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Our Team

Royale Scuderi
Elizabeth Balfour
BARBARA CONNOR, MD
Danielle Cummings
Joseph Hardick, CPA, CCIF
MICHAEL JENNINGS II
Wesley D. Kufel, PharmD, BCIDP, BCPS, AAHIVP
Shantina Hines Kyles MS, BSN, RN
Brian Leydet, MPH, PhD
Ryan Maness
ANNE MESSENGER
CHRISTINE PAUL
KRISTOPHER PAOLINO, MD, MTM&H, FACP
GEORGINA PINCKNEY
EMILIJA POSTOLOVSKA, MPH
Kathy Ruscitto
Michelle Saya, RN, BSN, MSM
Simone Seward, MPH
SARAVANAN THANGAMANI, PhD
STEPHEN J. THOMAS, MD
DOUGLAS E. WOJCIK, DVM
CNY Lyme Alliance

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The above material is provided for information purposes only. The material (a) is not nor should be considered, or used as a substitute for, medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, nor (b) does it necessarily represent endorsement by or an official position of Central New York Lyme and Tick-Borne Alliance, Inc. or any of its directors, officers, advisors or volunteers. Advice on the testing, treatment or care of an individual patient should be obtained through consultation with a physician who has examined that patient or is familiar with that patient’s medical history. Central New York Lyme and Tick-Borne Alliance, Inc. makes no warranties of any kind regarding this Website, including as to the accuracy, completeness, currency or reliability of any information contained herein, and all such warranties are expressly disclaimed.

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131 West Seneca St., #9 Manlius, NY 13104
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  • Home
  • About Us
    • Our Team
    • News
    • Annual Reports
  • Resources
    • Lyme Disease Specialists
    • New York State Data
    • Protecting your pets
    • Tick Prevention Guide
    • Tick Surveillance Data
    • Tick Testing
    • Tiny Terror: The Truth About Ticks
  • Stories
  • Donate
  • Get Involved
    • Contact Us
    • Legs Against Lyme 2022
Board Member

Board Member Social Media
Royale Scuderi
Executive Director, Central New York Lyme & Tick-Borne Disease Alliance

Royale Scuderi is an innovative executive director, business management professional, and consultant with more than 15 years of experience in senior strategic leadership roles helping organizations achieve growth and development, identify inefficiencies, cultivate partnerships and improve the quality of business operations.

Her past successes include growth and development of numerous organizations, projects and programs in Central New York and beyond. She is first and foremost a strategic problem-solver, with extensive experience leading both business and non-profit entities. She was named “Chamber Executive of the Year” – 2015 by Governor Andrew Cuomo and has also written on the topics of growth, productivity, goal-achievement and success for American Express Business Open Forum, Lifehack and many other online publications.

Board Member

Board Member Social Media
Elizabeth Balfour
Education Coordinator, Central New York Lyme & Tick-Borne Disease Alliance

Elizabeth Balfour is an educator with 10 years’ experience working with students, adults and families in Syracuse and surrounding communities. With extensive knowledge in supportive health resources, she has provided education and counseling to clients and families, plus connections to community and government-backed programs. She brings to the Lyme Alliance considerable experience with wellness, medical care, social welfare programs, community engagement and outreach, research, professional development, organizing and leading meetings and creating and executing presentations for a variety of audiences.

Board Member

Board Member Social Media
BARBARA CONNOR, MD
Cayuga County staff physician, sub-investigator Velocity Clinical Research

Barb is an SUNY-Upstate Medical University alumna, board certified in internal medicine, who has been a director, and worked in emergency departments and urgent cares in Central New York for 35 years, and in New Zealand for 1.5 years. She is currently working as a COVID Staff Physician for Cayuga County, and sub-investigator with Velocity Clinical Research.

Board Member

Board Member Social Media
Syracuse Catholic diocese
Danielle Cummings
Board Co-Vice Chair, Chair, Communications Committee - Chancellor/Director of Communications, Roman Catholic Diocese of Syracuse

Danielle has over 25 years in the area of organizational communications. Skilled in using communication techniques to drive strategies, she has been instrumental in serving as a change agent for the Diocese of Syracuse, a religious corporation that also serves as one of the major employers in CNY covering seven counties. Her strengths lie in strategic planning and communications with an emphasis on crisis communication and training.

Danielle is passionate about improving qualities of life whether it be spiritual, emotional or physical. Past professional roles in alcohol and drug prevention, training and community mobilization have been instrumental in sharpening her interests in public health and collaborative community partnerships.

