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(link is external and opens in a new window) was established by Congress in 2016 as part of the 21st Century Cures Act(link is external and opens in a new window) 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.