Tick Boot Camp

In this episode of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast , Matt Sabatello sits down with Yuri Kim , the lead clinical research nurse for MIT’s MAESTRO study , described as one of the largest studies in MIT history focused on Lyme disease and Infection-Associated Chronic Illnesses (IACI). Yuri explains how MAESTRO is collecting deep symptom histories and objective measurements—from eye tracking and EEG/P300 a...

Mary Beth Pfeiffer , the pioneering investigative journalist who transformed national understanding of Lyme disease, joins the Tick Boot Camp Podcast for a landmark conversation. Before her work, Lyme disease was widely dismissed as rare, mild, and easily treated. After her reporting, that narrative collapsed. Through her award-winning journalism and her groundbreaking book Lyme: The First Epidemi...

In this powerful and deeply moving episode of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast , we sit down with Julia Bruzzese, a 22-year-old Lyme disease survivor, disability advocate, and future physician whose life was forever changed by an untreated tick bite in childhood. After developing a classic bull’s-eye rash at age 9, Julia went undiagnosed for nearly two years, despite textbook symptoms of Lyme disease. B...

In this powerful episode, Tick Boot Camp Podcast interviews Dr. Karolina Praskeviciute (“Dr. Pras”), a multilingual, European-trained medical doctor who has lived in Lithuania, Hong Kong, London, and the United States, traveled to 89 countries, and now uses her global experience to understand chronic illness from a unique vantage point. Dr. Pras shares her deeply personal story of lifelong unexpla...

Singer-songwriter and Lyme disease advocate Jesse Ruben joins the Tick Boot Camp Podcast for an incredibly honest, emotional, and deeply educational conversation about chronic Lyme disease, identity loss, treatment failure, unconventional healing, relapse, nervous system trauma, and the role of music and community in survival. Jesse’s journey spans more than a decade and includes misdiagnosis, yea...

In this episode of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast , Dr. Eric D. Gordon — globally recognized expert in Lyme disease, ME/CFS, mold toxicity, MCAS, mitochondrial dysfunction, and complex chronic illness — explains why chronic illness is never caused by a single factor and why recovery requires a strategic “order of operations.” Recorded after meeting at Project Lab Coat during NYFW , this conversation d...

Overview This special episode of the [Tick Boot Camp Podcast]( https://tickbootcamp.com/podcast/ ) was recorded live at the 2nd Annual Alzheimer’s Pathobiome Initiative (AlzPI) and PCOM Symposium in collaboration with Pathobiome Perspectives. Hosted by Ali Moresco in partnership with Nikki Schultek, Executive Director of AlzPI, the conversation continues the Tick Boot Camp mission of exploring inf...

Overview This special episode of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast was recorded live at the 2nd Annual Alzheimer’s Pathobiome Initiative (AlzPI) and PCOM Symposium in collaboration with Pathobiome Perspectives. Hosted by Ali Moresco in partnership with Nikki Schultek, Executive Director of AlzPI, this series expands the Tick Boot Camp mission of exploring infection-associated chronic illness (IACI)—inclu...

Overview This special episode of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast was recorded live at the 2nd Annual Alzheimer’s Pathobiome Initiative (AlzPI) and PCOM Symposium in collaboration with Pathobiome Perspectives. Hosted by Ali Moresco in partnership with Nikki Schultek (Executive Director, AlzPI), the conversation advances the Tick Boot Camp mission of exploring infection-associated chronic illness (IACI)—...

Overview This special episode of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast was recorded live at the 2nd Annual Alzheimer’s Pathobiome Initiative (AlzPI) and PCOM Symposium in collaboration with Pathobiome Perspectives. Hosted by Ali Moresco in partnership with Nikki Schultek, Executive Director of AlzPI, the conversation brings the Tick Boot Camp mission of exploring infection-associated chronic illness (IACI)—i...

Overview This special episode of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast was recorded live at the 2nd Annual Alzheimer’s Pathobiome Initiative (AlzPI) and PCOM Symposium in collaboration with Pathobiome Perspectives. Hosted by Ali Moresco in partnership with Nikki Schultek, Executive Director of AlzPI, the conversation brings the Tick Boot Camp mission of exploring infection-associated chronic illness (IACI),...

Overview This special episode of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast was recorded live at the 2nd Annual Alzheimer’s Pathobiome Initiative (AlzPI) and PCOM Symposium in collaboration with Pathobiome Perspectives. Hosted by Ali Moresco in partnership with Nikki Schultek, Executive Director of AlzPI, the conversation brings the Tick Boot Camp mission of exploring infection-associated chronic illness (IACI)—l...

