Project 1 Mapping the incidences of Lyme’s in Northern Minnesota.
Objective: Identify the environmental reservoirs for Lyme’s Disease vectors by locating regions where the deer tick Ixodes scapularis harbors the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi.
Project 2 Develop a Point of Care assay to provide early detection of infection by Borrelia burgdorferi.
Objective: Screen for the appearance of biomarkers for the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi in serum and urine samples from dogs treated for Lyme’s Disease in regional veterinarian clinics.
Project 3 Study the role of the invariant NKT cell in mice tolerant of Borrelia burgdorferi.
Objective: Test if iNKT cells from wild type mice can transfer tolerance to CD1 knock-out mice (B6.129S1-Il12btm1Jm/J ).