Board Member

Board Member Social Media
https://www.dmcpas.com/leadership/joseph-a-hardick/
Joseph Hardick, CPA, CCIF
Tax Partner

Joe is a Dannible & McKee, LLP tax partner who has over 38 years of experience in all areas of individual and corporate income tax preparation and planning. Joe specializes in tax planning for manufacturing and construction companies and has experience handling employee benefit plans, trusts and multi-state taxation.

Board Member

Board Member Social Media
MICHAEL JENNINGS II
Wealth Consultant, Financial Planning

Michael is a financial advisor with an emphasis on financial planning. He is fully licensed as both a broker-dealer agent and investment advisor representative. He also has experience as a business development associate within a financial planning firm. Michael has an anthropology and forensic science background from Syracuse University and is an active volunteer and ambassador with multiple organizations around Syracuse and CNY.

Board Member

Board Member Social Media
SUNY Binghamton
Wesley D. Kufel, PharmD, BCIDP, BCPS, AAHIVP
Chair, Governance Committee

Wesley Kufel grew up in Syracuse, NY and received his Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Following graduation, he completed a PGY1 Pharmacy Practice Residency at SUNY Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse and a PGY2 Infectious Diseases Residency at University of North Carolina Medical Center in Chapel Hill, NC.

Wes joined Binghamton University School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences as a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice in 2017. He is also a clinical infectious disease pharmacist at SUNY Upstate University Hospital and is a member of the infectious disease consultation service. He holds a faculty appointment in the Department of Medicine at SUNY Upstate Medical University. Through Wes’s clinical experience, he frequently encounters patients with Lyme disease and has collaborated on research endeavors in various capacities within this area.

Board Member

Board Member Social Media
Shantina Hines Kyles MS, BSN, RN
Board Secretary - Spinal Cord Injury Program Manager

Shantina Hines Kyles MS, BSN, RN, a NYS-licensed registered nurse since 2009, supervises a 40+-member team at the Syracuse VA, having served as Executive Director for assisted living facilities including Bellevue and East Side Manor in Syracuse and a 120-bed facility at Heritage Oaks Retirement Home in Tallahassee, FL. With 12 years of patient care nursing experience and education, her scope of practice includes nursing leadership, orthopedic, post-operative and med-surg care, disease prevention and management of veterans’ complex health care problems.

Shantina holds a BS in Health Care Administration from SUNY Fredonia, a BSN in Nursing from the University of Rochester and a Master of Science from the New School University with a concentration in Health Care Management.

Shantina is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, serving on several committees providing community service. She is also a member of the Circle of Red for the Syracuse Division of the American Heart Association.

Board Member

Board Member Social Media
SUNY ESF Lab
Brian Leydet, MPH, PhD
Assistant Professor of Epidemiology and Disease Ecology, SUNY-ESF (College of Environmental Science and Forestry)

Brian Leydet has over 10 years’ experience studying ticks and their diseases and a demonstrated history of working in higher education. Skilled in molecular biology, entomology, infectious diseases, small animal models and ecological research, Brian holds a BS and MPH in public health and a PhD in Veterinary Biomedical and Clinical Sciences from Louisiana State University. He was a NIH Ruth Kirschstein Postdoctoral Fellow.

Board Member

Board Member Social Media
Ryan Maness
Director & Counsel, Tax Policy

Government relations expert, with a particular focus on state tax and budgetary policy. Focused on analyzing the political landscape, devising legislative strategies, and executing influence campaigns. Former indigent criminal defense attorney. JD from Syracuse University College of Law. Studied political theory at University of Illinois at Urbana.

Board Member

Board Member Social Media
ANNE MESSENGER
Board Chair - Chapter Chair, Women Presidents’ Organization, Syracuse I & II and Platinum V Chapter

Anne Messenger is a recognized career strategist, executive coach and facilitator of leadership groups. Owner of Messenger Associates, a career management and human resource consulting firm, for nearly 20 years, Anne is an active community leader, board member and winner of numerous business awards. She is a Wellesley College graduate and a Lyme survivor.

Board Member

Board Member Social Media
CHRISTINE PAUL
Executive Director, Madison County Rural Health Council, Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) Instructor

Christine is an Executive Director/MHFA Instructor with more than 30 years of experience. She is a hard-working professional who has been consistently praised as an outstanding leader by her colleagues, community partners and management. She has consistently demonstrated leadership, critical thinking, and the ability to develop significant relationships with community partners.

