Welcome to the Community Awareness and Research Engagement (CARE) for Lyme study. Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne illness in the U.S., affecting hundreds of thousands of people each year. Many people develop chronic illness after infection, and we don’t fully understand why.
The goal of this study is to better understand what happens in the body after a person is bitten by a tick carrying Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacteria that causes Lyme disease. If your tick tested positive, you're in a critical early time window for understanding what happens next, and that's why we're reaching out. Most Lyme disease studies begin after the illness is already advanced, because early symptoms are easy to miss. This study is different because we are recruiting people shortly after they are bitten by a tick that tested positive for Borrelia burgdorferi so that we can study the body’s response from the very beginning and whether or not individuals develop symptoms at all.
Participation is designed to take place at home, using an innovative approach that makes it easier and more convenient for people to take part in research. Reducing barriers to involvement, we can capture timely data from a wider range of people, leading to more robust insights.
By studying how people's biology and health histories differ, we hope to identify patterns that may affect whether illness develops and how severe it becomes, guiding more effective treatment strategies and raising awareness about different aspects of Lyme disease.
In partnership with:
Join the CARE for Lyme Study
By participating in our surveys and using at-home sample kits, you’ll help us learn:
- What biomarkers reflect why some people develop Lyme symptoms while others do not
- A biomarker is something in your body like a cell, proteins or piece of DNA that give researchers and doctors clues about your health.
- For example, one protein we are exploring as a potential biomarker for Lyme disease risk is SCGB1D2, which is produced in glands throughout the body. In previous mouse studies, higher levels of SCGB1D2 were associated with a reduced risk of developing both acute and chronic Lyme disease (Strausz et al. 2024. Nature Communications). However, this protein has not yet been evaluated as a biomarker in humans.
- How effective at-home collection frameworks are for gathering research data
- How Borrelia burgdorferi-infections might affect chronic disease, including reproductive health
- A biomarker is something in your body like a cell, proteins or piece of DNA that give researchers and doctors clues about your health.
Eligibility Criteria
- Are at least 18 years old
- Have access to a computer to complete the study online in English
- Were bitten by a tick within the last 14 days
- Submitted their tick to TickReport™ for testing
- Received a positive result for Borrelia burgdorferi from TickReport
Participant Requirements
All participants who sign the Survey Collection Consent Form will be asked to complete a set of online surveys every 3 months for one year. These surveys are designed to track changes in health and symptoms over time.
Some participants may also be invited to join the sample collection portion of the study. Those who choose to participate will sign a Sample Collection Consent Form and will be asked to collect and return biological samples (see our Participant Resources webpage for more information) using an at-home kit twice — once at the beginning of the study and again at the 6-month timepoint. Each time they complete a kit, they will also be asked to fill out a short, related survey.
Participant Compensation
Participants will receive Amazon e-gift cards after each timepoint based on the study activities they complete. The total possible compensation for participating over the course of one year is:
- Up to $225 for participants who complete surveys only
- Up to $450 for participants who complete both surveys and biospecimen collection
Additional Study Information
Review our Participant Resources for more information about the study.
You can also contact us with questions.