ILADEF Officers and Directors
Garth Ehrlich, PhD, FAAAS
PRESIDENT
Dr. Ehrlich is Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, and Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery at Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia. He also directs three Research Centers of Excellence within the University’s Institute of Molecular Medicine and Infectious disease: the Center for Genomic Sciences (CGS); the Center for Advanced Microbial Processing (CAMP); and the Center for Chronic Infections and Biofilms. Dr. Ehrlich’s team utilize a broad array of microbiological analyses, comparative genomic techniques and bioinformatic tools, many developed in-house, to identify and characterize virulence genes within pathogens, and susceptibility genes to pathogens within their hosts. Dr. Ehrlich is also one of the founders of the field of Clinical Molecular Diagnostics (MDx), having been involved in the original application of PCR for the detection of human retroviruses in 1985. Dr. Ehrlich received his PhD from Syracuse University in molecular biology in 1987.
Ronald Wilson, MD
TREASURER
Dr. Wilson provides care for patients with Lyme disease in Denton, Texas. After receiving his undergraduate degree from Harvard University, Dr. Wilson received a Masters Degree in immunology and bacteriology at the University of Utah, as well as a medical degree from the University of Utah School of Medicine. He subsequently completed residencies at Madigan Army Medical Center and William Beaumont Army Medical Center, and became board-certified in gynecology and obstetrics. Dr. Wilson began focusing on tick-borne illnesses after his family was impacted in the early 2000s. In 2010, though he had retired from practicing, he returned to medicine and treating patients with Lyme disease full-time.
Magdalena Cubala-Kucharska, MD, PhD
SECRETARY
Dr. Cubala-Kucharska is Director of Arcana Institute of Integrative Medicine Poland. Dr. Cubala-Kucharska developed an interest in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in 2004, which led her to research co-morbidities in autistic patients, including Lyme disease. She has consulted for the Council of Natural Therapies in the Polish Ministry of Health, and at the Autism Treatment Trust in Edinburgh. Her practice is focused on ASD, tick-borne, autoimmune and environmental diseases. Her research, conducted in affiliation with the Medical University of Lodz and published in peer-reviewed journals, is in the field of autism and tick-borne infections.
B. Robert Mozayeni, MD
DIRECTOR
Dr. B. Robert Mozayeni was trained in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology at Yale and at NIH. He has had pre- and post-doctoral Fellowships in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale, and also at NIH where he was a Howard Hughes Research Scholar at LMB/DCBD/NCI and later, Senior Staff Fellow at LMMB/NHLBI/NIH. He is an expert in Translational Medicine, the science and art of advancing medical science safely and efficiently. He is a Fellow of the non-profit Think Lead Innovate Foundation and is a co-founder of the Foundation for the Study of Inflammatory Diseases. He is a Founder of the Foundation for the Study of Inflammatory Diseases to crowd-source medical solutions for complex conditions using existing knowledge, diagnostic methods, and therapies to meet patient needs immediately. He is the Chief Medical Officer of Galaxy Diagnostics, LLC. And, he was recently appointed to be a Board member of the Human-Kind Alliance. Dr. Mozayeni has held admitting privileges (since 1994) on the clinical staff of Suburban Hospital, a member of Johns Hopkins Medicine and an affiliate of the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center.
Armin Schwarzbach, MD, PhD
DIRECTOR
Dr. Armin Schwarzbach, Medical Doctor and Specialist of Laboratory Medicine, founder of ArminLabs in Augsburg/Germany, has been at the forefront of tick-borne research for more than 25 years and is an expert in diagnosing and treating infectious diseases. He is an Advisory Board member of AONM London, England, and Board Member of the German Borreliosis Society and Member of the German Society of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine. Dr. Schwarzbach has experiences in biochemistry, pharmacy, hormones, immunology, infectious diseases, oncology, internal medicine and did his PhD in the development of the first Radioimmunoassay for hGIP. He has served as an expert on advisory committees on Lyme Disease in Australia, Canada, Ireland, France, England, Sweden and Germany.
Jyotsna Shah, PhD, CCLD, MBA
DIRECTOR
Dr. Shah is the President and Laboratory Director of IGeneX Clinical Laboratory, Palo Alto, California. Dr. Shah has more than 40 years of research experience in immunology, molecular biology and microbiology. She received a BS and MS in biological sciences from the UK, and her PhD in diagnostic immunology from Nairobi University. She did a postdoctoral fellowship at International Laboratory for Research on Animal Diseases in Nairobi, Kenya and a fellowship at Harvard University, Department of Tropical Medicine. She is an expert on the use of Fluorescent in Situ Hybridization (FISH) technique for direct detection of pathogens in clinical samples, and is a recipient of several SBIR grants.
Leo J. Shea III, PhD
DIRECTOR
Dr. Shea is Clinical Associate Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine at Rusk Institute, a division of New York University Langone Health, where he is also a senior psychologist and co-director of the Family Therapy Training Program. Dr. Shea is President of Neuropsychological Evaluation and Treatment Services, with offices in New York City and Quincy, Massachusetts. His practice focuses on injuries and illnesses of the central nervous system, tick-borne diseases, forensic and medico-legal matters. Treatment modalities include individual cognitive remediation and psychotherapy, family and spousal therapy and executive life coaching. He was formally the Chairman Emeritus of the National Research Fund for Tick-borne Diseases, Inc. which funded scientific research at major medical and academic institutions.