LDA uses meetings, seminars, conferences and exhibitions to raise awareness in health professionals as well as the general public. Many of these activities were curtailed because of the COVID pandemic, but are beginning to return to normal.

Where we are going next

No current plans; just getting on with normal work!

Past events

Rare & Imported Pathogens Laboratory, UKHSA Porton, 10 August 2023

Exchange of views on the recent NorthTick conference and discussion of ways forward.

HPRU EZI Annual Scientific Meeting, Salisbury, 21 June 2023

We are part of the working group helping with Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPI) in research.

NorthTick 2023 Conference Inverness, 30 – 1 June 2023 2023

A 2 day technical conference with speakers from Europe, the USA and Canada. This was followed by an afternoon of talks to inform the public of what the project had achieved and what it might man for Scotland.

Historic Environment Scotland, On-line 19 April 2023

An awareness talk on ticks and tick-borne diseases for staff who spend time in the field and manage outdoor spaces for the public.

Scottish Health Protection Network, On-line 18 April 2023

Meeting of the Tick Borne Diseases group.

Meeting with Exeter University researcher, 14 March 2023

To discuss potential ways forward with research strategy.

Meeting to discuss International Conference on Lyme Borreliosis, On-line 30 August 2022

Discussion with UK researchers to provide information on talks, delegates etc.

Discussion with Global Lyme Alliance, USA, on-line 29 August 2022

Discussion with CEO and Chief Scientific Officer to discuss news and collaborations.

Project Stakeholder Meeting, Norway & on-line 16 June 2022.

To review the content and feedback on the draft report: “Tick-borne diseases in the North Sea Region – a comprehensive overview and consensus of diagnostic, treatment and management strategies”. Written feedback provided after this meeting.

Forest Research lunchtime seminar. 29 June 2022.
On line presentation to field teams from Great Britain’s principal organisation for forestry and tree related research.
Catch-up meeting with researchers 8 March 2022

To discuss existing research project and application for new funding.

ESCMID Study Group for Lyme Borreliosis September 2021

On-line symposium on Lyme borreliosis: from ecology to prevention

Microbiology Society Annual Conference, On line April 2021

Presentation “The trouble with Lyme disease”.

Scottish Health Protection Network Lyme disease sub-committee, Glasgow February 17 2020

Participating as a regular member of this sub-committee.

Duke of Edinburgh Conference Hampshire, February 8, 2020. 

Awareness of DofE team leaders.

Health Protection Research Unit for Emerging and Zoonotic Infections , Liverpool 22 November 2019

Joint research workshop with patient groups, doctors and researchers.

Student Arboriculture Conference, Capel Manor, Oct 11 2019

Awareness of arboricultural students

Honiton Charter Day, July 2019

Public awareness

RCGP Spotlight on Lyme disease Workshops, Birmingham, Bristol, Oxford & Cambridge, Through summer 2019

Education of GPs

Physiotherapy UK, Oct 19-20 2018

Raising awareness amongst physiotherapists.

Best Practice – National Association of Primary Care, Oct 17-18 2018

Awareness raising and education for Primary Care health professionals.

The Aboricultural Association’s National Amenity Conference, Exhibition Sept 10-12 2018

Raising awareness among delegates

British Deer Society Annual Meeting Seminar, May 19 2018

Presentation to members.

Primary Care and Public Health Conference & Exhibition, May 16 & 17 2018

Primary Care Exhibition at the NEC

NordTick 2018, Finland, April 10-12 2018

Presentation to clinicians and researchers.

Primary Care Dermatology Society Spring Meeting, Manchester March 18 2018

Presentation to the society.

Cafe Science, Sidmouth 20 February 2018

Science of Lyme disease vectors, hosts etc.

James Lind Alliance @50 23 November 2017

Event considered the impact and future of the JLA.

British Science Association, Science cafe, Bristol October 19th 2017

Talk and discussion. https://bristolbathsci.org.uk/event/october-19-science-cafe-lyme-disease/

Exped Fest 2017 October 12 2017

Awareness raising with Duke of Edinburgh Award leaders.

