Lyme research may be the exception to Trump’s cuts to science funding - EUROPE SAYS
President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in the Roosevelt Room at the White House last September. During the second Trump administration, Kennedy’s agency has made. . .
President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in the Roosevelt Room at the White House last September. During the second Trump administration, Kennedy’s agency has made sweeping cuts to scientific research, while signaling support for Lyme disease initiatives. Francis Chung/TNSGiven his high-profile comments about Lyme disease, people suffering from the tick-borne illness had reason to hope that Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. ’s tenure at the Department of Health and Human Services would produce breakthroughs many had long awaited. In late May, the department announced what it called a“sweeping plan”to combat the disease with funding for tick control programs and research incentives. Article continues below this adBut those initiatives arrive at a time of extraordinary uncertainty for a scientific community reeling from the drastic reduction in grants that have long fueled new medical discoveries. Observers say President Donald J. Trump administration’sattacks on biomedical research fundingmay undercut progress on Lyme, Alpha-gal syndrome andother tick-related pathogens. “We are in a funding crisis that has affected every single institution and every single investigator,” said Nicole Baumgarth, an immunologist specializing in tick-borne diseases at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Kennedy has long advocated for greater investment in Lyme prevention, even as he hasembraced the conspiracy theorythat the disease may have been a biological weapon engineered by U. S. military scientists during the Cold War. The health secretary previously said “every member” of his family had contracted Lyme, including a son whose face was temporarily paralyzed by the infection. Make the Times Union a Preferred Source on Google to see more of our journalism when you search. Add Preferred SourceThe department’s plan to fight Lyme includes what Kennedy said will be a “multimillion-dollar pilot” led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to develop strategies to target and eliminate ticks on wildlife before they can spread disease to humans. The plan also includes funding to boost Lyme education and public awareness campaigns with the goal of reducing cases by 25% in the next decade. Article continues below this adNotably, the HHS plan did not mention theLyme disease vaccine undergoing clinical trialsor a prophylaxis treatment in development. The term “chronic Lyme disease” remains controversial within the medical community. Many infectious disease specialists recognize that some patients experience persistent symptoms after Lyme treatment, but theygenerally attribute those symptomsto conditions such as post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome rather than an ongoing infection. Some researchers argue that the evidence does not support the idea that Lyme bacteria remain in the body after appropriate antibiotic treatment. But for people suffering from long-term Lyme symptoms and advocates accustomed to operating outside the medical establishment, Kennedy’s announcement came as a welcome development — one that Dorothy Kupcha Leland said will be closely watched in the coming months and years. As president of the national advocacy nonprofit LymeDisease. org, Kupcha Leland has had a front-row seat to changing attitudes toward tick-borne illnesses as they became more commonplace in recent years. “We applaud anything that seems like forward progress, but it comes down to whether it is carried out or not,” she said of Kennedy’s Lyme strategy. Article continues below this adScientific discovery under threatIn a recent call from her laboratory at Johns Hopkins, Baumgarth said she was encouraged by the administration’s proposals to bolster tick surveillance and public education, items she said have long been on researchers’ and advocates’ wish lists. But she fears the overall effort misunderstands the nature of scientific progress, which she said depends heavily on collaboration and long-term federal investments that have been under threat since the beginning of Trump’s second administration. Baumgarth pointed to her own research as an example of what stands to be lost as Kennedy continues to reshape the agencies he oversees byeliminating federal jobsandfreezing or canceling billions of research dollars. She studies how the human immune system responds to pathogens like influenza and the Lyme disease bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi. Last year, a grant she had been counting on was delayed several months. It was one of a small number of successful bids granted to the public health school where she works, which experienced aprecipitous decline in federal dollars. Article continues below this adFunding delays and cuts broadly aimed at infectious disease research could have the unintended consequence of imperiling potential Lyme breakthroughs, she said. “What we learn from one disease we can apply to the other,” she said. “If you chop away all the influenza research I am doing and I am only left with Lyme, I can’t see what is working and not working. ”Baumgarth has been forced to make difficult choices between equally promising lines of inquiry. And she is hardly alone. Thousands of scientists have faced similar disruptions that they warn could cause the U. S. tolose its competitive edgeas a global hub for innovation. In a quiet rebuke to the Trump administration’s cuts, Congress in February passed legislation to bolster funding for the National Institutes of Health while preventing billions of dollars in