Clinical Trials Network Coordinating Center (CTNCC) for Lyme and other Tick-Borne Diseases at Columbia University Irving Medical Center
CTN launches a website and welcomes your ideas on novel treatment approaches in the field of Lyme and the Tick-borne diseases.
In recognition of a severe unmet need, the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation’s grant to Columbia University investigators establishes the first National Clinical Trials Network Coordinating Center for Lyme and other Tick-borne Diseases. Under the leadership of Dr. Brian Fallon, this Clinical Trials Coordinating Center aims to propel national research toward the goal of identifying more effective treatments for patients with Lyme and other tick-borne diseases.
Providing oversight to ensure that the highest-quality clinical trials are undertaken, the CTN Coordinating Center at Columbia will provide funding support for pilot studies, assist investigators in protocol design and statistical research planning, establish and manage a national case registry, and create a data management system for multi-site clinical trials. The clinical trials network will be a powerful engine to drive large-scale clinical trials and potentially transformational early stage research.
Our research network brings together internationally renowned investigators with expertise in Lyme and tick-borne diseases, infectious disease, neuropsychiatry, precision medicine, and clinical trials. The Research Network starts with a team of leading investigators, including Dr. Brian Fallon at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City, Dr. John Aucott at Johns Hopkins University Medical Center in Baltimore Maryland, and Dr. Roberta DeBiasi at Children's National Hospital in Washington D.C.. The research infrastructure is led by Mailman School of Public Health senior biostatistician and data system director (Martina Pavlicova, PhD and Richard Buchsbaum). The Coordinating Center provides expertise in the design and data management of clinical trials to its collaborating “nodes” where the research will be conducted.
Invitation for input and collaboration
The CTNCC welcomes input from the public, community clinicians, and academics regarding novel treatment approaches that we should review and consider. If you would like to be placed on our mailing list to be kept up to date on the Clinical Trial Network announcements, please fill out our Contact Us form or email us at lyme_center_ctn@cumc.columbia.edu.
Clinical Trial Network team:
Brian A. Fallon, MD, MPH, is the CTN director. He is also the director of the Center for Neuroinflammatory Disorders and Biobehavioral Medicine and director of the Lyme and Tick-Borne Diseases Research Center at Columbia University.
Roberta Lynn DeBiasi, M.D., M.S., is Chief of the Division of Pediatric Diseases and Co-Director of the Congenital Zika Program at Children's National Hospital a CTN Node Principal Investigator.
John Nathaniel Aucott, M.D., is an Associate Professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a CTN Node Principal Investigator.
Martina Pavlicova, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Biostatistics at the Columbia University Medical Center and a CTN Senior Statistician.
Richard Buchsbaum, MS, is a Senior Staff Associate in the Department of Biostatistics at the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University Data Systems and a CTN Data Center Director.
Clinical Trial Network nodes:
Johns Hopkins Lyme Disease Research Center
Columbia Lyme and Tick-Borne Diseases Research Center
Children's National Infectious Disease