Global Lyme Alliance Announces Grant Recipients

GREENWICH, CT. - Greenwich-based Global Lyme Alliance (GLA), the nation’s leading nonprofit funder of Lyme and tick-borne disease research and education, announced this week that it has awarded a record total of nearly $1 million in grants to seven researchers focused on post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS) or “chronic” Lyme.

“Although GLA’s scientific agenda—the identification, treatment and cure of Lyme and other tick-borne diseases—remains the same, this grant cycle we strove especially to award exceptional researchers advancing the science of post-treatment Lyme,” said Dr. Harriet Kotsoris, GLA’s Chief Scientific Officer. “Even with 21 to 28 days of antibiotic treatment, nearly 20 percent of Lyme patients exhibit persistent and debilitating symptoms such as fatigue and pain. We need to understand why.”

In announcing the new grants, Kotsoris said that GLA had received the most grant applications in its history—almost $3 million in funding requests.

“While we were pleased to receive so many quality grant applications this year, such a profusion underscores the fact that there are far more scientists competing for grants than there is funding to support them,” Kotsoris said. “Federal funding of Lyme is, in fact, minuscule, yet the Lyme threat keeps growing. This speaks to the importance of GLA’s critical role in working with private donors to drive advancements in the field.”

The resulting GLA 2015-2016 grant portfolio is “outstanding,” Kotsoris said. “The quality of the proposals and funded grants continues to increase every year.”

The seven grants were awarded to: Armin Alaedini, Ph.D., Columbia University, NY; Nicole Baumgarth, D.V.M., Ph.D., University of California, Davis; Alla Landa, Ph.D., Columbia University, NY; Kim Lewis, Ph.D., Northeastern University, Boston, MA; Benjamin Luft, M.D., State University of New York, Stony Brook; Eva Sapi, Ph.D., University of New Haven, and Ying Zhang, M.D., Ph.D., Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD.

Among the projects being supported by GLA is the first human clinical trial for pain and cognitive impairment in chronic Lyme sufferers. The trial will be conducted at Columbia University under the direction of Landa.

Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne disease in the U.S. with some 329,000 new cases reported in the United States each year, according to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. There are no accurate diagnostic tests for Lyme, no tests to prove that Lyme bacteria are eradicated or that an individual is cured. Some 15 to 20 percent of individuals with Lyme end up with long-term health problems.

Global Lyme Alliance is the nation’s leading tick-borne disease organization dedicated to supporting Lyme and tick-borne disease research and education. The 501(c)(3) nonprofit is headquartered in Greenwich.

For more information go to www.GlobalLymeAlliance.org or call 203- 969-1333.