MIT MAESTRO (Mucosal And systEmic Signatures Triggered by Responses to infectious Organisms) is the largest clinical study in MIT history. The goal from this study is to better understand why some people don’t fully recover from illness. While most people recover quickly from Lyme disease after antibiotics, around 10% don’t. They can have symptoms from mild aching to debilitating migraines and joint pain. A similar pattern is seen in COVID infections, where around 10% of those who get a COVID infection don’t recover and have Long COVID.

Scientists have very little understanding of why some people recover while others don’t. This makes it incredibly difficult to diagnose, treat, or prevent these chronic infectious illnesses.

MAESTRO collects biological and cogitative data from participants. This data is securely stored and analyzed so that scientists can learn what the base cause of chronic infectious illnesses are.

What do participants do?

Participants in the MAESTRO study will have a series of tests and samples taken from them. These samples include:

• Blood sample

• Saliva sample

• Throat swab

• Urine sample

• Vaginal swab

• Vital signs

The tests that participants will be asked to perform include:

• BrainCheck - tests neurocognitive function

• RightEye - tests eye tracking/movement

• WAVI - scans brain electrical activity

• NASA Lean Test - tests for autonomic dysfunction and POTS

• NEVISENSE - tests skin barrier integrity and connective tissue abnormalities