In this powerful episode of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast , international DJ and artist duo Z3LLA — Julia “Juj” Seeley and Kiana Tebyani — share how chronic illness, creativity, and friendship became the foundation of their success. After years of unexplained symptoms, Juj was diagnosed with Lyme disease, Bartonella, Babesia, mold toxicity, POTS, SIBO, celiac disease, and later catamenial epilepsy. D...

Episode Summary In this special Tick Boot Camp Podcast episode, Dr. Myriah Hinchey (ND) joins Matt Sabatello and Rich Johannesen from Tick Boot Camp to spotlight the 2025 LymeBytes Symposium, a physician- and patient-focused conference designed to shorten the healing journey for Lyme, mold illness, PANS/PANDAS, Long COVID, and other complex, infection-driven chronic conditions. We dig into why imm...

Recorded in person in Central Park, NYC just before Project Lab Coat at New York Fashion Week (NYFW) , this Tick Boot Camp Podcast features Dr. Bill Rawls on what helps chronic Lyme patients move from overwhelm to progress. We talk immune-first strategy, why antibiotics often fall short in chronic cases, how to protect the gut, and a stepwise plan that reduces flare risk and builds confidence. Epi...

Dr. Geoff Dow, CEO of 60 Degrees Pharmaceuticals and former malaria drug developer at Walter Reed, joins the Tick Boot Camp Podcast to unpack the science and strategy behind treating babesiosis. Drawing parallels to malaria, Dow explains why tafenoquine (brand: Arakoda), FDA-approved for malaria prevention, is being studied for Babesia, how coinfections (Borrelia, Bartonella) complicate care, and...

In this special Tick Boot Camp Podcast episode recorded live at Project Lab Coat during New York Fashion Week (NYFW), we sit down with Colonel Nicole Malachowski, USAF (Ret.) . Col. Malachowski, the first female pilot of the USAF Thunderbirds and a Lyme patient advocate, walked the runway with us at Project Lab Coat and served as the sole patient representative on the National Academies of Science...

In this special Tick Boot Camp Podcast episode recorded live at Project Lab Coat during New York Fashion Week (NYFW) , we sit down with Dr. Michal “Mikki” Caspi Tal , Principal Scientist in the Department of Biological Engineering at MIT and Associate Scientific Director of the MIT Center for Gynepathology Research. Dr. Tal is an immunologist and immunoengineer whose groundbreaking research focuse...

In this episode of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast , we sit down with András Pal Bozsik , co-founder of Lyme Diagnostics Ltd and coordinator of the EU-funded DualDur® project , to discuss a disruptive new diagnostic technology that promises earlier, more accurate detection of Lyme disease. For decades, Lyme testing has relied on indirect serological methods that often miss early infection and fail chro...

In this powerful episode of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast, we sit down with Ciara Gaglio , a 37-year-old from Woodside, Queens, New York, whose life was completely transformed by Lyme disease. Once a vibrant, social, and creative digital media professional, Ciara’s health began to unravel in her late 20s. What followed was nearly a decade of relentless symptoms, countless misdiagnoses, and visits to...

In this episode of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast , we sit down with Janet Sperling , PhD, President of the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation (CanLyme) and an accomplished entomologist whose research focuses on the bacterial microbiome of ticks across Canada. Janet’s journey with Lyme disease began when her teenage son was bitten by a tick during a family trip to California. His symptoms, starting with...

In this powerful episode of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast , dancer, actress, model, and Lyme warrior Renee LeeAnn Marsden shares her extraordinary journey of surviving late-stage Lyme disease, multiple co-infections, and autoimmune encephalitis. Once bedridden, disassociating, and in a wheelchair, Renee fought her way back through a combination of stem cells, peptides, neurofeedback, and faith — and...

Kaitlyn Oleinik is a chronic illness advocate and the author of Revival: My Journey with Neuropsychiatric Lyme Disease . She was bitten by a tick at age six and spent much of her life fighting an invisible illness while being dismissed by the medical system. Diagnosed with Lyme disease and co-infections in her teens, Kaitlyn has endured everything from hallucinations and involuntary psych holds to...

In this powerful episode of the TIck Boot Camp Podcast , Dr. Jaquel Patterson, nationally recognized naturopathic physician and medical director of Fairfield Family Health, joins Matt Sabatello to explore the many layers of Lyme disease recovery – from hidden mold exposure to hormone balance and mental health support. Mold & Lyme Disease – Why mold toxicity can block Lyme recovery and how Dr....

In this powerful episode of the Tick Boot Camp Podcast , we are joined by Dr. Daniel Warren of Envita Medical Center, a leading voice in the field of regenerative and integrative medicine, to break down the multi-layered complexity of chronic Lyme disease and its treatment. Dr. Warren takes us deep into the root causes of persistent symptoms, highlighting how chronic Lyme often results in immune d...