$2 million gift boosts University of Guelph Lyme research lab
A Canadian research lab dedicated to the study of Lyme disease got a big boost in November with a $2 million gift to help carry out its work.
The G. Magnotta Research Lab at the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario will receive the money over the next two years. It’s the latest financial contribution from the G. Magnotta Foundation, Canada’s only non-profit organization focused on the scientific study of Lyme disease.
The foundation, based in Vaughan, Ontario, helped to set up the Guelph lab in 2017 and has already provided more than $2.6 million since then.
“This funding is a massive accelerant for the outcomes that we’ve already achieved,” says Dr. Melanie Wills of the College of Biological Science, who is director of the Guelph lab. “It is an incredible act of generosity and an incredible act of hope on the part of the foundation to see a future that is better than the present that we live in.”
Wills says the research lab looks into the cell biology of Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes Lyme. It also examines the interaction between the germ and the host and is working to improve technologies for detecting the infection. Wills says the new funding will help them test some of the hypotheses they have already developed.
Rossana Magnotta, founder and president of the G. Magnotta Foundation, says the issue is a very personal one. “I lost my husband to the devastating effects of Lyme disease,” she says. “If our health care system had been better prepared to recognize and treat it sooner, Gabe might still be here today. He fought courageously for seven years, but it took five-and-a-half painful years just to get a diagnosis. His needless suffering drives my relentless fight for change.”
The research lab’s work will only become more vital as the climate changes. Ticks carry the disease and they can be active when the temperature is above 4 degrees Celsius. “Milder winters not only promote tick survival, but also extend the tick encounter season,” Wills says.
