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High five handshake between Senator Kay Hagan and Dr Jennifer Platt, Cofounder TBC United, CEO, TickWarriors

“I’m not really arm wrestling the Senator here. She was giving me a “high-five” because I told her I was interested in getting into politics.”

— Jennifer Platt, DrPH, Cofounder, TBC United, CEO, TickWarriors

Jennifer Platt in the office of Senator Kay Hagan

I met Senator Kay Hagan at one of her weekly Carolina Coffee events while working in DC back in 2013. She was friendly, sincere, and spunky — all at the same time. I took an immediate liking to her. I was disappointed when she lost to Tom Tillis in 2014, but saddened even more to learn in early 2017 that she had contracted Powassan virus from a tick bite.

Since then, the former North Carolina Senator dealt with encephalitis, and suffered from debilitating neurological symptoms.

On an almost parallel timeline, the federal Tick-borne Disease Working Group submitted its 2018 Report to Congress with extensive recommendations requesting research and education on ticks and tick-borne diseases. Now, much-needed funding is being proposed through the bi-partisan TICK Act.

Photo of Tick Act Document

Please help honor the Senator’s memory by writing your Senator TODAY to request their support of the TICK Act. We are at a critical juncture in the need to better understand ticks. Funding is essential. We are asking Senators on the Health Committee, such as Richard Burr (NC), to co-sponsor the TICK Act before they meet this Thursday, October 31. Please see an overview of the Tick Act, here.

To support your outreach, you can email your US Senator TODAY using this linked letter template.

You can look up your US Senator here.

Finally, you can also include the TICK Act fact sheet attached here.

Thank you for your support.

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Cofounder, TBC United, CEO and Founder, TickWarriors

Dr. Jennifer Platt has decades of experience in public health and environmental program development. She has led the creation of nationally recognized, award-winning education programs and has spoken extensively to audiences of all sizes.

While working on her doctorate in public health from the University of North Carolina in 2011, Dr. Platt contracted Ehrlichiosis. She was later confirmed to also have Lyme Disease and Babesia.

Dr. Platt’s personal experience with tick-borne illness led her to create TickWarriors in 2016, which provides eco-friendly tick protection for people, pets, and property. The pervasive need for education and awareness led Dr. Platt to co-found Tick-borne Conditions United in 2018 with Beth Carrison.

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