The Tufts Team just returned from the International Conference on Lyme Borreliosis and other tick-borne diseases (ICLB) in Chicago.  What an amazing conference and a great job done by the co-chairs, Cat Brissette, Jean Tsao and Bobbi Pritt.  As always, there was a lot of very interesting science being presented with notable advances in development of new diagnostics.  However, to me, one of the most striking things about this meeting compared with meetings in the past was the number of talks and posters focused on post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS).  Previously, there would only be a few isolated groups presenting on PTLDS, if any, but it is clear that PTLDS research has been turbocharged by funding both in the U.S. and in Europe and discussions about PTLDS have entered the mainstream. And while no major breakthroughs in the understanding of PTLDS were announced at the meeting, I think it is so hopeful that, as presented by Joppe Hovius in a plenary talk at the meeting, that so many groups have invested in creating well documented biobanks with samples from patients with PTLDS and that the groups are working together to coordinate their efforts so that the utility of these samples can be maximized for everyone. The lack of samples has been a major hinderance to advancing research on PTLDS.  The combination of better biobanks and new technologies gives me great hope for making progress on PTLDS in the coming years!