Devyn Yolda-Carr

Research/Areas of Interest

Lyme Disease, caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, is the leading tick-borne illness in the U.S. The enzootic cycle of B. burgdorferi involves rodents that can be successively infected by strains that produce distinct variants of the outer surface protein OspC. Lyme disease patients may also suffer reinfection, and the risk of disseminated Lyme disease varies with different OspC variants. My goal is to understand mechanisms of reinfection and their relationship to immune evasion, with particular interest in the potential role of OspC