Literati with Lyme

Literati with Lyme Copyright © 2005 by Lyme Disease Association, Inc. All rights reserved.




	Literati with Lyme is an effort by nationally-known authors, publishers, editors, literary agents, other publishing professionals, and the national Lyme Disease Association to raise awareness of this growing infectious disease threat and to raise funds for research on a cure.


	Each year 22,000 to 24,000 new cases of Lyme disease are reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). CDC estimates that only 10% of cases that meet its surveillance criteria are actually reported. Lyme disease is called the great imitator because it mimics many other ailments, and laboratory testing for Lyme is very unreliable.


	MORNING EVENT: Lyme Disease Association hosted press briefing featuring Amy Tan, Meg Cabot, Jordan Fisher Smith, Pat Smith, President of the Lyme Disease Association, and Brian Fallon, M.D., Associate Professor at Columbia University and Director of the Lyme Disease Program at New York State Psychiatric Institute will be supported by Columbia University Medical Center and sponsored by the DEET Education Program.

	EVENING EVENT :: 6-8 PM :: INVITATION ONLY :: That evening there will be a by-invitation-only benefit reception at Amy Tan's Manhattan home for major Literati with Lyme donors. Other guests at the reception will include prominent Lyme disease researchers and clinicians. Proceeds from the benefit go to the Lyme Disease Association for research including the Endowed Columbia Lyme Disease Research Center.

	EVENING EVENT :: 7-10 PM :: Literati with Lyme will host an event for the public at New York University entitled “Writer’s Block of the Worst Kind,” featuring Amy Tan, Meg Cabot, E. Jean Carroll, Jordan Fisher Smith, and Jennifer Weis, executive editor, St. Martin’s Press in conversation with Brian Fallon M.D. and Joseph Burrascano MD. Tan, Cabot, Caroll, and Smith, who have all had Lyme, will discuss how the disease affected their lives and books. Drs. Fallon and Burrascano will talk about the physiological causes of the the authors’ often frustrating and sometimes hair-raising experiences with the disease. There will be an opportunity for members of the public to submit questions to the authors and doctors. Proceeds will be used by the Lyme Disease Association for research including the Endowed Columbia Lyme Disease Research Center. The Expository Writing Department and The School of Social Work are NYU co-sponsors. Directions and Travel Tips
	Yes, I want to help Literati with Lyme find a cure.

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Bacteria photo credit: David W. Dorward, PhD, National Institutes of Health, Rocky Mt. Labs