Sex Differences - How men and women differ in their immune responses and in how they develop chronic illnesses, including the roles of sex hormones and the immune system.

Mechanisms Behind Chronic Illness - Exploring how the immune system, nervous system, and other processes cause chronic illness, using advanced, non-invasive tests to study brain function, cognition, and blood flow in our MAESTRO clinical study.

Biomarkers of Chronic Illness - Collecting and studying biological samples to find new indicators (biomarkers) of chronic diseases.

Immune-Pathogen Interactions - How infections trigger immune reactions or escape immune defenses, particularly in Lyme disease, to find better treatments.

Links Between Related Chronic Illnesses - The similarities and overlaps among conditions like chronic Lyme, Long COVID, ME/CFS, POTS, mast cell disorders, endometriosis, fibromyalgia, and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome in a program called Project Connect at MIT.

Environmental Risk Factors - Investigating how exposures to things like toxic chemicals and mold might increase the risk of developing infection-related chronic illnesses.

Predictive Diagnostics - We are developing immune-based tests to predict who will recover and who may develop chronic illnesses after infection, starting with Lyme disease and aiming to expand to Long COVID and ME/CFS.

Immune-Pathogen Interactions - How infections trigger immune reactions or escape immune defenses, particularly in Lyme disease, to find better treatments.

Mouse Models - Using mouse models to study how infections cause organ damage and chronic illness, focusing on Lyme disease.

Connective Tissue Damage and Disorders - Assessing skin and joint problems linked to chronic illnesses and study how connective tissue damage occurs.

Reproductive Health - Researching how infections might cause reproductive and gynecological problems, including studies in mouse models.