Newsweek: Scientists (led by TLDI’s very own Pete Gwynne!)  have identified a group of immune molecules that could help doctors catch Lyme disease earlier and identify patients whose symptoms linger long after treatment ends. The findings, led by Tufts University School of Medicine, could pave the way for better tests that catch Lyme disease in its earliest stages, when antibiotics work best, and help doctors identify patients still struggling with symptoms after treatment.

Vineyard Gazette: Researchers are turning to Martha’s Vineyard and other New England areas that have been hit hard with Lyme disease in order to better understand why some people experience symptoms of the tick-borne illness long after treatment. The study, called PROSSECO for short, is lead by TLDI scientists and hopes to follow more than 1,000 patients to learn why some can recover quickly from Lyme while others can suffer aches, brain fog, rashes and chronic tiredness for months or years.

Worcester Telegram & Gazette: Sam Telford, an epidemiologist at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine and a TLDI investigator, was interviewed by Henry Schwan for the Worcester Telegram about the hype around this year’s tick season. While every year is a bad year for ticks, the hype this year seems overblown- in fact, we are seeing a smaller population of deer ticks in most measures, probably due to several relatively dry summers in a row.

The Guardian: Our fearless leader, Linden Hu, was interviewed by Nicola Davis for The Guardian in an article about how the diagnosis of Lyme disease in England is up more than 20% in a year. He spoke about why human Lyme prevention has lagged behind veterinary medicine, and where the field is headed. He highlighted that dogs have better Lyme prevention than people do, at the moment, why an earlier vaccine (LYMErix) was withdrawn from the market, how new vaccines are being designed and some of the current progress towards new Lyme vaccines and tools to prevent infection.

Portland Press Herald: Tufts Lyme Disease Initiative Co-Director, Robert Smith, spoke to Joe Lawlor for the Portland Press Herald about the PROSSECO study. PROSSECO began in 2025 and is starting its second enrollment season. The study enrolls patients when they are first diagnosed with Lyme disease, and observes their recovery over several time points during and treatment, studying why some people continue to have symptoms months or years after contracting the infection.

CBS 60 Minutes:  MIT professor Kevin Estvelt and Tufts Lyme researcher Sam Telford discuss a new approach to eradicating Lyme disease by making one of its reservoir hosts, the white footed mouse, resistant to infection with the Lyme bacteria. In 2013, Esvelt was the first to identify that CRISPR, a technology that allows scientists to modify DNA, could be used to change a species’ genetics in perpetuity. His discovery led to Mice Against Ticks, a project run out of Esvelt’s Sculpting Evolution lab at MIT. For the last nine years, he and researcher Joanna Buchthal have looked into whether they could add a gene for an antibody that prevents Lyme disease to a mouse embryo that has progressed into two cells. The lab’s technique involves injecting both cells to maximize the likelihood of getting the antibody into the DNA.  Dr. Telford is helping the team plan testing on Nantucket Island.