Research by Richard Marconi ’83 May Lead to Lyme Disease Vaccine

Research by alumnus Richard Marconi ’83, a professor of microbiology and immunology at Virginia Commonwealth University, may lead to a vaccine against Lyme disease in humans.

Marconi has developed a new approach, engineering a combination of pertinent pieces of protein to create a “chimeric” protein. This method was successful in creating a Lyme disease vaccine for dogs, Vanguard crLyme, for which Marconi is the co-developer and that just came on the market.

“It is a very exciting new technology and breaks new ground in vaccine development,” he says.

Marconi is seeking to adapt the vaccine for humans, and develop new diagnostic tests for the disease. Lyme disease, which is spread through a tick bite, occurs most frequently in the Northeast and upper Midwest, and is estimated to effect up to 300,000 Americans each year.

Marconi graduated from William Paterson with a bachelor’s degree in biology. He holds a doctorate from the University of Montana.