Cornell University seeks funding after stop-order on tick research

Ithaca, N.Y. — Work on a new test for hundreds of tick-borne diseases has been halted at Cornell University following a stop-work order on an $886,000 grant from the US Department of Defense.

Researchers in the Goodman Lab at Cornell’s Baker Institute for Animal Health had just finished testing a promising prototype in raccoons and white-footed mice when the April order paused further research and put three researcher positions at risk.

“It’s a huge impact on my ability to advance this work, which is only just at the beginning,” said Dr. Laura Goodman, PhD and assistant professor at Cornell’s College of Veterinary Medicine. “Having it stopped at this stage is quite perilous for the technology and will count against us when applying for funding to move it forward.”

Though just over 85% of the work had been done on the grant, Dr. Ximena Olarte Castillo, a postdoctoral associate in Goodman’s lab, says the stop-work order left them without funding to purchase supplies to detect additional diseases, which leaves their data sets short.

“We wanted to have more results to be able to apply for the next phase of grants,” Olarte Castillo said.

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Developing the test was just the first phase; subsequent work – if Goodman can find the funding – will begin to test human blood samples and broaden the scope of the expandable test to include viruses and pathogens from around the world where US troops might be deployed, which is why the Department of Defense awarded the initial grant in 2022.

The lab is actively seeking alternative funding sources for the test, which would be a game changer for early detection and treatment of tick-borne diseases. Not only is the test comprehensive (currently testing for 29 different bacteria and parasites as well as 116 viruses), but it is quick. Results are available in as little as four days, says Olarte Castillo.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, current antibody tests can take four to six weeks to show a positive result. But instead of relying on the body’s response to the pathogen, Goodman’s test looks for the pathogen itself, allowing doctors to begin treatment before the disease takes hold.

“It’s very important that if someone is bitten by a tick or has a tick-borne disease, that they get the appropriate treatment as quickly as possible, but that can’t happen without appropriate rapid and comprehensive diagnostics,” Goodman said.

Patients treated in the early stages have better outcomes, according to the CDC, “usually recovering rapidly and completely.” If treatment is delayed, there can be major side effects.

Adding to the test’s appeal is its accessibility. The “recipe” as Goodman calls it, is a protocol that uses basic medical testing equipment that many hospitals already have; equipment that is affordable. The test itself is more economical simply because it replaces duplicate tests – Lyme isn’t the only disease ticks can spread.

According to the New York State Department of Health, while Lyme is the most prevalent, ticks here can also carry anaplasmosis, babesiosis, ehrlichiosis, Rocky Mountain Spotted fever, and Powassan encephalitis. Throughout the US, nine different tick species are known to carry at least 16 different diseases. Worldwide, the numbers explode.

As tests are run for each individual bacteria and/or virus; screening panels for all the possible diseases can run into the thousands of dollars. Not to mention the cost of manpower.

“That is a significant change with this test,” says Dr. Joel Brown, who worked on the project before the funding cuts. “Rather than having someone run, say, eight different tests, they would only have to run one.” And, adds Brown, the test is malleable – additional pathogens can be added without recreating the test. That’s good news as the research is constantly evolving.

“A lot of the tests for the various common diseases are notoriously unreliable, so this is, ultimately an effort to improve diagnostic abilities. We’re still in the phase of ‘the more we look, the more we find.’ It will be useful to have the ability to test for all those things at once,” said Brown, who, ultimately lost his job when more funding wasn’t found.

Goodman’s tick research project is one of over 140 stop-work orders Cornell has received from federal agencies in the continuing battle between the Trump administration and universities. To date, according to Cornell President Michael Kotlikoff, hundreds of millions of dollars in federal research contracts have been terminated or frozen at the university.