About ALDF
The American Lyme Disease Foundation (ALDF) is dedicated to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of Lyme disease which, in the U.S., has been defined historically as a tick-borne bacterial infection caused by the spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto.
The Foundation plays a key role in providing reliable and scientifically accurate information to the public, medical community, and government agencies about Lyme disease and its effects on human health and quality of life. This is accomplished by means of its regularly updated website (www.aldf.com).
The Foundation is not a patient support organization. Consequently, it does not give medical advice, recommend specific physicians, or provide information on various medical or financial services related to the treatment/management of Lyme disease.
Although the Foundation gratefully accepts unsolicited donations, it does not participate in fund-raising activities.
All Officers, members of the Board of Directors, and Scientific Advisors serve on a voluntary basis, without financial compensation. All unsolicited donations received are used to support the Foundation’s website and educational activities. Please refer to the section on Donations for additional information.
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Andrea C. Love, Ph.D.
Executive Director
American Lyme Disease Foundation, Inc.
157 Church Street
19th Floor
New Haven, CT 06510
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Durland Fish, Ph.D.
Dept. of Epidemiology & Public Health
Yale University School of Medicine
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Maria Aguero-Rosenfeld. M.D.
Assoc. Director of Clinical Laboratories and
Director of Microbiology
NYU Langone Medical Center
Director of NYU Cancer Center Laboratories
New York, NY 10016
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Paul G. Auwaerter, M.D., M.B.A.
Clinical Director, Division of Infectious Diseases
Sherrilyn and Ken Fisher Professor of Medicine
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Baltimore, MD 21205
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Peter J. Krause, M.D.
Senior Research Scientist
Yale School of Public Health & Yale School of Medicine
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Red Pfohl
PM
Scully Construction
White Plains NY
Robert A. Proctor III
Managing Director
Oak Hill Consultants, LLC
200 Nottingham Road
Richmond, VA 23221
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Eugene D. Shapiro, M.D.
Professor of Pediatrics and Epidemiology
Yale University School of Medicine
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Gary P. Wormser, M.D.
Chief of Infectious Disease
New York Medical College
Emeritus
Susan O’Connell, M.D.
Alan G. Barbour, M.D.
Professor of Medicine and Microbiology & Molecular Genetics
University of California Irvine School of Medicine
Maria Diuk-Wasser, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Ecology, Evolution & Environmental Biology
Columbia University
Durland Fish, Ph.D.
Professor
Dept. of Epidemiology & Public Health
Yale University School of Medicine
Linden Hu, M.D.
Department of Molecular Biology & Microbiology
Tufts University School of Medicine
Adriana Marques, M.D.
Head, Clinical Studies Unit
Laboratory of Clinical Investigations & Diseases
National Institutes of Allergy & Infectious Diseases
National Institutes of Health
Scott Samuels, Ph.D.
Professor of Biology
Division of Biological Sciences
University of Montana
Robert T. Schoen, M.D.
Clinical Professor of Medicine
Yale University School of Medicine
Daniel E. Sonenshine,Ph.D.
Professor of Biology
Department of Biological Sciences
College of Sciences
Old Dominion University
Leonard Sigal, M.D.
Chief of Rheumatology and Connective
Tissue Research
Director of the Lyme Disease Center
Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Allen Steere, M.D.
Director of Rheumatology
Massachusetts General Hospital
Jean Tsao, Ph.D.
Department of Fisheries & Wildlife
Michigan State University
The information on Lyme disease presented on this web site has been reviewed and approved by one or more members of our Board of Directors or Scientific Advisory Board.
The ALDF website was awarded the Green — its highest– rating by NewsGuard’s team of trained journalists and experienced editors. They review and rate news and informational websites based on nine journalistic criteria that relate to credibility and transparency. For specific details, see: https://www.newsguardtech.com/ratings/rating-process-criteria.
