Events

INFEST-igate LYME, June 20-21st, 2024, Boston, MA

Lyme Researchers Networking Conference

The Tufts Lyme Disease Initiative will be sponsoring a conference for Lyme disease researchers June 20-21st, at Tufts University, Medford, MA.  The goal of this conference will be to develop networks within the Lyme research community to ensure the future of the next generation of investigators. Be prepared for a different kind of conference filled with elevator pitches, speed networking for collaborations, meet the funders and “Shark tank” evaluation of proposals!!  

There will be no conference fee for attending.  Attendance is open to Lyme faculty researchers at all levels and to post-doctoral fellows who are committed to staying in the field of Lyme disease research (i.e. submitted a funding proposal to any government agency or foundation).  Due to space and cost limitations, registration will be limited to 75 participants.

 

The Final Program is available here.  Hotel and travel information is available here.

Registration is now LIVE.  Jump to the application using this link.

UPDATE: The conference is now full and all speaking spots have been assigned.   New applications will be placed on the waitlist. 

See you in 2024!!

 

 

 

Organizing committee:

Alan Barbour, University of California, Irvine

Jorge Benach, Stonybrook University

Linda Bockenstedt, Yale University

Jenifer Coburn, Medical College of Wisconsin

Linden Hu, Tufts University

John Leong, Tufts University

Justin Radolf, University of Connecticut

Patti Rosa, Rocky Mountain Laboratories (emeritus)

Ira Schwartz, New York Medical College

Janis Weis, University of Utah

 

Planning committee

Trever Smith, Chair, Tufts University

Philip Adams, National Institutes of Health

Nicole Baumgarth, Johns Hopkins University

Jeffrey Bourgeois, Tufts University

Nadine Bowden, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Brandon Jutras, Virginia Tech

Maria Gomes-Solecki, University of Tennessee

Yi-Pin Lin, Tufts University

Sukanya Narasimhan, Yale University

Nicholas Ogden, Public Health Agency of Canada

Raj Priya, Indiana University

Sajith Raghunandanan, Indiana University

Isobel Ronai, Harvard University

Bikash Sahay, University of Florida

Nick Takacs, Northeastern University

Michal Tal, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Alvaro Toledo, Rutgers University

Mark Wooten, University of Toledo

Wolf Zuckert, University of Kansas

What was the Tufts Lyme Disease Challenge?

A day of panel discussions, breakout sessions, team competition, food and prizes – as Tufts meets the challenge to end Lyme disease by 2030!

Supported by Tufts University Trustee, Hugh Roome, the Lyme Disease Challenge was a competition to encourage the best young minds of the University to work together in teams to solve some of the many issues that have stood in the way of reducing Lyme disease.  

The afternoon begun with an introduction to Lyme disease and the public health problem it presents by Dr. Amy Ullmann of CDC. This was followed by short, focused panel discussions highlighting some of the major barriers to success in controlling Lyme disease and an examination of why it continues to expand despite our best efforts.   We discussed gaps in public policy, education, diagnosis, treatment, animal health, ecology/epidemiology and basic knowledge about the organism causing the disease.

The participants had the opportunity to form teams and develop their approaches with the assistance of the coaches who brought expertise in specific areas of Lyme disease.  

Teams then presented their ideas to the group at the end of the day for feedback. After the event, teams were asked to submit video proposals that competed for funding to help turn their ideas into action.

The following video proposals were submitted: