CO-FOUNDER

Richard Dulude, co-founded Alec’s Place in 2024 following the tragic loss of his 27 year old son Alec. For seven years Alec struggled with what was only diagnosed in the last few months of his life to be multiple Tick-borne infections and the resulting post-infectious autoimmune encephalitis. A multitude of different medical specialists and healthcare providers missed Alec’s true diagnosis. Alec’s Place was established to assist others in achieving the proper diagnosis and to help educate, advocate, and raise the awareness of healthcare professionals and legislative leaders with respect to havoc these infections are inflicting on individuals and society.

Dr. Dulude received his BS from Central Michigan University and medical degree from Wayne State University. He completed his internal medicine residency at Wayne State University hospitals in Detroit, MI and anesthesiology residency at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, WI. He has board certifications in both specialties. Dr. Dulude worked as an Emergency Physician at Detroit Receiving Hospitals and as an Anesthesiologist in Salem, OR with the Oregon Anesthesiology Group from 1994 to 2016.

Richard has been retired since 2016 and enjoys spending time with his wife and daughter, reading, biking, woodworking, cooking, fly fishing, exploring rivers and training his Belgian Shepherd. He is determined to keep Alec’s memory alive by focusing on education and advocacy of health care professionals and legislators about the realities of the neuropsychiatric aspects of Tick-borne diseases and post-infectious autoimmune encephalitis.  

CO-FOUNDER

Pamela-Olson-Dulude, co-founded Alecsplace with her husband Richard in 2024 to share Alec’s story and help raise awareness about the realities of Tick-borne illnesses. The Duludes’ discovered too late that their son Alec was in fact struggling from multiple tick-borne illnesses causing brain encephalitis resulting in terrible neuropsychiatric symptoms.

Pamela’s son Alec was an incredible light in this world who maintained a brave and steadfast outlook throughout his adversity leaving an indelible mark of strength and resilience. As his mother, Pamela feels called to tell her family's story to prevent further suffering, combat isolation caused by these diseases, and help struggling individuals feel supported. 

Dr. McBride is board certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology and is a member of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists. He also belongs to the Christian Medical and Dental Society of America.

James serves Alec’s place in honor of his late son “Jack” whose life was tragically cut short by the devastating impact of tick borne illness.

Jack attended and graduated from MSU with honors and a degree in human biology with plans to become a physician.  This was all cut short when he became acutely depressed, anxious and displayed worsening OCD in the summer of 2020.  Jack had never displayed any of these conditions at any point previously in his life.

5 different psychiatrists tried their best to help but Jack’s symptoms only worsened.  Jack was such a fighter. “Evil voices in my head”, night sweats, heart palpitations, insomnia and air hunger were daily occurrences that robbed him of his once carefree and joyful life.  Jack told us over and over that he just wanted to stop the pain and “be with Jesus”. 

After only 3 months of treatment for his tick-borne infections, Jack decided that the lack of improvement and the severe Herxheimer reactions were too much to endure.  He took his last daily walk on August 10th, 2022. 

Only after Jack’s death, the family begin to learn of 100s of other young people who have taken their lives while battling the neuroinflammation that can be associated with these infections.  Jack is now at peace in the everlasting arms of Jesus. Jamie and his family are trying to move forward, educate others about tick-borne infections, and “Live Life” for Jack. 

Tom is a resident of Salem, Oregon where he and his wife Cesie have lived since 1992, and where their two adult children, Luke and Rachel were raised and attended school. Luke now lives in Los Angeles, and Rachel in Salem.

Tom and Cesie have known Rick Dulude and Pam Olson for many years, and our four children grew up together. We came to know Alec and his sister Allison as wonderful, active young folks with a deep love of nature and outdoor activities, and with vibrant and promising futures. Allison and Rachel sang together in the Lifesong group in middle and high school, and Alec often played his sax in the praise band, at our church.

Alec’s untimely death struck and deeply saddened our family. Tom considers it a privilege to serve on the board of Alec’s Place, and to honor Alec’s life and legacy. He is committed to working with the board and others to further the mission of awareness, education, prevention, testing and treatment of the physical and psychological devastation brought on by tick-borne illnesses.