The American Lyme Disease Foundation was incorporated on May 11, 1990 in New York State under the founding directorship of Dr. John J. Connolly, then President of New York Medical College in Valhalla, Westchester County. The need for the foundation was visualized by Dr. Connolly, Dr. Durland Fish, Medical Entomologist at New York Medical College at the time, and James Handelman, Executive Director of the Mathers Charitable Foundation in neighboring Mt Kisco, NY, who were concerned over the inadequate federal response to the Lyme disease epidemic which was rapidly spreading throughout suburban Westchester County.
David Weld, formerly of the Nature Conservancy and brother to former Governor William Weld of Massachusetts, was hired as Executive Director. The mission was to raise funds for research and education on Lyme disease. The foundation’s fund-raising events in New York City provided over $100,000 annually for peer-reviewed research projects and educational material nationally.
Fundraising became more difficult in New York City after 9/11/2001 and the mission began to emphasize education in response to the growing sources of misinformation about Lyme disease. Competing foundations formed by patient support groups with little or no medical or scientific credentials began to proliferate in communities and on the Internet. They promoted unscientific claims concerning diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease that could harm patients. With grants from the CDC, ALDF provided unbiased, objective information, based upon the best medical evidence provided by its Board of Scientific Advisors, many of whom were pioneers in academic research on Lyme disease. ALDF was cited in medical journals as being the only privately funded foundation providing reliable medical information on Lyme disease diagnosis, treatment, and prevention.
The untimely death of David Weld in 2005 resulted in a change of leadership with the appointment of Dr Philip Baker, former grants manager for the National Institutes of Health research program on Lyme disease. A nationally known microbiologist with many years of research experience, Dr. Baker ushered in a new phase of promoting scientifically accurate information about Lyme disease and confronting proponents of misinformation and unproven theories about diagnosis and treatment. As Executive Director, he published more than 25 peer-reviewed scientific articles in leading medical journals critical of unproven diagnostic tests and long-term antibiotic treatments for Lyme disease. Dr. Baker resigned in 2022, shortly before his passing in 2023.
Dr. Andrea Love became Executive Director in 2022. With a Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology and research experience on Lyme disease, she has continued the mission of ALDF. Dr. Love has expert experience in science communication as Founder of The Unbiased Science Podcast, dedicated to objective, critical appraisal of available evidence on science and health-related topics. She was a 2023 recipient of American Medical Writer’s Association McGovern Award.
Dr. Baker served as Executive Director for over 17 years during which time he enhanced the resources and reach that ALDF provided to its readership. He has devoted his career to research and education about Lyme Disease; prior to his role at ALDF, Dr. Baker worked as a renowned scientist in the field of infectious diseases and is one of the most respected experts on Lyme Disease.
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Board members and Scientific Advisors of the American Lyme Disease Foundation (ALDF) are unpaid volunteers, as well as nationally and internationally known leaders in basic and clinical research. They hold tenured positions at various academic and medical institutions, where they do outstanding work on Lyme disease. Consequently, they are not likely to be present at the official ALDF mailing address, which is used mainly to accept unsolicited donations, as well as other forms of correspondence. E-mail is the preferred means of communication, for inquiries that require a timely response. Pertinent e-mail addesses pertaining to specific issues are shown below.
Our Mission Statement notes that we are not a patient support group and that we do not give medical advice. Rather, we are dedicated solely to the dissemination of accurate and reliable information about the transmission, pathology, diagnosis, and treatment of Lyme disease to the public, free of charge. This is accomplished mainly by means of our website (www.aldf.com) and by e-mail, the preferred means of communication. We rely only on unsolicited donations to support the work we do, and neithersponsor nor participate in fund-raising activities of any kind.
E-mail addresses pertinent to specific issues or concerns are as follows:
- General Questions or Media Inquiries: questions@aldf.com
- All other questions/issues related to Lyme disease or the ALDF: executivedirector@aldf.com
Be assured that we will respond in a timely manner.