Meeting with Care Right Now October 4 2017

Discussed participation in MedLearn event.

International Symposium on Tick-Borne Pathogens and Disease Sept 24-26 2017

http://www.itpd-tickborne.com/programme.php

The Arboricultural Association’s National Amenity Conference, Exhibition September 11-13 2017

Raised awareness amongst delegates.

University of Exeter, July 24, 2017.

Discussion with molecular biologists and researchers.

UCL ePPI Centre July 11 2017

Provided information for Department of Health reviews.

University of Exeter, July 8, 2017.

One more successful LDA annual conference with many interesting discussions both in and out of the conference hall.

Duke of Edinburgh Award Conference, Suffolk June 26 2017

Raised awareness with E Anglian Duke of Edinburgh Award exhibition leaders.

Primary Care and Public Health Conference & Exhibition, May 17 & 18 2017

Attended this major Primary Care Exhibition at the NEC to raise awareness amongst health professionals.

Thomas Hardye School, Dorchester, May 8 2017.

Celebration of the Royal Society Tick project with staff, students, stakeholders and invited audience.

GP Refresher Course May 8 2017, Imperial College London.

A one hour talk on Lyme disease for GPs.

Joint Royal College of Pathologists / PHE Conference, April 6 2017, London.

LDA’s Medical Director gave a talk to infectious diseases doctors and microbiologists on the challenge of Lyme disease.

Department of Health, April 5 2017, London.

A meeting with the Department of Health.

Devon Partnership NHS Trust, April 3 2017.

LDA’s Medical Director provided a presentation on Lyme disease to psychiatry colleagues at the Medical Advisory Committee Meeting.

First Aid Conference, March 3 2017, Dunfermline.

We provided first aid providers and trainers with information on ticks and tick removal via two workshops at this conference.

Ticks & tick-borne disease February 17 2017, Birmingham.

Round table discussion with vets and Bristol University’s Big Tick Project.

Meeting at PHE Porton, January 30, 217

Follow on discussion at Rare & Imported Pathogens Laboratory with laboratory staff and clinical scientists about testing.

Talk for Bodmin Rotary Club, December 14 2016

General awareness raising.

East Devon Ramblers Association AGM, November 27 2016

Following a request by this local group, we provided an awareness talk about ticks and Lyme disease.

Briefing for MPs, November 16 2016

At a meeting organised by Sir Hugo Swire MP, LDA briefed MPs on the current difficulties facing Lyme disease patients in the UK.

GP Webinar, October 27 2016

Presented live by Dr Sandra Pearson, LDA’s Medical Director “Unpicking Lyme disease- Issues and challenges in Primary Care”

LDA Annual Conference, September 17 2016.

This was held at Cambridge University. See our LDA conference page for details.

Meeting at RIPL, September 6 2016.

Discussing the interaction of the LDA help desk with patients, the NHS and PHE.

Exeter University, Biosciences department, July 19 2016

To discuss possibilities for research projects relating to immunological responses to tick-borne disease.

Ticks & Tick-borne Disease Risk in the UK Advisory Group Meeting, July 6 2016

Dr Sandra Pearson presented a talk “Tick-borne disease – the human perspective” to this group of mainly tick and veterinary experts. The meeting was part of the Big Tick Project with MSD and Bristol University.

Hiblio TV live broadcast from Torbay Hospital, June 22 2016

Dr Sandra Pearson, LDA’s medical director, talked live with Paul Norrish to raise awareness of ticks. This has now been added to Hiblio’s collection of health related videos on a number of topics. See our news item.

Exeter Clinical Research Facility, June 29 2016

A meeting to explore possible research projects.

Uplyme Village Fete June 11 2016

Raising awareness and funds; demonstrating and selling tick removers; answering questions from people about ticks and Lyme disease.

Trustee meeting, June 4 2016

Discussing progress and strategy for the next 6 months.

