LymeDisease.org Team

Raphael Stricker, MD, Medical Director

San Francisco, California

Dr. Stricker received his medical degree and training in Internal Medicine at Columbia University in New York. He did subspecialty training in Hematology/Oncology at the University of California San Francisco, and supplemental training in Immunology and Immunotherapy at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco. He is currently the Medical Director of Union Square Medical Associates, a multispecialty medical practice in San Francisco.

Dr. Stricker is a member of the American Society of Hematology (ASH), the Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies (FOCIS), the American Federation for Medical Research (AFMR), the American Society for Reproductive Immunology (ASRI), the American Society of Microbiology (ASM), the American Academy of HIV Medicine (AAHIVM). He was past president of the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS). He serves on the Lyme Disease Advisory Committee that advises the California Dept. of Public Health. He has received the American Medical Association Award for Physician Excellence, and has authored over 200 medical journal articles and abstracts. Areas of special interest include immunologic infertility, immunodeficiency, coagulation disorders and tick-borne diseases.

Christine Green, MD

Los Altos, California

Dr. Green is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Reed College in biology and ecology, an appropriate choice for a doctor treating tick-borne diseases. She attended medical school at UC San Diego, followed by a family practice residency at Stanford University. Dr. Green practices Complementary, Integrative and Orthomolecular Medicine in San Francisco and Mountain View, California. Dr. Green is involved in constant collaboration and ongoing research within the patient and medical communities. She was previously on the Board of Directors of the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society, where she served as the Director of Education. She is also Chair of the Research Committee of LymeDisease.org.

Erica Lehman, MD

Beverly Hills, California

Dr. Erica Lehman is an Integrative Physician, Tick-Borne Disease Specialist, Board Certified Ophthalmologist, Cornea Specialist, and Eye Surgeon in Beverly Hills, California. ” She received her under undergraduate education from Northwestern University as part of the Honors Program in Medical Education (HPME), an accelerated six year medical program. She received her medical degree from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. After receiving her MD she completed her internship at USC in internal medicine. She then did her residency in Ophthalmology at University of Chicago. This was followed by a two year surgical fellowship in Cornea, Refractive Surgery, and Anterior Segment Surgery at Louisiana State University.

At LSU she participated in laboratory and clinical research. She was part of the FDA Excimer Laser team for the Phase IIB trials. She has worked for 25 years in private practice offices in San Leandro, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Chicago, New Orleans and at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation collaborating with Stanford faculty. Her focus on Lyme began a decade ago. She treats tick-borne diseases and related conditions including infections from Bartonella, Babesia, Anaplasma, Erilichia, Rickettsia, Parasites, Mold, Marcons and viruses. Additional focus includes thyroid disease, adrenal fatigue and Gastrointestinal disturbances. She combines allopathic and functional medicine in her treatments. Dr Lehman is fluent in Spanish. Her publications include chapters on Corneal Topography, Refractive Surgery, Keratitis Sicca and several Ophthalmology Journal publications.

Lorraine Johnson, JD, MBA, Chief Executive Officer; Principal Investigator MyLymeData

Los Angeles, California

Lorraine Johnson, JD, MBA, is the Chief Executive Officer of LymeDisease.org and the principal investigator of its patient registry and research platform, MyLymeData–which has enrolled over 15,000 patients. She has published over 40 peer-reviewed articles on Lyme disease and patient-centered healthcare, including three big data patient-driven research studies on which she served as Principal Investigator.

She has co-authored two academic text book chapters on patient engagement, multi-stakeholder research projects, and patient registries. She has served on five federal advisory committees related to big data, patient centered research, and patient registries. She served as the Chair of the Patient Council for the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute and sat on both the Steering Committee and the Executive Committee of its big data project, PCORnet. She is currently advising NORC at the University of Chicago on a PCORI-funded project regarding patient registries.

She has served on and spoken before numerous other government-funded patient-centered projects, including the international Cochrane Collaboration, the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine, and Consumers United for Evidence Based Healthcare. She participated in the White House Precision Medicine Summit.

Carolyn Cooper Degnan, Chief Operating Officer; Secretary

San Francisco, California

Carolyn Cooper Degnan has been an active volunteer in the Lyme community since 2005. She has a strong leadership and operations background in both non-profit and for-profit businesses. Her former leadership roles include: Pres/CEO of the San Ramon Chamber of Commerce, President of the San Ramon Valley Education Foundation, owner of Degnan Insurance Agency and as a member several other non-profit Boards. She also has extensive non-profit event management and fundraising experience in addition to a strong operations background. Most recently she was the Practice/Business manager for a prominent West Coast LLMD before coming to LDo in 2018 as the new COO.

