Neil Spector, MD, knows a lot about cancer. He’s one of the country’s top oncologists and is a cancer researcher at Duke University School of Medicine. He knows a lot about Lyme disease, too—from personal experience.

Dr. Spector suffered from misdiagnosed Lyme disease for many years, and during that time, his heart was battered and beaten up by the unrecognized illness. Although he was eventually diagnosed and treated for Lyme, by then his heart was severely damaged.

At one point, he was near death and only a heart transplant could save his life. He chronicled the experience in his riveting memoir, Gone in A Heartbeat: A Physician’s Search for True Healing.

Since then, Dr. Spector has become a unique advocate for Lyme patients. He thoroughly understands the patient’s viewpoint, including what it’s like to know that something is seriously wrong with your body and yet have doctors dismiss your symptoms.

At the same time, he is a man of science and understands that we need a new way of looking at Lyme disease diagnosis and treatment. (Same-old, same-old diagnostics and treatment with 60-year-old antibiotics? Lyme patients deserve better, he says.)

As a cancer researcher, he knows what great strides have been made in terms of “personalized medicine” for cancer treatment—and that a similar approach to Lyme disease offers great promise.

Earlier this year, Dr. Spector spoke at the Focus on Lyme conference in Scottsdale, AZ. He and conference organizers graciously allowed LymeDisease.org to videotape his presentation and share it with you here. Take a listen to his remarkable story.