Primary Care Conference and Exhibition, NEC May 18-19 2016

The fifth year LDA has had a stand at this exhibition for health professionals working in Primary Care. Excellent awareness opportunities as well as networking with other organisations, including publishers of medical journals.

Lyme disease and ticks – what you need to know. May 10 2016

An awareness session in Sidbury village hall freely open to everyone. Approximately 36 people attended from local councils, walking groups and others. 

RIPL Teleconference April 29 2016

Discussing testing and research projects with staff at the Lyme disease reference laboratory at PHE Porton.

NICE Guideline Scope Consultation, April 14 2016

We didn’t travel to this, but commenting on the draft scope of the Lyme guideline took a lot of time and effort. We submitted 56 comments and we hope the scope will be changed as a result.

Exeter University, March 16 2016

Discussion with the Microbes and Disease group with a view to sharing information and perhaps developing a research partnership. 

East Budleigh WI March 8 2016

Presentation and discussion “Lyme disease: what everyone needs to know”. About 50 members in the village hall – two who had had Lyme disease and several who knew someone else who had been affected. The local Woodbury common is clearly a hotspot for ticks and the tubes of ticks were passed round with great interest – especially the one with the tiny nymphs.

Discussion with RIPL and HPRU EZI, February 23 2016

A meeting to present our point of view and to discuss Lyme disease research projects and possible ways forward with staff from RIPL and from the Health Protection Research Unit for Emerging and Zoonotic Infections at the University of Liverpool.

NICE Lyme Disease Guideline – Scoping Workshop, February 23 2016

Workshop for stakeholders to discuss the scope of the planned NICE guideline on Lyme disease. See our news item for a summary of what took place together with some links relating to the NICE guideline process.

U3A Lyme Regis February 19 2016

Presentation and discussion forum for University of the Third Age Lyme Regis Science and technology group. Approximately 40 people gathered to hear the presentation on “Who does what to whom” covering some science of the interaction between Borrelia, ticks, hosts and humans.

U3A Science group Weymouth, February 9 2016

Presentation and discussion forum for University of the Third Age Science group.

NordTick 2016 Conference in Sweden, February 2-4 2016

We presented a poster at this conference (yes, another – the 2nd in 2016!). See news items for the poster itself and a summary of proceedings.

Teleconference with Global Lyme Alliance, January 22 2016

Teleconference with the President and CEO of the USA organisation Global Lyme Alliance to discuss key areas of mutual interest.

NIHR HPRU EZI Conference,  January 12 2016

The annual conference of the Health Protection Research Unit in Emerging Zoonoses and Infections, Liverpool. LDA presented a poster – “The response to Lyme disease as an emerging threat”. Read the report of the conference, and read our poster in latest news.

Café Scientifique Sidmouth, 17 November 2015

Presentation “Lyme Disease: who is doing what to whom?” followed by a discussion forum. These events are always interesting as members of the public ask quite searching questions. This particular event resulted in one person realising she had had inadequate treatment and another person questioning his diagnosis of polymyalgia.

AAAS Lyme Science & Solutions, Washington 17 November 2015

Participation and networking

Lyme Disease Association conference, Rhode Island “Lyme & Other Tick-Borne Diseases: Science Bridging the Gap“ November 14th – 15th 2015

Participation, networking and discussion. See Sandra’s report on the presentations in latest news here.

International Conference on Lyme Borreliosis and other Tick-borne Diseases Vienna September 27th – 30th 2015

Participation, networking and discussion

Bath & NE Somerset CCG Practice Nurse Forum meeting July 8th 2015

Presentation on “Lyme Disease” and question session requested by the CCG to help nurses’ education and awareness.

Café Scientifique, Teignmouth June 26th 2015

Presentation and discussion forum “Lyme Disease: who is doing what to whom?” Always an interesting and varied discussion after these presentations. Live ticks continue to be an eye-opener for many.

Royal Bath & West Show, Shepton Mallett 27th – 30th May 2015

First time attendance at this major outdoor show. Not convinced it was worth the effort as at a big show like this people were more interested in the stalls selling stuff and generally having a good time. We did manage to interest some children in the live ticks, though!

