Lyme disease

Children’s Hospital Boston is home to the world’s largest research program at a pediatric institution, and we’re known for pioneering new treatments. A large part of our success comes from our commitment to research—and to advancing the frontiers of what’s possible through our innovative approach.

Research in the Division of Infectious Diseases includes both basic investigation and clinical research. The bench research in the division has the broad objective of understanding basic mechanisms of microbial pathogenesis and the related host responses that mediate susceptibility to infection, host injury and protective immunity. Investigation targets viral, bacterial and fungal pathogens of major significance in community acquired infections in the United States, in infections of immunocompromised hosts, and in global public health. Current projects include:

• pathogen-host signaling in streptococcal infection
• innate immunity in bacterial infection
• regulation of bacterial gene expression
• HIV pathogenesis, immune response and vaccine development
• regulation of morphogenesis in Candida albicans

Clinical research is focused in two broad areas: clinical trials in pediatric HIV and clinical epidemiology/clinical decision-making.