WPI Researcher Receives $542,500 Award to Identify What Makes Lyme Disease Tick

Worcester Polytechnic Institute researcher Jeffrey Bourgeois has been awarded a $542,500 grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to identify genetic factors that influence inflammation in humans who have been infected with the tick-borne bacterium that causes Lyme disease. The goal is to enable better prediction, prevention, and treatment of Lyme disease, which can lead to serious inflammatory conditions, such as arthritis, and long-term illness. “Some patients have mild inflammatory responses to Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacteria that causes Lyme disease, while others suffer severe symptoms, even well after treatment,” said Bourgeois, an assistant professor in the Department of Biology and Biotechnology. “It’s not clear why patients have such different experiences. We need a better understanding of how small differences in human genes across individuals may be driving inflammation.” Over three years, Bourgeois will build a library of human blood samples and develop a laboratory process to screen macrophages, a type of white blood cell, for genes that have been activated after exposure to B. burgdorferi. He will identify small changes in the DNA code within genes that are associated with the immune system’s response to infection, including disruptions in immune “memory” that leave some patients struggling with persistent symptoms. In addition, he will examine associations between differences in DNA sequences in blood samples collected from patients with longer-term symptoms. The grant is part of a military initiative to accelerate research that could lead to advances in preventing and treating Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases in military members, veterans, their families, and the public. Lyme disease was first identified in 1975 in Lyme, Conn., by researchers investigating a cluster of children with juvenile arthritis. An estimated 476,000 people are diagnosed and treated for Lyme disease every year in the United States, and most cases occur in the Northeast and Midwest. The disease moves from animals to humans through black-legged ticks, also known as deer ticks. The ticks feed on infected mice and birds, and the ticks then transmit the spiral-shaped bacteria to humans through a bite. One sign of infection is a telltale circular rash at the site of a tick bite. If treated with antibiotics soon after infection, Lyme disease patients typically recover rapidly and completely. However, some patients never develop a rash and may not know that they have been bitten until the illness has progressed to more severe symptoms. Bourgeois joined the WPI faculty in 2025 after earning his PhD at Duke University and completing post-doctoral research at Tufts University. A Rhode Island native, he earned his bachelor’s degree at College of the Holy Cross in Worcester. For Bourgeois, focusing his research on B. burgdorferi is a chance to solve a puzzle and a personal matter. “B. burgdorferi is challenging,” Bourgeois said. “In nature, it exists only in ticks and vertebrates like mice. In labs, it is difficult to culture and study. Yet it causes so many health problems for humans. I grew up in New England, where Lyme disease was first recognized, and I have friends who’ve had Lyme disease, so I understand the impact this disease can have on people.” This work will be supported by the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs through the Tick-Borne Disease Research Program, endorsed by the Department of Defense under Award number HT9425-25-1-0547. Opinions, interpretations, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Department of Defense.