CLINICIAN TESTIMONIALS

Dr. Gary Kaplan, DO

“The Cunningham Panel™ becomes crucial in my workup of these patients to find out how much of an autoimmune process I’ve got going on.”

Dr. Gary Kaplan’s Testimonial

I use the Cunningham Panel™ to get a few different pieces of information. 1) The CaMKinase II gives us an indication that there is an ongoing infection that we have to address and 2) What antibodies are, in fact, activated?

WATCH VIDEO: DR. KAPLAN’S TESTIMONIAL


Dr. Gary Kaplan, DO:

If we are thinking of autoimmunity as a potential problem, the question is first off: How did it get there? So, we now have this concept of autoimmune encephalopathy of an infectious etiology. This is where infections actually turn on the immune system, the acquired portion of the immune system specifically, and it goes rogue.

So, if you think the problem is the bug, then you have to go treat the bug. First and foremost, you have to go after the underlying infections. With strep infections, such as in PANDAS, but in Lyme disease we also know that it can do this and with Bartonella and Borrelia are capable of turning on the acquired immune system.

And we know it’s capable of turning it on in such a way that it then starts to attack itself – autoimmunity then occurs.

So, in order to effectively treat these patients, we have to treat not just the bug but we have to treat the immune system itself.

And so the Cunningham Panel becomes crucial in my workup of these patients to find out how much of an autoimmune process I’ve got going.

Because if all I have going is bugs, it makes my life much easier. Go kill bugs, viruses etc. But if the problem is autoimmunity then I know that I’ve got to address the underlying infection (whether they’re viral or bacterial) but also in addressing the autoimmune process, as well.

You can check the ANA. But the ANA in these patients is frequently normal. There’s a whole Mayo Clinic Panel that we can check.

The problem is, there are so many receptors [in the brain] that we’re [not able] to check all of them. The nice thing about the Cunningham Panel is that it has identified those receptors, specifically in the PANS and PANDAS population.

And so we use [the Cunningham Panel] to get a few different pieces of information. 1) The CaMKinase II giving us an indication that there is an ongoing infection that we have to address. 2) What antibodies are, in fact, activated?

LEARN MORE: AUTOIMMUNE NEUROPSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS

PANS: Diagnosis and Treatment

PANS/PANDAS Overview

PANDAS & PANS Patient Stories

PANDAS & PANS Patient Stories

Neuropsychiatric Symptoms

Neuropsychiatric Symptoms

  • Test Order Process
    The Cunningham Panel™ – Antibody testing that helps determine whether an autoimmune response may be triggering neurologic and/or psychiatric symptoms.

B. Robert Mozayeni, MD

Medical and Clinical Advisor

B. Robert Mozayeni MD

Dr. B. Robert Mozayeni was trained in Internal Medicine and Rheumatology at Yale and at NIH. He has had pre- and post-doctoral Fellowships in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale, and also at NIH where he was a Howard Hughes Research Scholar at LMB/DCBD/NCI and later, Senior Staff Fellow at LMMB/NHLBI/NIH. Editorial board of Infectious Diseases – Surveillance, Prevention and Treatment. Past President of the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS).

He is an expert in Translational Medicine, the science and art of advancing medical science safely and efficiently. He is a Fellow of the non-profit Think Lead Innovate Foundation and is a co-founder of the Foundation for the Study of Inflammatory Diseases. He is a Founder of the Foundation for the Study of Inflammatory Diseases to crowd-source medical solutions for complex conditions using existing knowledge, diagnostic methods, and therapies to meet patient needs immediately. He is the Chief Medical Officer of Galaxy Diagnostics, LLC. He is a Board member of the Human-Kind Alliance. Dr. Mozayeni has held admitting privileges (since 1994) on the clinical staff of Suburban Hospital, a member of Johns Hopkins Medicine and an affiliate of the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center.

Safedin Sajo Beqaj, PhD, HCLD, CC (ABB)

Moleculera Labs, Clinical Laboratory Advisor
Medical Database, Inc., President and CEO

Sajo Baqaj, PhD

Dr. Sajo Beqaj is board certified in molecular pathology and genetics and licensed as a Bioanalyst and High Complexity Laboratory Director. He has been practicing as a laboratory director since 2005.

Dr. Beqaj served as a technical director and was part of the initial management team for several well-known laboratories in the clinical lab industry including PathGroup, Nashville, TN; DCL Medical Laboratories, Indianapolis, IN, and Pathology, Inc, Torrance, CA. He is currently serving as off-side CLIA laboratory director for BioCorp Clinical Laboratory, Whittier, CA and Health360 Labs, Garden Grove, CA.

Dr. Beqaj received his Ph.D. in Pathology from Wayne State University Medical School, Detroit, Michigan. He performed his post-doctoral fellowship at Abbott Laboratories from 2001-2003 and with Children’s Hospital and Northwestern University from 2003-2005.

Dr. Beqaj has taught in several academic institutions and has published numerous medical textbook chapters and journal articles. He has served as a principal investigator in clinical trials for several well-known pharmaceutical and diagnostic companies such as Roche HPV Athena, Merck HPV vaccine, BD vaginitis panel, Roche (Vantana) CINtec® Histology clinical trials, and has presented various scientific clinical abstracts and presentations.

He is a member of several medical and scientific associations including the Association of Molecular Pathology, American Association of Clinical Chemistry and the Pan Am Society for Clinical Virology. He has served on a number of clinical laboratory regulatory and scientific committees, and has assisted several laboratories and physicians as a Clinical Laboratory Consultant.

Rodney Cotton, MBA

Moleculera Labs Board Member

Rodney Cotton, MBA

Rodney Cotton, MBA is an entrepreneurial thought leader in the pharmaceutical/biotech industry who is known for his holistic perspective, bias for action in the face of challenges, and commitment to agile processes.

Rod is an independent director for Orchard Software, a private equity-backed health technology company owned by Francisco Partners; an advisory board member to Flo2 Ventures, a venture capital-backed healthcare and health equity accelerator; and a member of the board of directors and three board committees (Audit, Compliance & Finance; Governance & Equity; and Quality of Care) for Community Health Network.

He built a successful career at Roche spanning more than two decades and culminating in the role of SVP, Head of Strategy & Transformation, and Chief of Staff to the CEO for Roche Diagnostics, the North American headquarters of the world’s largest ($17B) diagnostics company.

While at Roche, Rod led key enterprise initiatives, such as milestone corporate communications, health equity coalitions, the US/Roche Group audit, and global/US acquisition integrations. With 40+ years of experience, he drove the financial turnaround and cultural transformation of four global healthcare companies, led teams of up to 280 total reports, managed P&L of more than $1 billion, and served as a key member of the senior leadership team executing the most significant restructuring of the company in two decades.

In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, Rod and his team at Roche accelerated six ground breaking products in 11 months, including the first launch of the market’s most accurate and in demand molecular diagnostic test. He also solved extraordinary challenges of product scarcity, supply chain, product allocation, and logistics to achieve accelerated global sourcing and self manufacturing in line with testing guidelines.

A frequent public speaker on health equity and other topics, Rod was named one of the Most Influential Black Executives in Corporate America by Savoy Magazine and one of the Top Blacks in Healthcare by BlackDoctor.org. He also received The Sagamore of the Wabash Award, one of the highest Indiana State honors, bestowed by Indiana Governor Eric J. Holcomb.

Rod holds an M.B.A. from California State University, Dominguez Hills, an M.S. in Strategic Management from the University of Southern California, and a B.A. in Biological Sciences & Technology from the University of California at Santa Barbara.