The University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, has announced a two-year, C$2 million ($1.44 million) grant from the G. Magnotta Foundation for Vector-Borne Diseases to advance research on Lyme disease.

The funding will bolster work at the university’s G. Magnotta Research Lab, which focuses on Lyme pathogen cell biology, host-pathogen interaction, and improving diagnosis of the disease. The lab was established in 2017 with a grant of C$1.2 million ($860,000) from the foundation, which has, to date, provided support totaling C$4.6 million ($3.31 million).

“This funding is a massive accelerant for the outcomes that we’ve already achieved, to further mobilize them,” said Magnotta lab director Melanie Wills. “This sets us on a trajectory to take a lot of foundational knowledge, build on it, move it toward the clinic, and test some of the hypotheses we have developed.”

“This cause is deeply personal to me,” said foundation founder and president Rossana Magnotta. “I lost my husband to the devastating effects of Lyme disease. If our health care system had been better prepared to recognize and treat it sooner, Gabe might still be here today.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/sanjeri)