Understanding why some people have ongoing symptoms after Lyme disease
Official title: A Prospective Study of Persistent Symptoms of Lyme Disease
Funded at Tufts University Boston · NIH-11603182 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A long-term study follows people diagnosed with acute Lyme disease to see who develops persistent symptoms and why, with care from a team of Lyme experts.
Quick facts
| Grant type | P01 program project |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Tufts University Boston NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Boston, United States) |
| Project start | September 5, 2024 |
| Project end | June 30, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $2,143,584 |
| NIH project number | 3P01AI181934-03S1 |
| Project ID | NIH-11603182 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adults diagnosed with acute Lyme disease who can be followed over time to monitor recovery and possible progression to PTLDS.
✕Less likely to help
Patients with Lyme disease who recover quickly and do not develop long-term symptoms may not need changes to their care based on this study.
What this research studies
This project follows patients from the time of acute Lyme disease diagnosis through recovery or the development of post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome. Researchers will collect clinical data, immune markers, and bacterial characteristics over time to understand multiple factors that may contribute to persistent symptoms. The effort brings together clinicians, epidemiologists, immunologists, microbiologists, and statisticians to study how prior exposures, immune responses, and bacterial traits interact. The goal is to identify patterns that could lead to better diagnosis and treatment for PTLDS in the future.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, patients could benefit from clearer diagnosis and more effective, evidence-based approaches to preventing or managing PTLDS.
How similar studies have gone: Previous studies have suggested multiple factors, but findings have not been consistently confirmed, indicating a need for the proposed prospective approach.
Where this research is happening
-
Tufts University Boston
Boston, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Hu, Linden T — Tufts University Boston
- Study coordinator: Hu, Linden T
Related research
Other NIH-funded projects on the same topics.
-
CSF Protein Map in Post-Treatment Lyme Disease
A short study to map proteins in spinal fluid of people who had Lyme disease and still feel sick after standard treatment, to understand what’s going on.
-
Lyme disease vaccine research aimed at preventing infection
Researchers are developing a Lyme disease vaccine by studying how the immune system responds to Borrelia burgdorferi and testing vaccine approaches to prevent illness.
-
Lyme disease brain health: tracking brain signals and blood clues after treatment
This study follows people with early Lyme disease and compares them to healthy volunteers to see how the brain and blood markers change over a year after starting antibiotics.
-
Lyme disease symptoms lingering after treatment may be driven by special bacterial fragments
A human-friendly look at a study exploring why some Lyme patients keep symptoms after antibiotics and whether tiny fragments from the bacteria are to blame.
-
Understanding Lyme disease immune signals to predict recovery after antibiotics
A research project at MIT aims to find immune biomarkers that tell which Lyme patients will recover after standard antibiotics and who might have lasting symptoms.
-
Imaging Lyme disease with special PET tracers
A new imaging tool using PET probes is being developed to visualize Lyme disease in people affected by Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato.
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.