Jorge Benach is a medical researcher at the

Stony Brook University Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public research university in Stony Brook, New York. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is one of the State University of New York system's ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

state. Benach is the chair of the Department of

Molecular Genetics Molecular genetics is a sub-field of biology that addresses how differences in the structures or expression of DNA molecules manifests as variation among organisms. Molecular genetics often applies an "investigative approach" to determine the ...

and

Microbiology Microbiology () is the scientific study of microorganisms, those being unicellular (single cell), multicellular (cell colony), or acellular (lacking cells). Microbiology encompasses numerous sub-disciplines including virology, bacteriology, prot ...

. Benach's main area of research is the tick-borne

spirochete A spirochaete () or spirochete is a member of the phylum Spirochaetota (), (synonym Spirochaetes) which contains distinctive diderm (double-membrane) gram-negative bacteria, most of which have long, helically coiled (corkscrew-shaped or s ...

Borrelia burgdorferi ''Borrelia burgdorferi'' is a bacterial species of the spirochete class in the genus ''Borrelia'', and is one of the causative agents of Lyme disease in humans. Along with a few similar genospecies, some of which also cause Lyme disease, it make ...

'', which is the causative agent of

Lyme disease Lyme disease, also known as Lyme borreliosis, is a vector-borne disease caused by the ''Borrelia'' bacterium, which is spread by ticks in the genus ''Ixodes''. The most common sign of infection is an expanding red rash, known as erythema migran ...

. Benach also has begun to investigate organisms that could be used as

bioterrorism Bioterrorism is terrorism involving the intentional release or dissemination of biological agents. These agents are bacteria, viruses, insects, fungi, and/or toxins, and may be in a naturally occurring or a human-modified form, in much the same ...

agents, specifically ''

Francisella tularensis ''Francisella tularensis'' is a pathogenic species of Gram-negative coccobacillus, an aerobic bacterium. It is nonspore-forming, nonmotile, and the causative agent of tularemia, the pneumonic form of which is often lethal without treatment. It is ...

'', the bacterial agent of

tularemia Tularemia, also known as rabbit fever, is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium ''Francisella tularensis''. Symptoms may include fever, skin ulcers, and enlarged lymph nodes. Occasionally, a form that results in pneumonia or a throat infe ...

. Benach graduated with a PhD from

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

in 1972. Benach was named to a National Advisory Allergy and Infectious Diseases Council (

NIAID The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID, ) is one of the 27 institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health (NIH), an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). NIAID's ...

) in 1998 and was named a 1992 Fulbright-Hays Fellow and Exchange Professor.

Lyme Disease research

Benach was one of the early researchers in Lyme disease. Benach and Edward Bosler, Ph.D. collaborated in the dogged and dangerous work of gathering and testing ticks for disease-causing pathogens at the Mashomack Preserve on Shelter Island, off the coast of New York. Benach and Bosler later co-authored the book ''Lyme Disease and Related Disease Disorders'', New York Academy of Sciences (September 1988). In the fall of 1981, Benach, then at the New York State Health Department, provided NIH researcher

Willy Burgdorfer Wilhelm Burgdorfer (June 27, 1925 – November 17, 2014) was an American scientist born and educated in Basel, Switzerland, considered an international leader in the field of medical entomology. He discovered the bacterial pathogen that causes Ly ...

with collections of ''I. dammini'' (''scapularis'') ticks from Shelter Island, as part of an ongoing investigation of Rocky Mounted spotted fever on Long Island. It was in the midgut of two of those ticks that Burgdorfer, looking for RMSF rickettsiae, noticed the “poorly stained, rather long, irregularly coiled spirochetes” that he realized might be the cause of the erythema chronicum migrans rash of Lyme disease. Benach subsequently supplied Burgdorfer with more field-collected ticks from Shelter Island, along with sera from clinically diagnosed patients with Lyme disease. The collaborative effort enabled Burgdorfer to confirm his suspicions about the new spirochete. Benach and

pathology Pathology is the study of the causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in ...

colleague Marc Golightly developed the critical laboratory test to detect the presence of

antibodies An antibody (Ab), also known as an immunoglobulin (Ig), is a large, Y-shaped protein used by the immune system to identify and neutralize foreign objects such as pathogenic bacteria and viruses. The antibody recognizes a unique molecule of the ...

to ''Borrelia burgdorferi'', an

ELISA The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (, ) is a commonly used analytical biochemistry assay, first described by Eva Engvall and Peter Perlmann in 1971. The assay uses a solid-phase type of enzyme immunoassay (EIA) to detect the presence ...

test that became the original “gold standard” for Lyme diagnosis. Benach continues to work with borrelia organisms at the Center for Infectious Diseases, Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Stony Brook University. Benach chairs the scientific and advisory board of the Tick-Borne Disease Institute of the New York State department of health and is an ''ad hoc'' committee member of the National Research Fund for Tick-Borne Diseases.

References

External links

Stony Brook Center for Infectious Diseases

National Research Fund of Tick-Borne Diseases
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benach, Jorge Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American microbiologists American medical researchers Lyme disease researchers Stony Brook University faculty Rutgers University alumni Fellows of the American Academy of Microbiology

Lyme Disease research

See also

References

External links