Past Accelerator Projects
Tufts Launchpad | Accelerator (TLA) has for several years facilitated university faculty as they advance disclosed technologies invented at Tufts towards commercialization.
One example of a recent TLA awardee appears below; information about other awardees is available on the pages at left.
Tufts Launchpad | Accelerator Awardee: A Novel Antibody Panel for the Early Detection of Lyme Disease
Peter Gwynne, PhD, Postdoctoral Scholar, Tufts University Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology
The threat of Lyme disease, a tick-borne bacterial infection that can be transmitted to humans, is one that hits close to home for those of us located in the New England area. Yet, the diagnosis and monitoring of Lyme disease is challenging and can lead to inappropriate treatments and the overuse of antibiotics. It is estimated that the standard testing regime (STT testing) costs the U.S. health care system upwards of $500 million dollars due to its extensive use (>3 million tests are run annually). Notably, the STT test has several limitations: it does not reliably detect disease until 3-4 weeks after infection, it cannot track disease recovery, and the protocol has complex procedures and difficult to interpret results.
Dr. Gwynne is looking to address the aforementioned obstacles with a novel antibody panel for Lyme diagnosis. These previously undescribed antibodies were discovered through research into the unusual metabolism of the Lyme disease bacteria. In Lyme infected serum samples, the elevation of these antibodies are able to diagnose infection with a similar sensitivity to the STT test. Moreover, antibody titers decline after antibiotic treatment. Furthermore, these results indicate that these antibodies can allow for the quantitation of disease resolution. The new panel and associated test can easily be implemented in the clinical setting due to a simple protocol and easy-to-interpret results. This panel will assist clinicians in managing the disease and chronic symptoms, and ultimately reduce the inappropriate use of antibiotics. Dr. Gwynne also aspires to develop the panel into a point-of-care test for individuals concerned about Lyme exposure.
The Tufts University Office of the Vice Provost for Research, through the Tufts Launchpad Accelerator (TLA) program, was proud to award Dr. Gwynne funds to obtain sensitivity and specificity data to move the diagnostic closer to commercialization, and to address this urgent need. “The TLA program has not only funded the research we need to drive the development of our diagnostic but also given us access to a network of expertise and experience that has been invaluable as we move from the laboratory towards a real-world application,” says Dr. Gwynne.
