CALDA Research
CALDA’s research program provides funding of smaller projects as well as providing seed money for larger projects.
Seed money research grants are small grants that help prove the concept so that the researcher can apply for larger grants from the NIH or other major funding source. The NIH can fund projects in the millions. Seed money grants are on a different scale, funding projects in the thousands. The seed money helps the researcher supply the type of preliminary data that the NIH requires for grant applications.
The government provides the greatest amount of funding for Lyme disease research. Pharmaceutical companies have not been economically motivated to perform research, other than for vaccines.
CALDA views seed money grants as an essential first step – without seed money, government grants don’t happen. Seed money grants enable CALDA to develop collaborative relationships with researchers and institutions.
CALDA is an affiliate of the Lyme Disease Association (LDA) and works closely with a number of other organizations throughout the nation. CALDA views these relationships as opportunities for jointly funding research.
LDA, Connecticut’s Time for Lyme, Inc. (TFL), and CALDA are jointly funding a project at Stony Brook where protein arrays are being developed. This research could potentially lead to vaccines or diagnostic tools.
