ATTENTION

The LDA is closing its doors and the LDA Website will be gone as of 12/5/24

Please save and download any information you may want from the website before 12/5/24

We thank you patients, medical providers, researchers, and advocates, for your decades of partnership, volunteer hours, sponsorships, and donations. Together, we have achieved great things, and made a significant difference in the lives of so many affected by Lyme and other tick-borne diseases. It has been an honor working with you and your commitment to finding a cure since 1991.

We want to give a final thank you to the unforgettable and hardworking Pat Smith, and all she has done for the Lyme and TBD community. We will truly miss our beloved friend, mentor and leader. We will carry her in our hearts and in our lives. Thank you Pat Smith for making the world a better place.

We wish everyone success with their efforts in Lyme & TBD Research, Education, Prevention & Patient Support.

Please consider donating to the LymeAid 4 Kids Program in Honor of Pat Smith at COTBDAA here.

Lyme & Tick-Borne Diseases Congressional Town Meeting, 2019. Congressman Chris Smith; Ben Beard, PhD; and LDA Board members and volunteers; Corey Lakin, Debora Scatuccio, Pat Smith, Rich Smith, Ruth Waddington, Jeannine Phillips and Tim Lynagh (not pictured)

After 33 years of advocacy in the Lyme community, the Lyme Disease Association is closing its doors. LDA President, Patricia V. Smith, was the indomitable spirit of the organization and this difficult decision was made after her passing on August 17, 2024. The LDA website will officially close down on December 5, 2024. This is the end of a very long and successful era of advocacy by Pat Smith and the LDA board and team.



It has been an honor working with the Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease community since 1991. This community has always been stronger working in collaboration with LDAnet advocacy organizations, researchers, clinicians, and legislators, and we are so grateful for the dedication and hard work by all of these groups and individuals that has moved mountains over the past 33 years.

We thank patients, medical providers, researchers, laboratories, businesses, educators and other organizations for their commitment to finding a cure and to developing better prevention resources.

As one door closes other doors open. We wish everyone success with their efforts in Lyme & Tick-Borne Disease Research, Education, Prevention & Patient Support. We look forward to the day that reliable diagnostics, foolproof prevention tools, and a cure for Lyme and other TBD/associated illnesses is accessible to everyone. Columbia University, a long time collaborator of LDA, will be initiating a Guest Lecturer series in honor of Pat Smith in the near future.

The LDA would not have been able to accomplish so much over the past 4 decades without the tireless and passionate leadership of our President, Pat Smith, and the volunteers and team members who worked behind the scenes. Pat navigated advocacy with a deep understanding of the issues, a passion to help others, incredible wisdom, and adept skills in bringing others together. Her light and spirit lives on in all of us and in all of the work yet to be done. 

With Gratitude to All, 

The LDA Board

When Pat Smith spoke, people listened. She did not mince words. She was honest and persistent. She was a fierce advocate for patients over the span of nearly 4 decades. As the close of LDA draws near, we wish to share some of the LDA President’s Blogs that were so impactful.

In Pat Smith’s words…”Those individuals who suffer with or care for patients with Lyme disease have had to face not only the disease, economic ruin, and family demise, but also ridicule, scorn, and a journey through Hell, never knowing what the next level will be or when their torment will end. It is a journey burned into the soul.”

Read Pat's Blogs here.

The LDA will be transitioning some of our resources to the organizations below:

• Dr. Referral - Dr. Search at COTBDAA
• LDA Brochures - COTBDAA (COMING SOON!)
• LymeAid 4 Kids Fund - In Memory of Pat Smith at COTBDAA
• Case Maps - Invisible International

The LDA wants you to please consider donating to these organizations:

• LymeDisease.org (LDO)
• International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS)
• Colorado Tick-Borne Disease Awareness Association (COTBDAA) - LymeAid 4 Kids
• Columbia University Lyme and Tick-Borne Diseases Research Center

LDA President, Pat Smith and Rep. Chris Smith

"My good friend and a trailblazer for Lyme Disease patients."

From Rep. Chris Smith’s website:

Pat Smith’s transformational, extraordinary work.

Rep. Chris Smith (R-Manchester) submitted a press release in the Congressional Record in honor of his good friend and remarkable Lyme disease advocate, Pat Smith, of Wall, New Jersey, who passed away peacefully on August 17, 2024. Read the Press Release on Chris Smith’s website here.

Thank you for helping us honor this amazing woman. Pat Smith's dedication and contributions to the Lyme Disease Association Inc and the community are truly inspiring. She will be dearly missed, but her legacy will continue to impact countless lives.

Visit the Tribute Comments and Photo Wall here.

Lyme Disease Association, Inc.