Olivia Goodreau, who founded the LivLyme Foundation at 12 years old and has since become a widely respected advocate and national spokeswoman for Lyme disease prevention and treatment, will discuss her “journey with Lyme” and the importance of early testing as part of a webinar to be held Thursday, Aug. 19. The webinar is the latest in an ongoing series sponsored by Quidel, the California-based diagnostic health care manufacturer known for successfully developing rapid diagnostic health solutions.

Now 16 years old, Goodreau founded the LivLyme Foundation in 2017 to help raise money for individuals who cannot afford their Lyme medication or doctors’ visits and to fund research to find a cure for Lyme and tick-borne diseases. She has since awarded 54 grants to children and adults ages 2-21 along with four grants to top universities to fund tick-borne disease research. Goodreau is also the inventor of TickTracker, the free global app that has over 50,000 users in multiple languages worldwide. TickTracker was selected by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as the “top tech tool” that is solving global health problems, beating out Oracle and IBM, among others.

As part of the webinar, Goodreau will discuss her journey with Lyme, including when she became ill, the number of physicians she visited, how she was diagnosed and her passion for the importance of early testing. She will also discuss her work on the “public stage,” having presented TickTracker at the White House and having met with countless members of Congress, celebrities, scientists and governmental agencies to educate and spread awareness about tick-borne diseases.

Goodreau’s webinar presentation is particularly relevant today as Lyme disease is on the rise to record numbers throughout the country and has the potential to affect as many as 476,000 citizens before the year is out. For accurate and fast testing, more and more clinicians are turning to the Sofia® 2 Lyme FIA by Quidel. This revolutionary test provides the patient and physician with indicative results within 15 minutes, as opposed to days, which has historically been the norm (and during which time organisms can spread and become systemic). It can be performed in the privacy of a doctor’s office, local clinic or even by a nurse at a children’s summer camp; and it is the only test that can get results from a simple finger prick of blood.

Among those expected to attend the free Aug. 19 webinar are physicians; allied health professionals; health researchers; and representatives of physician offices, laboratories, urgent care centers, patient advocacy associations and others interested in the subject.

About Quidel Corporation

Quidel Corporation (Nasdaq: QDEL) is a leading manufacturer of diagnostic solutions at the point of care, delivering a continuum of rapid testing technologies that further improve the quality of health care throughout the globe. An innovator for over 40 years in the medical device industry, Quidel pioneered the first point-of-care test for influenza in 1999 and was the first to market a rapid SARS-CoV-2 antigen test in the U.S. Under trusted brand names, Sofia®, Solana®, Lyra®, Triage® and QuickVue®, Quidel’s comprehensive product portfolio includes tests for a wide range of infectious diseases, cardiac and autoimmune biomarkers, as well as a host of products to detect COVID-19. Quidel’s mission is to provide patients with immediate and frequent access to highly accurate, affordable testing for the good of our families, our communities and the world. For more information about Quidel, visit quidel.com.

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