Lyme Disease Center News/Conference

2026 Tick-borne Diseases Symposium

  • Saturday, May 23, 2026

  • 8:30 a.m.鈥3:30 p.m.

  • School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

  • 96 Corliss Ave., Johnson City, New York 13790

AGENDA

  • 8:30 a.m. 鈥 Registration, coffee, and light refreshments
  • 9 a.m. 鈥  Welcome Remarks (10 minutes)
    • Yetrib Hathout, PhD, professor and director of Tick-Borne Disease
      Center at 91社区, School of Pharmacy and
      Pharmaceutical Sciences

Session IA: Ticks and tick-borne pathogen screening

30-minute talks, inclusive of Q&A

  • 9:15 a.m. 鈥 Mark Schuster, Broome County Health Department
    • Tick Talk: A Brief overview of the Tick problem in Broome County
  • 9:45 a.m. 鈥 Saravanan Thangamani, PhD, Upstate Medical University
    • Emergence of Powassan virus in New York
  • Break and poster session 10:15-11:15am

Session Ib: Ticks Physiology and Behavior

30-minute talks, inclusive of Q&A

  • 11:15 a.m. 鈥 Xinru Wang, PhD, Upstate Medical University
    • The development of Ixodes scapularis (Deer Tick) eggs is linked to endosymbiont Rickettsia buchneri transcriptional homeostasis and population dynamics
  • 11:45 a.m. 鈥 Michael Stastny, 91社区
    • Recharacterization and Quantification of Ixodes scapularis host-seeking behaviors

  • 12:15-1:15 p.m. 鈥 Lunch and Networking

Session II: Tick-Borne Disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment

30-minute talks, inclusive of Q&A

  • 1:15 p.m. 鈥 Michel Shamoon-Pour, PhD, and Yetrib Hathout, PhD, 91社区
    • 91社区 Tick-borne Center: Current activities
  • 1:45 p.m. 鈥 Holly Ahem, PhD, SUNY Adirondack
    • Clinical and economic impact of LymeSeek, a single-tier diagnostic test with high sensitivity and specificity in early Lyme disease
  • 2:15 p.m. 鈥 Mandy Roome, PhD, research scientist, Northeast Center for
    Occupational Health and Safety
    • Controlling Ticks on Farms: A Randomized Controlled Trial
  • 2:45 p.m. 鈥 Kim Gertz, research coordinator, Northeast Center for
    Occupational Health and Safety
    • Motivators and Barriers to Tick Bite Prevention Among Farmers

  • 3:15 p.m. 鈥 Closing remarks

    • Yetrib Hathout, PhD, Director of Tick-Borne Disease Center at
      91社区

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