The Bourgeois Lab strives to understand how pathogens and their hosts interact. Specifically, we leverage natural diversity (pathogen and host diversity) to understand how and why we observe variation in infection-related phenomena (e.g. inflammation, transmission, disease severity). Our work primarily involves studying the atypical Gram negative spirochete that causes Lyme disease--Borrelia burgdorferi. A B. burgdorferi infection is acquired through an infected Ixodes tick bite and can manifest in a wide range of symptoms, including erythema migrans, arthritis, carditis, or neurological symptoms. Other patients remain asymptomatic following infection. Estimates indicate that there are approximately 476,000 new cases of Lyme disease in the United States, 5,000 new cases in Massachusetts, and 700 new cases in Worcester County annually. To persist in nature, B. burgdorferi continuously cycles through vertebrate reservoirs (typically deermice, shrews, or birds in the United States) and Ixodes tick vectors (Typically Ixodes scapularis in the United States). Understanding how B. burgdorferi interact with these hosts could reveal weaknesses in the bacteria’s survival.
Two fundamental questions being addressed by the lab are:
- How do Borrelia burgdorferi, Ixodes scapularis “deer ticks,” and reservoir hosts interact to propagate B. burgdorferi in nature?
- Why are clinical manifestations of Lyme disease so variable in human patients?
Additional projects seek to investigate basic concepts of B. burgdorferi biology, potential therapeutic interventions for Lyme disease, and disruption of the enzootic cycle.
