Developing Treatment for Lyme Disease

Join us for the February installment of our 8th annual Science Pub speaker series with Dr. Kim Lewis of Northeastern University. Dr. Lewis will present research on two developing treatments for Lyme disease.

Acute Lyme disease caused by the spirochete B. burgdorferi is treated with broad-spectrum antibiotics such as doxycycline, but about 10% of patients go on to develop a chronic disease with autoimmune disease-like symptoms.

Our experiments suggest that B. burgdorferi affects the gut microbiome, and this microbiome is further damaged by the broad-spectrum antibiotics used to treat acute Lyme disease- resulting in a change to the immune system with symptoms of a chronic disease. We are developing two treatments– a microbiome therapeutic, and a selective antibiotic to target acute Lyme disease.

To learn more about Dr. Lewis’ work, visit the lab website here.

All Science Pub presentations are free and open to all, but registration is required here.