Past Events

November, 2019

Join us Thursday November 7th for the second annual ‘Attitude of Gratitude’ presented by Gina Costa. This year Gina will share more of her personal story of her Lyme healing journey since her 2013 diagnosis. Gina will discuss blessings and challenges encountered in her approach to heal. The presentation will discuss openly some of the emotional challenges and strains individuals and families face in health challenges with suggestions for solutions and comfort. The presentation will have a focus on gratitude and a positive mindset as it relates to a multidimensional approach to healing. The presentation will be relatable for many and provide real life examples of gratitude in action as it relates to coping with the fear of the unknown, overcoming setbacks and changes, and cultivating a positive attitude through ongoing challenges. Gina will share her story of oral and IV medicine, finding integrative medicine, pursuing nontraditional therapy through herbal treatment protocols, diet, exercise and essential oils in her constant pursuit to build her immune system and heal. Gina will discuss lifestyle changes, nutrition, stress, sleep, struggle and strength! This presentation will be uplifting and inspiring. If you could benefit from some extra encouragement and positivity for living your best life, come join us!

October, 2019

Sharon Sirkis graduated from the University of MD in 1979 with a BS in nursing. Her wellness journey led her to study Chakra Energy Healing in 1998 and became a Reiki Master and a student of Native American Healing in 2000. Sharon has studied extensively at Tai Sophia Institute for the Healing Arts (now MUIH) with Rosalyn Bruyere, world renowned energy healer.

Michele R. Dapelo, MS, LMT has embraced throughout her personal and professional life a holistic approach in service to the mind, body spirit connection in each person. Michele has been a licensed massage therapist (MD #00564) for over twenty years and is board certified by the National certification Board for Massage and Bodywork (#27797-000). Currently she conducts her health, wellness and relaxation focused massage practice in her home-based office. The modalities of bodywork that she provides includes: Swedish, Deep Tissue, Reflexology, Therapeutic Touch and Reiki (a Japanese deep relaxation and healing energy work). Michele has provided massage in retreat venues, professional conferences and corporate office settings.

September, 2019

Dr. Ying Zhang is a Professor at Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. His research interests are focused on antibiotic resistance, bacterial persistence, and development of more effective treatments for persistent infections. Although much of his career is on M. tuberculosis, recently, he has been working on the challenging problem of persistent Lyme disease. His group developed a new high throughput assay which allowed identification of a range of FDA-approved drugs that have excellent activity against Borrelia burgdorferi persisters. This finding has generated considerable interest and may offer new opportunity to improve treatment of persistent Lyme. In collaboration with colleagues, he is interested to evaluate the promising candidate drugs in combinations in animal models and also in patients for more effective treatment of Lyme disease.

June, 2019

Erin is the owner of BlueGreen Acupuncture & Bodywork, a holistic wellness center in Baltimore City. She is a licensed practitioner of Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine and earned two Masters degrees, one in Acupuncture and one in Oriental Medicine from Maryland University of Integrative Health (formerly Tai Sophia Institute), the first accredited Acupuncture school in the U.S. She received her Bachelor’s Degree from Villanova University, where she majored in History and Women’s Studies with a Minor in Spanish and focus on African studies. She worked in the Financial Industry for ten years followed by a decade as a Chinese Medicine Practitioner. In addition to practicing in her holistic health center, she currently works with American Indian Tribes across the U.S. and Canada to address humanitarian and environmental issues that directly and harmfully impact Native peoples and all of us. She has worked with people diagnosed with Lyme and learned from Dr. Heiner Fruehauf who specializes in the treatment and prevention of chronic and recalcitrant diseases, such as Lyme.

May, 2019

Dr. John Aucott is an associate professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. An internist and Lyme disease expert in the Division of Rheumatology, he is the director of the Johns Hopkins Lyme Disease Research Center. With more than 15 years of research experience on the crippling effects of Lyme disease, he has published numerous studies in peer-reviewed journals across a range of disciplines including infectious disease, rheumatology, dermatology, immunology, neuroinflammation, neuropsychology, sex and gender-based medicine, public health, and quality of life research. Dr. Aucott received his medical degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He completed his residency in internal medicine at the University Hospitals of Cleveland. He is fellowship-trained in infectious disease and geographic medicine. Dr. Aucott and his colleagues were recognized by Johns Hopkins with a Discovery Fund Synergy Award in 2014.

April, 2019

Dr. Bethany Remeniuk, Ph.D. is an assistant professor (soon-to-be) at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Upon graduating York College of Pennsylvania with a Bachelors of Science, she went on to receive her Ph.D. from the University of Arizona in Cancer Biology and Medical Pharmacology. While there, her research focused on understanding the underlying neural and molecular mechanisms driving pain and pain relief in multiple chronic pain states. Dr. Remeniuk went on to complete a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, wherein her research sought to reveal how sleep disruption altered molecular, behavioral, and neural physiological processes in healthy subjects, as well as analyze changes in mechanisms contributing to opioid-induced pain relief.

March, 2019

Dr. Colleen Pietrowski is a clinician and the clinical director at Advanced Medical Center in Timonium.  She received her Doctorate degree from National University of Health Sciences in Illinois in1997 where her she studied primary care and chiropractic medicine.  She then went on to obtain a second degree in toxicology and now specializes at her practice in neurotoxicology and biotoxins and has over twelve years’ experience in this area.  She is a member of the International Association on Toxicology and regularly attends conferences on bioaerosols and biotoxins.  She is often presented with patients in her office that are chronically ill with multiple symptoms and finds that neurotoxins are an underlying and treatable cause of the illness.

February, 2019

Rebecca is a nutritionist, herbalist and educator who has a private practice in Catonsville, Maryland.  Rebecca was the founding director of the Master of Science in Nutrition and Integrative Health at Maryland University of Integrative Health, where she worked for 10 years in a variety of roles as faculty, clinic supervisor and administrator.  Previous to this, she practiced for five years at an integrative medical practice that specialized in chronic infection and Lyme disease.  She holds a Master of Science in Herbal Medicine from MUIH.  She is a Certified Nutritional Specialist through the Board for Certified Nutritional Specialists, a licensed nutritionist in the state of Maryland, and a registered herbalist with the American Herbalist Guild.

January, 2019

Cheryl Novak, CRNP is a Nurse Practitioner at the Johns Hopkins Lyme Disease Research Center. She received her Bachelors in Nursing from the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing in 1993, and a Masters in Nursing from Georgetown University in 2015. She is a board certified Family Nurse Practitioner. She has over twenty years’ experience in both pediatric and adult critical care nursing. Cheryl has been actively involved in both patient care and research initiatives since she joined the Lyme Research Center team in 2016.