Lyme disease research centre in Guelph wants to discover better tests, treatments

GUELPH — A new Lyme disease research centre in Guelph aims to improve tests and treatments.

The University of Guelph got a $1.4-million grant over three years to establish the G. Magnotta Lyme Disease Research Lab, in memory of Magnotta Winery co-founder Gabe Magnotta who died of the disease.

“This is an exciting day for Canadian science, but also for the many people whose lives have been touched by Lyme disease,” said Melanie Wills, a research associate in the department of molecular and cellular biology who will direct the new lab. Wills is one of them. Despite having the classic bull’s-eye rash in the early 1990s, Wills went undiagnosed

for many years. She bounced around from specialist to specialist, getting different explanations for her symptoms and treatments that didn’t help.

Wills wasn’t diagnosed until 2013, and had to go to the United States for treatment.

“I’m still dealing with the effects of Lyme,” said Wills, co-founder of the Canadian Lyme Science Alliance.

Trying to get a better understanding of Lyme disease is “a huge undertaking,” but Wills said she felt obligated to take it on.

“Lyme disease is a challenge,” she said. “We’re going to do it not because it’s easy, but because it’s hard and has to be done.”

University of Guelph scientists in the new lab, operating within the College of Biological Science, hope to identify disease biomarkers and prognostic indicators for Lyme disease, as well as new treatment options.

“Lyme disease is one of the Top 10 misdiagnosed diseases in the world,” Newman told an audience gathered on Guelph’s campus for the announcement Wednesday.

He said the lab will be at the forefront of Lyme disease research, adding the investment points to Guelph’s “unique expertise and reputation.”

“I’m so thrilled to see this partnership take form,” Newman said.

The grant comes from the G. Magnotta Foundation for Vector-Borne Diseases, which Rossana Magnotta created in 2012 in her late husband’s memory. He was an active outdoorsman before getting Lyme disease, and eventually needed a wheelchair.

“After seven long years, he passed away,” Magnotta said. “It became clear to me that the world didn’t know enough about Lyme disease.”

The couple wasn’t just fighting the disease, she said, but also the health professionals who were unwilling to acknowledge the illness.

“For too long, the healthcare system believed the problem was all in his head,” Magnotta said. Or they were told the symptoms were caused by a rare disease that couldn’t be pinned down.

A Lyme disease test done in Canada came back negative, but a later one outside the country was positive.

“It all made sense,” Magnotta said, yet doctors here refused to accept the results.

Ultimately, her husband went for care outside Canada, which was costly and too late after suffering with the disease for years.

“A battle that he and so many others should not have lost,” Magnotta said.

Lyme disease is caused by the bacteria Borrelia, which is transmitted through the bite of infected ticks.

People who are infected initially experience flu-like symptoms.

Untreated, the disease can affect the skin and internal organs as well as the musculoskeletal system and impair sight and hearing.

Symptoms often mimic other diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

Even when the disease is diagnosed early, patients often suffer symptoms after treatment.

Lyme disease is now found in all Canadian provinces, and Newman said almost certainly the prevalence of new cases in the country is underestimated.

Wills is hopeful the lab will bring new insights to the disease to better manage it and make a real difference for patients.

“I can’t wait to see what we will accomplish together.”