Ron Lindorf, M.A., Chairman

Orem, UT

After 25 years as an entrepreneur, Ron Lindorf is now an Associate Professor at the Marriott School of Management at Brigham Young University. Previously, he founded an international survey research and data processing company and other successful businesses in the media and political fields. He serves as executive director of the Utah Lyme Disease Association and is active in sponsoring fundraising for continued research in Lyme disease.

Dorothy Kupcha Leland, President

Davis, California

Dorothy Kupcha Leland has a professional background in journalism, politics and book publishing. After her daughter became seriously disabled by Lyme disease in 2005, Dorothy became active with LymeDisease.org. She writes the Touched by Lyme blog, coordinates LDo’s social media, and spearheads LymeDisease.org’s public education efforts. She has a special interest in how Lyme disease affects the whole family—not just the person with the illness. She is co-author of the book When Your Child Has Lyme Disease: A Parent’s Survival Guide.

Mitchell L. Hoggard, Pharm., Treasurer

Chico, California

A pharmacist by training, Mitch Hoggard pioneered the field of home infusion therapy and was the founder and president of an international home infusion company. As the president of a hyperbaric treatment center, Mr. Hoggard has published research on treatment of stroke, Crohn’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. He turned his attention to tick-borne illnesses when his children became infected with Lyme disease. Mr. Hoggard is a frequent lecturer to physicians and patients on the subject of antibiotic therapy for Lyme. While leading companies in several other industries, Mr. Hoggard continues to devote much time to research, education, and treatment of Lyme disease.

Caleb Manscill, Chief Technology Officer

Lehi, Utah

Caleb founded his own consulting business that provided marketing, business development, IP strategy, and company transaction strategy and consulting for clients in healthcare, wellness, higher education, and private equity. He operated his consulting business for ten years. He also founded multiple internet content companies that he has successfully exited.

After running his consulting company, Caleb moved on to building products for the healthcare industry as the VP of Product for an analytics company. The company was acquired by a private equity group and merged with four other healthcare companies. Caleb then moved on to serve as the Head of Business Development & Enterprise Solutions for Weave, a patient experience management platform company. He also serves on the Board of Directors for UHIMSS. Caleb has a BA in American Studies from Brigham Young University and an MBA from Babson College.

Phyllis Mervine, EdM

Ukiah, California

In 1989, Phyllis Mervine established the Lyme Disease Resource Center, later re-named LymeDisease.org. She also founded The Lyme Times and serves as its editor-in-chief. In an effort to help Lyme patients join together for mutual support and political action, she set up LymeDisease.org’s network of online state support groups. She has collaborated with researchers studying ticks, animal reservoirs, and human infection in northern California. She has served on numerous advisory committees both locally and nationally, and is a former member of the National Institute of Health’s Advisory Panel for Studies on Chronic Lyme Disease. She has had several letters and one article published in peer-reviewed medical journals, and her posters have been displayed at international Lyme conferences. Her special interests are networking and community-building, improving patient access to accurate information, and educating, mentoring, encouraging and supporting the next generation of Lyme disease advocates.

Mitchell L. Hoggard, Pharm.

Chico, California

A pharmacist by training, Mitch Hoggard pioneered the field of home infusion therapy and was the founder and president of an international home infusion company. As the president of a hyperbaric treatment center, Mr. Hoggard has published research on treatment of stroke, Crohn’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. He turned his attention to tick-borne illnesses when his children became infected with Lyme disease. Mr. Hoggard is a frequent lecturer to physicians and patients on the subject of antibiotic therapy for Lyme. While leading companies in several other industries, Mr. Hoggard continues to devote much time to research, education, and treatment of Lyme disease.

Barbara Barsocchini, MBA

Malibu, California

Barbara Barsocchini serves on California’s Lyme Disease Advisory Committee, is a trustee of the Los Angeles County West Vector Control District and is the official Lyme disease spokesperson for the city of Malibu. Over the past 15 years, she has organized educational conferences for Lyme patients throughout California, and provided support and information to Lyme patients through a variety of channels.

Robert S. Lane, Ph.D.

Berkeley, California

An internationally recognized entomologist, Dr. Lane has published numerous articles on ticks and Lyme disease in peer-reviewed medical journals. He is a top-rated NIH grantee. He conducts field studies in northern California and is a Professor Emeritus UC Berkeley. He serves on California’s Lyme Disease Advisory Committee and is a member of LymeDisease.org’s Scientific Review Committee.