Addressing Barriers in Lyme Disease Research

By Mase Peterson

Peter Gwynne’s career at Tufts University School of Medicine began with a postdoctoral fellowship that quickly evolved into a long-term commitment to Lyme disease research. Now a faculty member, he is a key figure in the Tufts Lyme Disease Initiative, leveraging his background in both academia and industry to bridge critical gaps in diagnostics and treatment. With a deep focus on translational research, Gwynne is spearheading efforts to develop an antibody-based diagnostic test for post-treatment Lyme disease—one of the many pressing challenges in the field. His work underscores the importance of collaboration, bringing together researchers, clinicians, and industry partners to ensure that scientific advancements translate into real-world patient impact.

Tufts is home to one of the world’s most comprehensive groups of tick-borne disease researchers. Led by co-directors Linden Hu, Paul and Elaine Chervinsky Professor of Immunology, and Robert P. Smith, a physician at Maine Medical Center and professor of medicine, the team recently secured a $20.7 million federal grant. This achievement further solidifies Tufts’ position as a global leader in Lyme disease research.

In this Q&A, part of a feature series spotlighting members of the Tufts Lyme Disease Initiative, Peter Gwynne, research assistant professor of molecular biology and microbiology, shares insights into his background, his current research, and the unique perspectives he brings to the field.

Tell us about yourself! How did you get involved with the Tufts Lyme Disease Initiative?

I trained in the UK and initially came to Tufts School of Medicine for a 2-year postdoctoral fellowship The science started moving along, and I really loved the environment at Tufts, so that turned into a 4-year postdoc and now a faculty position. People usually move institutions when they start an independent lab, but the Lyme Disease Initiative and Tufts Center for Integrated Management of Antimicrobial Resistance (CIMAR) were two big reasons for me to stay and grow my lab at Tufts.

What are the main obstacles you face in developing an antibody-based diagnostic test for post-treatment Lyme disease, and how do you plan to overcome them to improve patient outcomes?

There’s a big practical challenge which is that we don’t have the right clinical samples to really study Lyme disease. It’s a complex disease and it comes and goes over time, so you need to follow people over a long time. Obviously, it’s hard to get volunteers (especially sick people) to buy into that. A major focus of the project that’s about to start at Tufts is collecting a load of patient samples and data that can be a resource to the researchers at Tufts but also the rest of the world.

Given the increasing prevalence of Lyme disease, what gaps in current treatment and diagnostic approaches do you believe the Initiative’s research can help address?

There are so many gaps: we don’t have a vaccine or pre-exposure prophylaxis, the diagnostic tests are nowhere near where they need to be, and treatments fail in a significant number of people. We know virtually nothing about post-treatment Lyme disease: we don’t know what causes it, we can’t properly diagnose it, and we have no idea how to treat it. I think solving any complex problem needs a whole range of expertise. One thing the Tufts Lyme Disease Initiative is trying to do is bring together people from across Tufts University to connect that expertise.

How do you see collaborations between academia and industry shaping the future of Lyme disease research and treatment innovations?

My first two jobs out of grad school were academic-industry partnerships and I love working on that kind of translational research. I think having buy-in from all sides (companies, academics, clinical, and patient groups) is absolutely vital to getting new technologies to patients. My lab is currently working with a diagnostics company to provide an independent validation of their device. I think that academics can be useful in that way, providing impartial analysis and opinions, as well as in doing basic discovery research. Going the other way, we know that Tufts University isn’t about to start selling test kits, so we’ve been very proactive about getting input from people in the industry to make sure we’re doing the right things as we develop our own diagnostic test.

If you could rally the TUSM community around one key takeaway from your Lyme disease research, what would it be?

The lesson I’ve taken away from this project is that it’s so much easier to get people excited about patient-focused research. While studying bacterial lipid metabolism is crucial as the basic science behind the diagnostic test, it's the translational aspect that truly captures people's interest. In this project, we transitioned directly from the foundational basic science to focusing on the potential patient impact. This approach will guide the planning of my future research projects. The goal is to conduct sufficient basic science to enable a translational project, rather than spending a decade on basic research and then wondering, “can we do anything with this?”.

Outside of the lab, what’s something you enjoy doing that helps you step away from research and recharge?

I spend 90% of my time either thinking about sports or playing sports. I’m better at the former. I think I was Edinburgh’s only Denver Broncos fan and now I’m confident I’m Boston’s only Notts County F.C. fan. I mostly play football and volleyball but also play first base for the Tufts Mighty Microbes softball team. I’m slightly better than average at darts.