Dr. Leong started working on Lyme disease in 1989 investigating host cell interactions that are critical to pathogen spread and colonization. His first faculty appointment (1990-95) was in the Department of Rheumatology and Immunology at Tufts Medical Center, who was headed by Dr. Allen Steere, who is known for his work in Lyme, CT, characterizing the disease as a tick-borne entity.  He briefly left Tufts for a brief stint as Professor of Microbiology at the University of Massachusetts, before coming to his senses and returning to Tufts University School of Medicine as Chair of Microbiology.  Dr. Leong is an internationally recognized leader in the Pathogenesis of Lyme disease and an outstanding teacher who has been recognized with multiple teaching awards.  His laboratory currently investigates how binding of Borrelial proteins affects the pathogenesis of Lyme disease and can help evade host immune defenses.

Fun fact: Dr. Leong has literally bled for Lyme disease research, donating his own platelets to study spirochete-host cell interaction—one can see images of his platelets in his first (1993) publication on Lyme disease.

Read more about Dr. Leong at: https://medicine.tufts.edu/faculty/john-leong