Tom is currently a part-time instructor in the Honors College at Oregon State University, where he has served for over 34 years in administrative leadership and teaching positions. Tom received his B.S. and M.A. degrees from Ohio State University, and his J.D. from The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law.  He is a member of the District of Columbia Bar, and the United States Supreme Court Bar. Tom’s involvement in the Salem community includes serving on and chairing the program committee of Salem City Club; as a current volunteer, and former board member and board president for Family Promise of the Mid-Willamette Valley a nonprofit that serves families who are homeless; and more recently as a trustee, and member of the finance committee, at his church in Salem.

Co-Founder & CEO, LymeLess Health

Carter is the Co-Founder and CEO of LymeLess Health, a precision medicine platform dedicated to empowering Lyme+ patients on their health journeys. As a former Lyme Disease, Bartonella, and Babesia patient, Carter’s personal battle with these complex illnesses fuels his commitment to driving meaningful change across patient advocacy, research, and policy. His firsthand patient experience informs every aspect of his work, from shaping LymeLess Health’s patient-centered solutions to his contributions as a board member at Alec's Place.

With a background in technology investment banking at Deutsche Bank, Carter blends strategic expertise with his deep understanding of the patient perspective. As a mentor and Ambassador of the Global Lyme Alliance for over six years, he is passionate about turning challenges into opportunities to empower others, drive progress, and improve outcomes in the Lyme+ community.

Payton Bradsky is the Co-Founder and CTO of LymeLess Health, a precision medicine platform transforming care for Lyme+ patients. After experiencing sudden neurological symptoms in 2019 and an initial misdiagnosis of epilepsy, she was diagnosed with Lyme Disease and multiple co-infections. Her four-year journey navigating treatment across ten specialists revealed the critical gaps in patient care, driving her mission to revolutionize the Lyme+ patient experience through technology.

Drawing from her background as a Software Engineer and Product Manager at Google, Payton combines her technical expertise with firsthand patient experience to create breakthrough solutions for the Lyme+ community. Through her leadership at LymeLess Health and active involvement in patient advocacy initiatives, she champions a future where technology, research, and patient-centered design converge to create clear, powerful pathways to healing for everyone impacted by Lyme+.

In recent years, a mysterious and catastrophic illness stole the health of Kim’s family member. A young and vibrant life suddenly turned tragic with the onset of severe OCD, hallucinations, regression, and seizures. Kim and family watched helplessly as medical intervention proposed to help, instead led to a worsening of condition and devastating diagnosis.

Perplexed by the “atypical” presentation and frustrated by a fragmented approach to care;, Kim put her background in information science to work in conducting a forensic review and summary of all health records. Integrative physicians, specializing in precision medicine, assessed the complete medical picture.

Their findings revealed the “root cause” of illness; a complex interplay between untreated CNS Lyme and Co- Infections, Epigenetic changes, Chronic Inflammatory Response and Autoimmune Encephalapothy. Miraculously, within months of targeted treatments for infection, inflammation, and immune dysfunction; a slow and steady healing process began.

The ongoing experience has Kim and her family deeply impacted. It fuels their purpose for spreading awareness of neuroinflammatory illness involving vector borne disease. Locally, Kim shares her story as parent and practitioner educator in raising awareness of infectious & metabolic causes of complex neurologic symptoms. On the state and national level, Kim shares her story with legislative leaders urging their funding of prevention, detection, and research initiatives connected to tickborne illness and associated disease.  

Nearly 25 years ago Jill, her husband Steve, and their 4 children moved to a home in the woods of Connecticut, which was a mere 70 miles from the town of Lyme. A decade later, their eldest son started to develop seemingly innocuous symptoms
of anxiety and fatigue that eventually moved into digestive disorders, tremors, seizures and suicidal thoughts. He became too ill to work, care for himself, or be left alone so they moved him home. After seeing a multitude of physicians he was
diagnosed with Lyme disease and many of the coinfections, namely Babesia and Bartonella.

Two of their other children became ill, tested positive, and moved
home from college. Jill tested positive as well. Since then, she has poured herself into researching Lyme Disease, utilizing her chemistry degree and pharmaceutical background. She founded a local support group, is a board member for the Michigan Lyme Disease Association, and lectures on the pathology of tick born illnesses as an experienced lay person.