Accelerating Breakthroughs, Advancing Hope: How Bay Area Lyme Powers Lyme Disease Research

Bay Area Lyme Leading the Way Series

“Every one of our success stories amplifies the ripple effect of philanthropy done right: targeted, strategic, and driven by measurable impact.”

– Katariina Tuovinen

For more than a decade, Bay Area Lyme Foundation has been rewriting the story of Lyme and tick-borne disease research. With a mission to make Lyme disease easy to diagnose and simple to cure, the Foundation has built a national reputation as a nimble, entrepreneurial engine for scientific innovation. Since its founding in 2012, Bay Area Lyme has invested more than $31 million to support over 60 groundbreaking studies and partnerships across 56 institutions nationwide, each one helping to transform the landscape of Lyme disease diagnostics, treatments, and prevention. 

At the heart of this success lies a small but mighty force: The Bay Area Lyme Science Committee, led by Research Grant Director Katariina Tuovinen, MS, MBA, MA, together with pediatric infectious disease physician Charlotte Mao, MD, MPH, and Liz Horn, PhD, MBI, Principal Investigator of Lyme Disease Biobank. Together, this team guides a grantmaking strategy that prizes bold ideas, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and measurable impact—an approach that has introduced new talent, fresh perspectives, and innovative technologies to a field that desperately needs them.

Funding Patient-Focused Science

Every decision made by the Science Committee flows directly from Bay Area Lyme’s mission. “Our goal is to accelerate progress toward better diagnostics and therapeutics,” explains Tuovinen. “Everything we fund must ultimately help Lyme patients.” The Foundation supports a broad range of research, from laboratory studies on persistent infection and immune response to ecology projects mapping tick habitats and disease risk. Yet diagnostics and therapeutics remain the core focus, together representing nearly 90 percent of Bay Area Lyme’s funding portfolio. “We see ourselves as the connective tissue of the research ecosystem,” Tuovinen says. 

Projects are accepted for consideration three times per year and undergo rigorous internal and external review. The Scientific Advisory Board (SAB)—a distinguished group of independent experts—provides technical evaluation and strategic guidance before final approval by the Bay Area Lyme Board of Directors. And 72% of Bay Area Lyme–funded researchers secure follow-on grants, amplifying the Foundation’s catalytic impact across the scientific community.

Fostering A Community of Collaboration

What sets Bay Area Lyme apart is that its support extends far beyond financial grants. The Foundation actively helps its researchers succeed, offering communications support, scientific connections, and access to one of the field’s most valuable resources: Lyme Disease Biobank. The Biobank provides well-characterized blood, urine, and tissue samples from Lyme patients, each paired with detailed medical histories and testing data. These resources enable scientists to validate assays, explore immune pathways, and uncover biomarkers that could change how Lyme is diagnosed and treated. To-date, over 24,000 Biobank samples have been distributed and the participation of Lyme patients has made this possible.

Equally valuable is the Foundation’s ability to connect people. “Sometimes our role is to spark the right conversation,” Tuovinen notes. “That can be just as important as a grant.” This spirit of collaboration extends to Bay Area Lyme’s Scientific Advisory Board, whose members—leaders like John Aucott, MD, Charles Chiu, MD, PhD, Monica Embers, PhD, Linden Hu, MD, and Bill Robinson, MD, PhD—serve as thought partners, reviewers, and champions of rigorous, patient-focused science.

Catalyzing New Talent Through the Emerging Leader Award

Among Bay Area Lyme’s signature initiatives, the Emerging Leader Award stands out as a beacon for innovation. Launched in 2014 and conceived by former Research Grant Director Wendy Adams, these awards provide $150,000 in seed funding each year for a promising diagnostic or therapeutic project. “The idea was to pull in talent from disciplines like immunoengineering, molecular diagnostics, or microbiology—areas where transformative insights often originate,” Tuovinen says. 

The Emerging Leader Award has become one of the most prestigious grants in Lyme research, fueling breakthroughs and attracting new scientific talent to the field. Since its inception, Bay Area Lyme has awarded $2.7 million to 21 scientists. Many recipients have gone on to secure major grants, launch biotech ventures, or make discoveries that reshape understanding of persistent infection. The award has also strengthened Bay Area Lyme’s reputation as a foundation that invests in people as much as projects, encouraging creative risk-taking and rewarding excellence with opportunity.

The Power of Philanthropy and Proof of Concept

Bay Area Lyme’s approach is deeply entrepreneurial. Rather than wait for consensus or established pathways, the organization takes strategic risks, backing early-stage ideas that have the potential to shift paradigms. Its proof-of-concept philosophy allows researchers to test hypotheses, generate pilot data, and position their work for larger grants. In this way, philanthropic investment becomes a catalyst for scientific acceleration. “A small grant from Bay Area Lyme might lead to a breakthrough in understanding how Borrelia bacteria persist after antibiotic treatment, or a diagnostic that catches Lyme earlier and more accurately,” Tuovinen says. “That’s the power of this model.” 

Through its funding and partnership programs, the Foundation has helped drive numerous advances—from sequencing the Lyme genome, to identifying new drug targets, to uncovering immune differences between men and women. “Every one of our success stories amplifies the ripple effect of philanthropy done right: targeted, strategic, and driven by measurable impact,” Tuovinen adds.

A Decade of Progress

“We are genuinely seeing momentum. There’s so much exciting work happening right now, and patients should have hope.”

– Katariina Tuovinen

As Bay Area Lyme Foundation enters its second decade, the energy surrounding its mission has never been stronger. The field of Lyme disease research—once fragmented and underfunded—is now buzzing with innovation, thanks in large part to the Foundation’s catalytic support and persistent advocacy. “We are genuinely seeing momentum,” says Tuovinen. “There’s so much exciting work happening right now, and patients should have hope.” The numbers tell the story: over $31 million awarded, more than 100 projects supported, and dozens of early-career scientists drawn into a field that urgently needs new ideas. But the real story is one of lives touched and hope rekindled—proof that determined philanthropy can accelerate progress toward a cure.

Join Us To Fuel the Next Breakthrough

Scientific progress doesn’t happen in isolation. Every discovery, every sample, every new idea begins with someone who believes that change is possible. “Bay Area Lyme Foundation is proof that bold philanthropy can transform the future of Lyme and tick-borne disease research,” comments Linda Giampa, Executive Director of Bay Area Lyme. “We urge Lyme patients to read our Impact Report to see how this community is advancing diagnostics, treatments, and prevention nationwide. Together, we can make Lyme disease easy to diagnose, simple to cure, and impossible to ignore.” 

This is the organization that is truly placing the needs of patients at the forefront of every single decision made, and looks forward to a time when—by leveraging the power of philanthropy and private donations—Lyme disease is no longer a threat to public health.