DONORS HEAR EXCITING NEWS FROM TFL-SUPPORTED RESEARCHERS

On November 1st an invited gathering of Time for Lyme donors heard encouraging updates from three TFL research grantees at a private event in Greenwich, CT. The advances presented served to underscore the essential role played by private funding in supporting early-stage research into the diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease in its acute and chronic forms.

Dr. John Aucott of Johns Hopkins University Department of Medicine gave details of the SLICE longitudinal  study that is creating a biorepository of blood and tissue samples from Lyme disease patients, tracking them through the progress of the disease and helping researchers understand the reactions of individual patients to different strains of the Borrelia bacterium. The tissue bank is already providing a resource to researchers around the US and the SLICE study is ultimately expected to point the way to individualized treatments for chronic Lyme disease.

Dr. Armin Alaedini of Columbia University School of Medicine has confirmed parallels between chronic Lyme disease and auto-immune diseases in which the patient’s immune system turns on itself. Further work to validate this hypothesis will point the way to targeting these triggers with new treatment combinations.

Dr. Benjamin Luft, Chair of the SUNY, Stonybrook Department of Medicine explained his team’s work mapping multiple strains of Borellia which it is anticipated will provide the template for a reliable diagnostic test for acute and chronic Lyme disease.

The advances in knowledge presented in this research update underscore the huge and important role played by non-profit funders of private research in supporting the early stage discoveries that must be in place before later stage pharmaceutical and venture investment can be attracted to take new treatments through expensive clinical trials and to the bedside. We thank Time for Lyme donors for their continued support to make these advances possible.