proposed cuts. A handful of Republicans joined Democrats in voting for the measure, NPRreported. Article continues below this adIn response, the NIH has slowed its process for disbursing funds. The Association of American Medical Colleges estimates that the agencyawarded about 60% fewer new grantsin the first half of the current fiscal year compared to the previous five years. Any money not distributed by the end of the fiscal year in September will revert to the Treasury Department, leading to fears that the agency may not pay out its Congressionally allotted money in time. “You can’t hollow out the entire research enterprise and expect one little seed is going to grow in this devastated landscape,” Baumgarth said. ‘Not just research’Kennedy publicly announced the plan at a news conference in New Hampshire last month afterconvening a roundtable discussionwith Lyme patients, clinicians and researchers. He said his department’s efforts were driven by skyrocketing case counts and advocacy from chronic Lyme sufferers who have “spent years searching for answers, treatment and support. ”Article continues below this adThe push comes at a time whennew cases are surgingacross the country. The rate of emergency room visits for tick bites in the Northeast reached its highest level in the last decade, the CDC reported last month. The threat is expanding, as research shows an increasing number of deer ticks arecarrying multiple pathogens. Dr. Stephanie Haridopolos, director of National Health Communications for the Office of the Surgeon General, said the administration is taking a “multipronged” approach to tackling Lyme at a time when infections are spiking and detection remains spotty. It’s “not just research,” said Haridopolos, a family physician who completed her residency at Albany Medical Center before joining the Trump administration. HHS’ efforts are also aimed at increasing public awareness of Lyme and improving treatment for people who contract it, she said, noting plans to increase Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement rates for tick-related illnesses to help doctors spend more time with Lyme patients. “There is not just one angle you have to hit Lyme disease on,” she said. Article continues below this adIn a move that signaled to advocates that the department heard their concerns, HHS officials announced they would begin directing Lyme sufferers to the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society, a nonprofit that has been focused on treating chronic Lyme long before the condition gained mainstream recognition. The department said it would create an online database of clinicians associated with the society to better connect patients to “experienced providers. ”Kupcha Leland, whose teenage daughter began suffering from chronic Lyme in 2005, said the partnership represents a drastic shift. While some clinicians who treated chronic tick-borne ailments once felt ostracized for their views, Kupcha Leland now worries they will be inundated with new patients seeking care. Doctors trained to treat Lyme beyond the use of short-term antibiotics should be the norm, not the exception, she said. “Patients need to go to their local doctor to get appropriate care that insurance will pay for,” she said. “At the moment, that is rare. ”Mixed responseResearchers and advocates said they are watching to see how Kennedy will implement his Lyme strategy. Article continues below this adSome observers said they struggle to understand how much of the plan represents new money versus funding already allocated in previous years. At least one key component, theLymeX Innovation Accelerator, was originally launched during President Trump’s first term. Others noted that vaccines were not named among the department’s initiatives. Last year, Kennedyremoved every memberof the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee and replaced several with vaccine skeptics. Yet while the health secretary has continued to embrace anti-vaccine views, he appeared to support a potential Lyme vaccine during his HHS confirmation hearing. “There is nobody who will fight harder to find a vaccine or a treatment for Lyme disease than me,” Kennedy said in early 2025 under questioning from U. S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine. Article continues below this adA shot developed by Pfizer and Valneva is currently in international clinical trials. A Pfizer spokesperson said the companies had not received federal funding for its creation. Early testing showed the vaccine wasmore than 70% effectivein preventing Lyme in people aged 5 and older, though it missed the trial’s statistical goal because not enough enrollees contracted the disease to be fully confident in the results. Also heading toward human testing is a human monoclonal antibody intended for pre-exposure prophylaxis that was developed by scientists at the University of Massachusetts and licensed last year to Tonix Pharmaceuticals. The pharmaceutical company is planning clinical trials on the technology, which would likely consist of a single annual shot. CEO Seth Lederman told the Times Union that Tonix “would welcome” federal funding to facilitate trials, but had not entered discussions with the administration. A previous Lyme vaccine manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline was available from 1998 to 2002 but was pulled off the market due to poor sales after it was accused of causing autoimmune disorders. Article continues below this adKupcha Leland speculated that HHS purposefully avoided any mention of vaccines, choosing instead to focus on ideas “the Lyme community can get behind. ” For advocates, the strategy represents a long-awaited recognition of their concerns, even as questions remain over how far the science and policy will ultimately move together.