Episode 54: Better Testing for Tick-Borne Illnesses

Cindy Kennedy, FNP, is joined by Dr. Leona Gilbert, who discusses how she worked with her team to create a better testing for tick-borne illnesses.

Gilbert is an Docent of Cell and Molecular Biology at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland and she is the CEO of Te?ted Oy, a university spinoff company that has a goal to get the patient tested so they can be treated.

She has a doctorate in biotechnology and a very long experience in bio-innovation and biobusiness. She supervises various PhD, MSc and BSc students and is extremely active in lecturing undergraduate and graduate courses at the University of Jyväskylä.

Her numerous peer-reviewed articles span turning research results into translational value with developing novel delivery vectors that can be used for imaging and biotechnological tools as well as to developing diagnostic lab-on-chip platforms. In addition, Gilbert’s publications also demonstrate the thorough investigation of how a common virus or bacterium can contribute to autoimmune diseases.

Another highlight in these publications is the demonstration of a multi-disciplinary background and collaborative effort between microbiologists, diagnostic developers, nano-scientists, physicists and engineers. Gilbert knows how to build effective and loyal teams. Concurrent research in Borrellia and Human parvovirus lead to her initiation and involvement in the EU and international projects to develop a highly sensitive and specific vector-borne disease diagnostic tests.

Gilbert’s research initiatives into complete diagnostic platforms and clinical profiling of patients for tick-borne diseases will allow a better understanding of how chronic conditions could be established with tick-borne pathogen infections. Because of the break throughs in her research group, Gilbert has established Te?ted Oy in Oct 2016 with the goal to improve diagnostic for tick-borne diseases.