Together they are researching medical gaslighting. They’ve been gathering information from respondents and have compiled close to 2,000 responses from women who say medical personnel have not taken their problems seriously. They join us today to talk about this challenge and how it impacts chronic health conditions like Lyme disease.

www.lookingatlyme.ca

In this podcast, we talk with Dr. Sarah Keating. As an anatomic pathologist for more than 35 years, Sarah worked on staff at a number of hospitals in Ontario as well as at Ontario Forensic Pathology Services. She is recently retired but is passionate about learning as much as possible about tick borne diseases in order to help improve the access to care for suffering patients. She maintains her affiliation with the University of Toronto as an Associate Professor Emeritus in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology. Sarah has been a member of the CanLyme board since 2022 and she is also an active member of ILADS – the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society.

Read more

• www.lookingatlyme.ca
• canlyme.com/sarah-keating/

In this podcast, we talk with Dr. Eleanor Stein. Dr. Stein is a medical doctor and psychiatrist. The course of her career in academic medicine took a sudden turn when she developed myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia and environmental sensitivities in 1989 during her psychiatry residency. She experienced the same lack of informed care that so many face and as a result made the decision to focus her practice on chronic complex diseases. Since then, she has devoted her career to learning about these conditions and has worked closely with thousands of patients integrating conventional and integrative approaches to help them improve their health and function. Dr. Stein retired from medical practice at the end of 2022 to devote her time to sharing what she has learned over the past 35 years. Through her website, she provides free resources and paid courses.

• www.lookingatlyme.ca
• www.eleanorsteinmd.ca

In this episode, we talk with Lilian Dart, a PhD student at the University of Toronto. Lilian is an environmental geographer who researches the complex relationship between humans and their environment, focusing on how this relationship shapes behaviour, participation, and environmental decision-making in Canada, with particular attention to issues of environmental justice and equity. With a strong academic foundation spanning both the sciences and social sciences, her previous work has explored community-based conservation, community health, and housing policy. 

www.lookingatlyme.ca

In this episode, we talk with Dr. Nicoletta Faraone, a chemical ecologist and natural product chemist Dr. Faraone is an associate professor in the chemistry department at Acadia University where she teaches biochemistry and natural product chemistry. Her research focuses on how ticks detect odours from hosts and how they respond to repellants. She designs and develops novel essential oil based tick repellant products using nanotechnology. Since 2019, Dr. Faraone has supervised more than 50 students, technicians, research students, postdocs, and has received more than two million dollars CAD to support her research. Further reading:

• Acadia researcher finds that lemongrass oil is a natural tick repellent 
• Arming us in our battle with ticks: ‘They will be always out there’
• Atlantick
• Nicoletta Faraone

Hello, and welcome to season six of Looking at Lyme! We’re thrilled to be kicking off this season talking with contributors of an important new research report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, which studied current gaps in research and treatments for Lyme Infection-Associated Chronic Illnesses.

Dr. Kent Kester is board certified in both internal medicine and infectious diseases, is the chair of the publication committee, and is the vice chair of the National Academy of Medicine Forum on Microbial Threats. During his 24-year career in the U.S. Army, Kent led multiple research platforms at the biggest and most diverse lab with the Department of Defense, with a significant emphasis on emerging infectious diseases, and later led that institution as its commander.

Nicole Malachowski is a retired air force fighter pilot, National Women's Hall of Famer, Keynote speaker, and Tick Borne Illness Patient Advocate. She lives and works in Colorado and she represents the patient perspective on the NASEM committee that produced this important new research.

Their new publication is called “Charting a Path Toward New Treatments for Lyme Infection-Associated Chronic Illness”. (https://doi.org/10.17226/28578) We spoke with these two about their experiences putting together this report, and what impact they hope it will have moving forward.