Board Member

Board Member Social Media
Upstate University Hospital
KRISTOPHER PAOLINO, MD, MTM&H, FACP
Board Medical Director - Assistant Professor of Medicine and Assistant of Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, SUNY Upstate Medical University

Kristopher Paolino, MD, attended the SUNY Buffalo School of Medicine under the Armed Forces Health Professions Scholarship Program and was trained at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC, becoming board certified in both internal medicine and infectious diseases. He then spent over five years working as a clinician researcher at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, serving as Chief of the Clinical Trials Center (CTC) and overseeing the over 24 clinical trials to include first site to vaccinate a patient with the current leading Ebola vaccine, as well as several other leading vaccine candidates against tropical disease treats. He is currently on the faculty at Upstate Medical University (Upstate), faculty mentor for the university’s Resident Research Council and Director of Clinical Research at the Upstate Institute for Global Health and Translational Sciences. He has developed a clinical and research interest in Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases.

Board Member

Board Member Social Media
GEORGINA PINCKNEY
Chair, Development Committee - Tick-Borne Disease Advocate

Georgina is a native of the Annapolis, Maryland area and has experience in government affairs working for the US Senate, as well as holding roles in the public energy and publishing fields. She brings the perspective of a parent with a child who went undiagnosed with chronic Lyme disease for years. She has been an active supporter of the Central New York area-including serving on the board of Matthew House as Treasurer as well as the fundraising committee - a not-for-profit home in Auburn NY that provides end of life care. She also served on the Skaneateles Education Foundation board.

Georgina earned a BA degree from the University of Maryland College Park in Political Science and a Master of Arts from American University in International Political Economics.

Board Member

Board Member Social Media
EMILIJA POSTOLOVSKA, MPH
Senior Analyst, Public Health

Emilija is a dedicated public health practitioner with experience in tackling social determinants of health in vulnerable populations. By approaching the work through a health equity lens, She is a trusted leader with goals of advancing community engagement and collective impact through policy, systems, and environmental change strategies.

Board Member

Board Member Social Media
Kathy Ruscitto
Board Vice Chair - Board Member and Advisor

Kathryn Ruscitto is a retired CEO using that experience in supporting boards, community collaborations, and startups.
She is passionate about using the economic power of organizations to address community problems and connecting donors, leaders and organizations.

Board Member

Board Member Social Media
Michelle Saya, RN, BSN, MSM
Clinical Research Compliance Specialist SUNY Upstate Medical University

Michelle is a Clinical Research Compliance Specialist helping to manage the SUNY Upstate Human Subject Protection Program. She has 22 years’ experience in the healthcare industry including RN, BSN & MSM degrees and was a member of the Leadership Greater Syracuse Class of 2021.

Board Member

Board Member Social Media
Upstate University Hospital
Simone Seward, MPH
Director, Health Equity Research & Programs Director, Center for Civic Engagement, SUNY Upstate Medical University

Simone Seward has over 15 years of public health experience in the planning, management and evaluation of health promotion and disease prevention programs at the federal, state, and local level. Specialized in addressing health disparities among women, infants and children through systems-thinking and population-based strategies.

Board Member

Board Member Social Media
Upstate Thangamani Lab
SARAVANAN THANGAMANI, PhD
SUNY Empire Innovation Professor Director, SUNY Center for Environmental Health and Medicine Director, Vector Biocontainment Laboratories

Professor with over 20 years of tick-borne disease research experience, and one of the world’s leading experts on tick-borne viruses and biology of TBD transmission. Innovative administrator and leader with over 9 years of experience in developing and implementing strategic solutions to improve research infrastructure, faculty recruitment and research funding.

Board Member

Board Member Social Media
Upstate University Hospital
STEPHEN J. THOMAS, MD
Chair (interim), Department of Microbiology & Immunology, SUNY Upstate Medical University Director, Institute for Global Health and Translational Sciences

Stephen J. Thomas, MD is a senior physician, scientist, organizational leader and entrepreneur. Dr. Thomas has biomedical research and development (R&D) expertise with a proven 16-year track record demonstrating highly effective, innovative and strategic leadership of projects, programs and institutions. His focus is on infectious disease medical countermeasure development, biopreparednes and global health security.

Board Member

Board Member Social Media
Liverpool Village Animal Hospital
DOUGLAS E. WOJCIK, DVM
Owner, Liverpool Animal Hospital

Doug Wojcik is a small animal veterinarian and has owned the Liverpool Village Animal Hospital since 1998 with a focus on creating an environment for excellent animal care through learning and collaboration. This approach provides for a better work environment, comprehensive client care, and the best medical care for the patient.