Our Patron

Introducing Dr Richard Horowitz MD

We are truly honoured to have Dr Richard Horowitz MD as our Patron. Dr Horowitz provides high-level strategic counsel to the Lyme Disease Association of Australia (LDAA).

Dr Horowitz is a board-certified internist and the medical director of the Hudson Valley Healing Arts Centre. This is an integrative medical centre which combines classical and complementary approaches in the treatment of Lyme Disease and other tick-borne disorders.

Awarded the Humanitarian of the Year award by the Turn the Corner Foundation, he has treated over 13,000 Chronic Lyme disease patients from all over the US, Canada, and Europe over the last 30 years.

Dr Horowitz has dedicated his life to helping those stricken with this devastating illness, at home in the US and internationally. As a member of the HHS Tick-borne Disease Working Group, he co-chairs the ‘Other Tick-borne Diseases and Co-infections’ subcommittee to help improve the care of those suffering with tick-borne disorders in the USA.

Dr Horowitz’s international efforts on behalf of Lyme patients also includes serving as a consultant to governmental agencies around the world, including those in Australia, China, Belgium, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. He was a past president of the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Educational Foundation (ILADEF), a non-profit organisation dedicated to the education of health care professionals on tick-borne diseases.

He is also a member of the World Health Organization’s Ad Hoc Committee for Health Equity, which engages in work to help improve Lyme diagnostics and treatment globally. One of the founding members and past president elect of the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS), Dr Horowitz co-authored peer-reviewed international Lyme guidelines. He has trained over 100 healthcare providers in diagnosing and caring for patients with treatment-resistant tick-borne disorders.

2016 Senate Inquiry

In Australia, Dr Horowitz addressed the 2016 Senate Inquiry entitled “Growing evidence of an emerging tick-borne disease that causes a Lyme-like illness for many Australian patients”. He advised the Senate that:

“This is a world-wide epidemic, and that’s not even accounting for the other Borrelia species, like Borrelia miyamotoi, the new relapsing fever spirochete, which is not found by the standard two-tier testing and which is rapidly spreading.

Think about all the people who have Lyme-like syndromes that might be caused by other Borrelia species. We are in the middle of an epidemic of borreliosis. We need to take this very seriously because it can be passed from mother to child, and now tick-borne infections are in the blood supply.

This is causing major disability for millions of people, and future generations will also be affected.”

Author and advocate

Dr Horowitz has two best-selling books on Lyme disease that incorporate recent scientific advances and explain in detail how health care providers can effectively diagnose and treat resistant illness:

Why Can’t I Get Better? Solving the Mystery of Lyme and Chronic Disease (2013, NY Times Best Seller), and 

How Can I Get Better? An Action Plan for Treating Resistant Lyme and Chronic Disease (2017, National bestseller). 

Copyright Lyme Disease Association of Australia