University of Guelph setting up lab to research Lyme disease with $1.4M donation
TORONTO — Is it Lyme disease or not?
That’s one of the questions the University of Guelph hopes to be better able to answer with a new research lab dedicated to improving testing — and eventually treatment — for the tick-borne bacteria that is increasingly affecting Canadians country-wide.
On Wednesday, the Ontario university announced it will be setting up the lab with a $1.4-million grant from the G. Magnotta Foundation for Vector-Borne Diseases, named for Magnotta Winery co-founder Gabe Magnotta.
Magnotta, an avid outdoorsman, died in 2009 at age 60 from complications of Lyme disease after suffering increasingly debilitating symptoms for almost seven years. His wife and business partner Rossana Magnotta, CEO of the Vaughan, Ont.-based winery, created the non-profit foundation in 2012 in his memory.