Brian Fallon, MD, MPH Selected for U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Tick-Borne Diseases Subcommittee

Given his extensive expertise on the neurologic and neuropsychiatric aspects of Lyme disease, including its chronic aspects, Brian Fallon, MD, MPH, director of the Lyme and Tick-Borne Diseases Research Center and Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at the Columbia University Medical Center, was selected to serve on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Tick-Borne Diseases subcommittee addressing treatment and pathogenesis.

Dr. Fallon and his team at Columbia conducted one of the NIH-funded clinical trials addressing longer-term IV antibiotic therapy for patients with post-treatment Lyme encephalopathy. The Tick-Borne Disease Working Group was established by Congress in 2016 as part of the 21st Century Cures Act to provide subject matter expertise and review federal efforts related to all tick-borne diseases, to help ensure interagency coordination and minimize overlap, and to examine research priorities. The focus of this effort is the development of a report to the Secretary of Health and Human Services and Congress on the findings and recommendations of the working group for the federal response to tick-borne disease prevention, treatment, and research, as well as how to address gaps in these areas.