About Evora
Olivia’s Story
At just seven years old, Olivia Goodreau’s life changed forever.
What began as a healthy, active childhood turned into a long and frustrating medical journey filled with unexplained symptoms, countless appointments, and unanswered questions.
The summer before Olivia entered second grade, her health began to deteriorate rapidly.
What started with a tremor in her right hand soon progressed to vision loss, difficulty walking, severe fatigue, and a growing list of unexplained symptoms that left doctors searching for answers. Over the next 18 months, Olivia and her parents visited 51 doctors in a desperate effort to understand what was happening. Despite seeing numerous specialists, no one suspected Lyme disease because Olivia never recalled a tick bite and never developed the classic “bull’s-eye” rash often associated with the illness.
After a long and challenging medical journey, Olivia was finally diagnosed with Lyme disease. Three years later and four more doctors she would learn she was also battling multiple other tick-borne infections. Like many patients, the hardest part wasn’t just being sick—it was not knowing why.
Rather than allowing her illness to define her, Olivia chose to transform her challenges into purpose.
At age 11, she founded LivLyme Foundation with a mission to help children and families impacted by Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses.
What started as one young girl’s determination to make a difference has grown into a nationally recognized nonprofit organization that has provided support to families across the country, funded research, advanced education initiatives, and helped amplify the voices of patients often overlooked by the healthcare system.
Driven by her own experiences navigating chronic illness, Olivia also became an entrepreneur and innovator. As a teenager, she created the TickTracker App, LongHaulTracker App, and Tickmojis App to help patients track symptoms, improve communication with healthcare providers, and raise awareness of Lyme disease and other chronic illnesses. Her work demonstrated how technology could be used to address real-world healthcare challenges and empower patients to take a more active role in their care.
At just 12 years old, Olivia was invited to speak at the White House after winning the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Opportunity Project competition.
Her team earned national recognition for developing one of the nation’s top technology solutions addressing global health challenges, receiving honors for creating the best new technology tool to solve real-world problems. The experience launched a national advocacy career that would take her from patient advocate to recognized leader in healthcare innovation.
Over the following years, Olivia became one of the nation’s most visible Lyme disease advocates. She has spoken at Harvard University, Stanford University, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the White House, and numerous national conferences and events. In 2025, she was invited to participate as a patient advocate at the HHS Lyme Disease Roundtable, bringing the patient perspective directly to federal health leaders and policymakers.
Her advocacy and leadership have been recognized nationally. Olivia was featured in Forbes magazine as a “Teen Titan – Changing the World,” profiled in the inspiring book Being a Better Human Teenager, and highlighted in more than 100 publications, television segments, podcasts, and news stories. She is also the author of the award-winning memoir But She Looks Fine: From Illness to Activism, which chronicles her journey from a sick child searching for answers to a national advocate working to create change.
Yet Olivia always dreamed of doing more than advocating for change—she wanted to help create it.
That dream led her to UCLA, where she pursued degrees in Public Health and Entrepreneurship while conducting research focused on improving diagnostics for Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses. Working alongside world-renowned scientists and engineers at the California NanoSystems Institute, Olivia contributed to the development of innovative point-of-care diagnostic technologies designed to make testing faster, more accurate, and more accessible for patients around the world.
Her research earned multiple awards at the 2025 and 2026 UCLA HHMI Undergraduate Research Symposium, including Best Overall Presentation, Best Poster, and Best Demo for projects focused on Lyme disease and other tick-borne infections. These award-winning innovations included novel point-of-care diagnostic technologies for Lyme disease in both the United States and Europe, as well as multiplexed testing platforms for multiple tick-borne diseases.
Olivia will graduate from UCLA in 2027 with a degree in Public Health and a minor Entrepreneurship as she takes the next steps in her mission to improve healthcare for patients. In 2025 she became Co-Founder and Chief Growth & Partnerships Officer of Evora Diagnostics, a biotechnology company focused on developing affordable, rapid diagnostic solutions for Lyme disease and other serious health conditions.
Through Evora, Olivia helps bridge the gap
between patients, researchers, clinicians, public health leaders, and industry partners to accelerate innovation and improve access to testing worldwide.
Today, Olivia continues to bridge the worlds of patient advocacy, public health, entrepreneurship, and scientific innovation.
Her journey—from a sick little girl searching for answers to a nonprofit founder, author, researcher, technology innovator, and biotech executive—is a testament to the power of resilience, purpose, and the belief that one person can create meaningful change.
For Olivia, the mission remains the same as it was when she founded LivLyme Foundation:
ensuring that no patient feels alone and helping build a future where better diagnostics, greater awareness, earlier treatment, and greater hope are available to everyone.
Redefining What's Possible in Diagnostics
We’re building a future where diagnostic testing is faster, more accessible, and available when and where it’s needed most.