Change.

The primary goal of the G. Magnotta Foundation is to fuel biomedical research that will generate answers to the most challenging questions that doctors and patients currently face. It is critical that the controversy around testing, diagnosis and treatment is resolved urgently.

The G. Magnotta Foundation is the only non-profit organization in Canada with an exclusive focus on generating new knowledge about Lyme Disease through scientific investigation.

The G. Magnotta Lyme Disease Research Lab at the University of Guelph is studying Lyme bacteria and the mechanisms of the disease in the human body. It is Canada’s first dedicated translational Lyme Disease research lab, producing results that will lead to better testing, diagnosis and treatment.

The G. Magnotta Lyme Disease Research Lab runs on ideas, intellects and infrastructure. Your donation contributes to a cutting edge lab, support the brilliant minds behind this groundbreaking science and ensure that young researchers have access to top-notch training.

Highly Qualified Personnel
Technology alone does not solve problems — people do. Our program is driven by experts and also trains the next generation of scientists in critical thinking and technical skills to confront multidimensional issues like Lyme. Your donation helps us retain and recruit top talent to tackle Lyme.

High-End Equipment
Your dollars help fund our scientists including the large equipment needed to do their critical work.

Daily Operations
High standards coupled with the complexity of studying living systems means high costs to keep the lab running.

The lack of effective diagnostic tools means Lyme Disease can go undetected in the body for weeks, months or even years. As the illness progresses, it becomes more difficult to treat. Left undiagnosed, it can attack any part of the body including the heart, joints, skin, muscles, eyes, digestive system and brain.

Lyme Disease has been called ‘the great imitator’ because it can mimic other serious conditions like multiple sclerosis, dementia, musculoskeletal and movement disorders.

Untreated or unresolved Lyme is recognized as a cause of disability, mortality and economic burden. Yet, the treatment of acute disease remains controversial and there is no consensus around therapeutic intervention for longstanding illness. Frustrated and debilitated patients are paying out of pocket and travelling the globe seeking experimental protocols in the hopes of regaining their health.

Lyme is not just in remote Canadian areas. Never has been. Ticks infected with the Lyme bacteria can be everywhere in your everyday life —in cities, parks, your backyard.

Since 2009, confirmed Canadian Lyme cases have increased 14-fold. And it’s expected that 80 per cent of the Canadian population in eastern and central Canada will be living in tick habitat regions by 2020.

We have a quiet epidemic on our hands. And it’s only a matter of time before Lyme

Disease touches your family, your friends, your neighbours, your colleagues.

Canada’s test for Lyme Disease is outdated and inadequate. It does not detect all strains of the pathogen that exist today, nor can it reliably capture all stages of the disease, leading to an unacceptably high number of false negative results.

Canada is not ready.