Primary Care, NEC Birmingham 20th – 21st May 2015

Continued presence at this large primary care exhibition continues to be fruitful. Many GP Practices asking for leaflets. Contacts made with medical journals – several articles in Nursing journals resulted from this.

PHE Porton Open day for GPs May 5th 2015

Presentation “Lyme disease” and question session. Very worthwhile and great to be invited. The GPs could see that if they wanted knowledgeable answers, they could ask LDA.

PHE Open Day 26th March 2015

All the presentations from this day are available here. LDA’s presentation was “Working together?”

Café Scientifique, Exeter 2nd March 2015

Presentation and discussion forum “Lyme Disease: who is doing what to whom?”

INVOLVE conference, NEC Birmingham November 26th – 27th 2014

Participation, networking. Brief presentation: “60 seconds on Lyme disease”

Café Sci, Dorchester October 22nd 2014

Presentation “Lyme disease: delving into dependent relationships”. Discussion forum on all aspects of Lyme disease.

RCGP Annual Conference, Liverpool October 1st-3rd 2014

Third year of attending the large exhibition at this conference, and another very good response from GPs and other health professionals.

Primary Care 2014, NEC May 21st-22nd 2014


For the third year we manned a stand at this exhibition. We also managed to get a presentation slot in the Public Health stream of the conference and our medical director was able to give an outline not just of Lyme disease and the uncertainties, but of the political difficulties that have shaped the current stance of doctors in the UK: Lyme disease; now you see it, now you don’t.

 

NorTick Conference February 5th-6th 2014

Held in Stavanger, this conference brought together about 70 heath professionals and researchers for discussions on tick-borne diseases. LDA had been invited to talk about the James Lind Alliance project prioritising known uncertainties in diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease.

A summary of the presentations is on our latest news pages.

Public Health England Conference 9th October 2013

LDA contributed to this conference. This was the first Lyme disease conference held by PHE, and it is to be hoped there will be others. It was attended by clinicians, patients, health administrators and researchers.

Brief notes and speakers’ presentations are available in our news item.

Primary Care 2013, National Exhibition Centre May 22nd – 23rd 2013

This is the second year LDA has attended this national exhibition which attracts medical professionals from across the UK. Recent publicity, resulting from the Worldwide Lyme Disease protest, and also just the time of year, had raised some awareness of Lyme disease and many people stopped to watch our rolling presentation. It was surprising how many people asked about their own personal cases, or cases of relatives; if you hadn’t been told that Lyme disease is rare you would think it quite common!

The conference itself had some interesting presentations, including Emerging Infectious Diseases – What’s on the Horizon? Lyme disease, it appears, is not and is overshadowed by some very nasty viruses out there which may or may not reach the UK. If just a small proportion of the resources expended by UK organisations on currently exotic diseases was devoted to Lyme disease, we might be a lot further forward.

Royal College of General Practitioners Conference 2012 , Glasgow October 3rd – 5th 2012

We had a very positive response from GPs – much better than we expected. We didn’t have to leap out and engage people; they came to us, stopped and read the big stand and asked questions. Delegates could be grouped as follows, with the largest group first:

  1. “What is this – vaguely heard of it – tell me more – what do I need to know?”
  2. “I’m a GP in a rural practice; I’m seeing a lot of these cases.” (Generally Scotland but also Hampshire, Wiltshire and other areas too) Many struck by the 56% sensitivity of testing and agree not sensitive enough.
  3. “I have a number of patients who say they think they have LD” GP sceptical but wanting to know more and interested in the issues.
  4. A few discussed specific patient cases where they had perhaps wondered. During the discussion eyes got wider and in many cases the boxes were ticked and they will have returned with a decision to explore LD and at least get tests.

Overall, it is apparent that expertise in LD is vested in GPs – not in ID consultants. This backs up the Cottle et al 2012 paper. The exhibition was a good insight into the issues facing GPs and LDA will take a stand at the RCGP conference in October 2013 in Harrogate.