About the Institute
The Johns Hopkins Lyme and Tickborne Diseases Research and Education Institute (LTBDI) is led by inaugural director Nicole Baumgarth, PhD, DVM. The Institute resides in the Bloomberg School’s Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology (MMI). Baumgarth leads the Institute’s research in four areas: vector/tick biology, epidemiology, microbiology, and host immune defense. The Institute focuses on research training and public outreach centered around the increasing threats of Lyme and other tickborne diseases to public health. In addition to Lyme disease, ticks play a role as carriers and reservoirs in over a dozen lesser-known diseases. Some, like Rocky Mountain spotted fever, are caused by bacteria, while others are caused by parasites or viruses.
Mission
Leading research and education on Lyme and other tickborne diseases to advance public health
Vision
To create a society in which an informed public will be protected from tick bites and the diseases they carry through education and provision of effective prophylaxes; and to ensure healthcare providers have access to improved and new diagnostics and therapies to better help those affected by a tickborne illness.
New Faculty Member
We are excited to share that Dr. Thomas Hart is joining as an assistant professor in the department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology as a part of the Lyme and Tickborne Diseases Research and Education Institute in the fall of 2024. He will be investigating mechanisms facilitating host infection and pathogenesis of tick-borne diseases, with a focus on Lyme disease.
To infect a human host, Lyme disease bacteria, Borrelia burgdorferi, must transition from the tick vector to the mammalian host. This transition exposes the previously tick-resident B. burgdorferi to new environmental pressures, such as a new immune system to avoid and new tissues to colonize. Dr. Hart uses fine scale molecular biology techniques and comprehensive systems biology approaches to examine the ways in which Lyme Borrelia sense and adapt to these new pressures to successfully infect the host and cause disease.
He received his Ph.D. in Biology from the State University of New York at Albany in conjunction with the New York Department of Health, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Yale University School of Medicine in the labs of Dr. Erol Fikrig in infectious diseases and Dr. Aaron Ring in immunobiology.
He will be recruiting graduate students, postdocs, and a lab manager in the fall of 2024. Please reach out to thart15@jh.edu if you are interested in these positions.
Institute News
January 23, 2025 Seminar: Rafal Tokarz
Rafal Tokarz, PhD, an Associate Professor at Columbia University will join us to discuss tickborne disease diagnostics and epidemiology.
The title of this talk will be “Insights into multi-agent assay development for tick-borne diseases”
Boosting Immunity to Protect from Lyme Disease
Nicole Baumgarth's commentary on a clinical trial for a Lyme Disease vaccine was recently published in the Lancet Infectious Disease Journal.
LTBDI Partners with Maryland Department of Health
We are excited to share that the LTBDI has partnered with Maryland Department of Health to identify ticks sent in by the public. To learn more, click here
Tickborne Diseases Research at Johns Hopkins
Johns Hopkins is home to several entities that focus on tickborne diseases research, diagnosis, and treatment.
In addition to LTBDI at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, the Lyme and Tickborne Diseases Dashboard, led by Frank Curriero at the Johns Hopkins Spatial Science for Public Health Center, harnesses the power of geography in tickborne diseases research.
In the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, the Sherrilyn and Ken Fisher Center for Environmental and Infectious Diseases, led by Paul Auwaerter, is dedicated to the clinical research of environmental pathogens which improve the diagnosis and treatment of these infections. In addition, the Lyme Disease Research Center, led by John Aucott, is pioneering patient-based multidisciplinary research in all manifestations of Lyme disease.
Nicole Baumgarth, PhD, DVM
Nicole Baumgarth, DVM, PhD, leads efforts to eliminate threats from tickborne diseases, such as Lyme. She studies why some immune responses to infections are successful and others are not.
Professor Nicole Baumgarth at the Bloomberg School.
Tickborne Diseases in the News
First travel-related death from rare tick-borne virus recorded in Maryland (October 9, 2023)
Ticks Are Bringing Disease to a Backyard Near You (April 12, 2023)
Wall Street Journal
April 12, 2023
Ticks Are Bringing Disease to a Backyard Near You: Bites, infections are increasing as temperatures warm and deer populations grow
Lyme Isn't the Only Disease to Worry About in the Northeast, CDC Says (March 18, 2023)
New York Times
March 18, 2023
Lyme Isn't the Only Tick Disease to Worry About in the Northeast, CDC says
How Climate Change Affects the Spread of Lyme Disease (Time, March 13, 2023)
Time
March 13, 2023
How Climate Change Affects the Spread of Lyme Disease
Deer ticks are benefiting from warming winters in the Northeast. That's raising health concerns (WBUR, February 28, 2023)
WBUR (Boston, MA)
February 28, 2023
Deer ticks are benefiting from warming winters in the Northeast. That's raising health concerns
As winters in the region become more mild, adult deer ticks are becoming more active at a time when they’re normally dormant – causing a bigger public health risk.
U.S. Man's Death Suggests Deadly Tick Virus Is Spreading to New Regions (Gizmodo, February 24, 2023)
Gizmodo
February 24, 2023
U.S. Man's Death Suggests Deadly Tick Virus Is Spreading to New Regions
The rare Heartland virus likely killed a man in 2021, in the first case traced to the Maryland and Virginia area
A Tick Bite Made Them Allergic to Meat (The Atlantic, April 2022)
The Atlantic
April 25, 2022
A Tick Bite Made Them Allergic to Meat: And an organ-transplant company has an unexpected solution
How to Stay Safe During Tick Season (New York Times, May 2022)
New York Times
May 27, 2022
How to Stay Safe During Tick Season
Support the Lyme and Tickborne Diseases Research and Education Institute
The Institute welcomes and appreciates gifts of all kinds. Some donors choose to make a monthly contribution. Other members of our community, including those who have been impacted by Lyme and other tickborne diseases, give a one-time donation. All contributions to study and combat these vicious diseases are accepted with appreciation.