Boston Doctor Creates At-Home Test for Infected Ticks

Erin Dawicki was tired of prescribing antibiotics to every kid who found a tick, even when she didn't know if the bug was infected.

The Boston pediatric physician associate sees it constantly: worried parents calling about a tick on their child, unable to afford an office visit but terrified of Lyme disease. She'd prescribe antibiotics just to be safe, adding to America's growing antibiotic resistance problem.

Then during an MIT business course in 2024, inspiration struck. What if families could test the tick themselves at home and know immediately if it carried Lyme disease?

More than 31 million Americans get tick bites every year. About 476,000 people are treated for Lyme disease annually, mostly in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Upper Midwest where blacklegged ticks thrive.

The timing matters desperately. Lyme disease is easiest to cure in its early stage with a simple 10 to 14 day course of antibiotics. Miss that window, and patients can develop Lyme arthritis with huge swollen joints, or face months of persistent fatigue and pain even after treatment.

Doctors currently recommend antibiotics within 72 hours if a tick has been attached for 36 hours in high-risk areas. But without testing the actual tick, physicians like Dawicki have to guess, leading to blanket prescriptions that may not be necessary.

Her at-home test concept emerged from a class assignment she almost skipped. Dawicki joined the health care entrepreneurship course late and got assigned the Lyme disease track. She planned to just check the box and move on.

But the morning pitches were due, the solution became crystal clear. Her patients needed accessible testing without the barriers of cost, time off work, or office appointments.

Why This Inspires

Dawicki's innovation addresses multiple problems at once. Families gain peace of mind and control over their health decisions. Kids avoid unnecessary antibiotics that contribute to drug resistance. And doctors can prescribe treatment confidently only when truly needed.

The tick problem keeps growing. Thirty years ago, Lyme-carrying blacklegged ticks appeared in just two reports in Kentucky. Today they've spread across vast regions of the country, with emergency room visits for tick-borne illnesses spiking this spring.

An at-home test puts power directly in parents' hands exactly when they need it most.