Panel Discussion - Lyme Disease: Portrait of an Epidemic
Thursday, November 12, 2026 5:30 PM
In conjunction with the Visual Arts Gallery’s current exhibition, Lyme Disease: Portrait of an Epidemic, a panel discussion on Lyme and other tick-transmitted infections will be presented at SUNY Adirondack's Scoville Auditorium. Artist Lynn Shanks will begin by explaining her artwork and the inspiration behind it. A panel of leading Lyme disease experts will follow with a conversation about tick-borne illness, moderated by Holly Ahern. Just how dangerous are ticks in this part of the country? What can you do to minimize your risk of tick-borne disease? What steps should you take if you’ve been bitten? How will you know if you’ve been infected and, if you have, what should you do next? How are government agencies and research groups working to control this epidemic? These questions and more will be answered by this impressive panel of experts.
Panelists
Holly Ahern (moderator)
Founder and Chief Scientific Officer, ACES Diagnostics
Co-founder and Vice President, Lyme Action Network
Professor Emerita of Microbiology, SUNY Adirondack
Dan Durkee
Public Health Program Administrator & Emergency Preparedness Coordinator,
Warren County Health Services
Deanna Lebel, MHS
Government Relations Manager, Center for Lyme Action
Mary Beth Pfeiffer
Investigative Reporter
Author of Lyme: The First Epidemic of Climate Change
Mark J. Soloski, Ph.D.
Emeritus Professor of Medicine
Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine
Senior Advisor, Lyme Disease Research Center
Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Ronald Stram, M.D.
Founder and Medical Director, Stram Center for Integrative Medicine
Sincere thanks to Holly Ahern and Lyme Action Network for helping to assemble this esteemed group of Lyme experts and promote the program, and to Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Council for funding.
This project is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrant program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Council.
