The MIT DHIVE Long Covid & Lyme Track encourages and supports undergraduate and graduate students as they pursue entrepreneurial solutions to problems associated with long Covid and Lyme disease. Participants are exposed to in-depth knowledge about both long Covid and Lyme and the similarities in how these diseases manifest in humans. They also participate in focused training in entrepreneurial frameworks and topics critical to researching, developing and launching a startup.

Applications are now closed, but fill out our interest form for future opportunities.

Dive into Healthcare Innovation and Venture Exploration (DHIVE)


View Other DHIVE SUMMER 2022 Tracks:
Down Syndrome & Similar Disabilities
Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Applications will open soon.

• 3-week program Jan 9 - Jan 28

• Participation options:

  • Paid Internship: part-time or full-time internships for MIT undergraduate and graduate students

  • Participants:

    • MIT graduate students who are unable to commit 20 hours per week as a paid intern are welcome to apply and participate

    • Non-MIT students are welcome to apply and participate

• Mentorship from experienced entrepreneurs and infectious disease experts

• Education on understanding the needs and challenges related to Long Covid & Lyme Disease - View recent speakers 

• Entrepreneurship-related workshops

• Lab Space (limited and shared) and facilitated access to bio-samples

• Opportunities to connect with the existing teams and other participants to foster collaboration and potential team formation.

• View current areas of focus - New ideas are welcome!

• Potential for continued support in MIT Sandbox

Program Hourly Rate:$15/hour

Want to connect and know more about the program?

email dhive-ops@mit.edu

Why focus on long Covid and Lyme Disease?

Lyme disease is the fastest growing vector-borne infectious disease in the U.S., estimated to affect 55.7 million people in the US by 2050. Given the growing prevalence, current unreliable diagnostic tests, and manifestation of chronic symptoms in many patients, there is a significant need for development of novel methods and technologies to tackle the disease on multiple fronts. Long Covid presents a similar need, on a global scale, with many people suffering from a range of chronic and autoimmune diseases caused by the infection.

Read more research and updates related to long Covid and Lyme disease.

Current DHIVE long Covid and Lyme teams are working on a solutions across a broad range of categories.

Lyme Disease Prevention:

• Preventing Tick-Borne Infections with Permethrin-Treated Shoes

Lyme Disease Diagnostics:

• Single-Cell RNA Sequencing & Machine Learning

• Non-Invasive Approach to Diagnosing Lyme Disease

• Microscopy Imaging and AI

Patient-Support Programs for Long Covid/Lyme:

• Long Covid Patient Network through Data Mining

• Digital Health App for Booking Lyme/LongCovid Doctor Appointments

• Wellness App for Lyme & Long Covid Patients

• AI-Powered Decentralized Clinical Trials Platform

Data Platforms and Medical Devices for Covid/Long Covid:

• Digital Health Identity and Infrastructure for Pandemic Preparedness and Beyond

• Awareness Platform for Long Covid

• Tailored and Streamlined Online Resource Platform

• Wearable Device to Block Neuropathic Pain

• Individuals who have a novel idea on how to address a particular problem related to long-haul Covid or Lyme disease

• Individuals who have expertise in proven technologies and are interested in applying their knowledge to address an unmet need related to long-haul Covid or Lyme disease

• Individuals interested in healthcare entrepreneurship who want to explore potential topics/problems individually or by joining an existing team

• Current or recent MIT Sandbox team members interested in exploring the application of their concept to address long-haul Covid or Lyme disease

• Paid Internship:

  • Degree-seeking MIT graduate and undergraduate students from any department who can commit at least 20 hours/week.

  • MIT graduate students on RAship who can devote 10 hours per week.

  • Limited funding is available for non-MIT undergraduate and graduate students.

• Unpaid Internship:

  • Anyone interested in biomedical innovation who is able to devote at least 10 hours per week. 

  • We welcome post-docs, special students, exchange students, non-MIT students, and non-students

Development of Medical Products
Dr. Michael Cima, Professor of Engineering, Faculty Director of the Lemelson-MIT Program and Associate Dean for Innovation, School of Engineering

Long Covid: A Patient's Journey
Dr. Soha Hassoun, Professor of Computer Science, Tufts University

Nightmare on Lyme Street
Tammy Crawford, Founder and Executive Director, Focus on Lyme

Epidemiology and Pathobiology of Lyme Disease: Challenges and Opportunities for Innovation
Holly Ahern, Professor of Microbiology at the State University of New York at Adirondack

Practical Considerations and Expectations for Developing Lyme Disease Diagnostics
Tom Lowery, CTO of Sattelite Bio

Lyme Disease Biobank: Challenges and Opportunities in Building a Representative, Real-world Collection
Dr. Liz Horn, Co-founder of Lyme Disease BioBank

From Patient Needs to Real Companies (a Framework)
Daniel Ramirez, Vice President Technology Search & Partnering, Leo Pharma

Lyme Disease Surveillance & Research in the Information Age: Opportunities and Challenges
Alison Hinckley, PhD, Lead for the Epidemiology and Surveillance Team in the Bacterial Diseases Branch, Division of Vector-borne Diseases, CDC

The Evasive and Persistent Lyme Disease Spirochete
Dr. Monica Embers, Associate Professor in the Division of Immunology and the Director of Vector-borne Disease Research at Tulane Univ.

Applying Healthcare Delivery Science to Long COVID: Lessons from a Multidisciplinary Clinical Program
Dr. Jason Maley, Physician and Director @Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) Critical Illness and COVID-19 Survivorship Program

Preventing Lyme Disease and other Tick-Borne Diseases
Alexis Chesney, MS, ND, LAc | Founder of the Naturopathic Medical Student Association

Lyme Disease Updates and New Educational Tools for Clinicians (PDF)
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, May 20 , 2021

CDC presentation addresses early signs and symptoms of Lyme disease, appropriate use of diagnostic tests, appropriate use of antibiotics, as well as patient education.

Relieve Chronic Pain (Video)
The Empowering Neurologist, April 2021

Dr. Steven Phillips and his patient Dana Parish reveal the role that chronic underlying infections, like Lyme disease, may play as it relates to autoimmune conditions.

Unlocking the Mysteries of Long COVID
The Atlantic, April 2021

“In many ways, the pace of progress on treating long COVID has been remarkable. But we still face a crisis that may change our medical system, our ideas about infectious disease, ­and the future of millions of Americans.”