MMI's Lyme and Tickborne Diseases Research and Education Institute, led by Nicole Baumgarth, DVM, PhD, Hosts Ticks Symposium

Lyme and Tickborne Diseases Research and Education Institute, led by BDP Nicole Baumgarth, DVM, PhD, Hosts Ticks Symposium

More than 100 researchers, principal investigators, and other leaders in the field of Lyme and tickborne diseases convened in person at the Bloomberg School on May 3 for the Ticks and Tickborne Diseases symposium hosted by the Lyme and Tickborne Diseases Research and Education Institute (LTBDI). The symposium charted current research and future priorities and was an opportunity for tickborne disease researchers to exchange ideas, discuss tickborne disease trends, and spotlight the latest research findings in this critical and ever-changing field.

The symposium included an overview of the latest tickborne diseases research being conducted across Johns Hopkins. Invited speakers shared their research which included the molecular genetics of Lyme spirochete-to-host immune response, diagnostics for Lyme and other tickborne diseases such as babesiosis. Speakers included:

• Charles Chiu of the University of California, San Francisco
• Maria Diuk-Wasser of Columbia University
• Peter Krause of Yale School of Public Health and Yale School of Medicine
• Rick Ostfeld of Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies
• Patricia Rosa of NIH/NIAID Rocky Mountain Labs
• Allen Steere of Harvard Medical School

The Institute is led by Bloomberg Distinguished Professor Nicole Baumgarth, an expert on infection with Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease. The Institute focuses on the urgent and growing public health threat that Lyme and other tickborne diseases cause. The Institute provides research training and public outreach focused on a variety of tickborne disease.

Learn more about the Institute here.