UCLA researcher Olivia Goodreau wins four awards for Lyme diagnostics work

Olivia Goodreau, a Lyme disease advocate and UCLA undergraduate researcher, won four honors at UCLA’s 2026 HHMI Undergraduate Research Symposium for point-of-care diagnostics projects targeting Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses. The awards spotlight efforts to make testing faster, more accessible and more accurate for patients facing delayed diagnosis. Why it matters: - Faster point-of-care testing could shorten the long diagnostic delays many Lyme and tick-borne disease patients face. - The projects focus on tools that could make testing more accessible in both clinical and community settings. - Goodreau’s work connects patient advocacy with lab research, giving the effort direct real-world relevance. What happened: - Olivia Goodreau, founder of the LivLyme Foundation and an undergraduate researcher at UCLA, received four awards at the 2026 UCLA Howard Hughes Medical Institute Undergraduate Research Symposium. - The symposium took place at UCLA and featured research organized by the laboratories of Dr. Aydogan Ozcan, Dr. Dino Di Carlo and Dr. Omai Garner at the California NanoSystems Institute. - Goodreau presented with research partners Sunny Do and Adrian Anaya. - The team showed three projects focused on rapid diagnostics for Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses. The details: - The award-winning projects were: - A Single-Tier Multiplexed Point-of-Care Test for Lyme Disease in Europe. - Dual Detection of Lyme and Babesia Using Vertical Flow Assays from Whole Blood. - A Multiplexed Serologic Assay for Point-of-Care Screening of Tick-Borne Diseases. - Goodreau’s projects earned Best Overall Presentation, Best Poster and Best Demo honors across the symposium. - The recognized work uses artificial intelligence, multiplexed diagnostics and point-of-care testing technologies. - The goal is to improve speed, affordability and access to testing. - Goodreau said the recognition is meaningful because the research could help patients get faster and more accessible diagnoses. - Goodreau also said her own diagnosis took 18 months and required visits to 51 doctors. - Denise Erwin, vice president of operations of the LivLyme Foundation, said Goodreau has spent years advocating for the Lyme disease community through research, education and public health initiatives. Between the lines: - The awards reinforce how patient-led advocacy can shape technical research priorities. - The project mix suggests the team is trying to move Lyme testing beyond one-disease, one-test approaches. - The symposium recognition may help elevate tick-borne disease diagnostics in a research field that often gets less attention than broader infectious-disease testing. - Goodreau’s advocacy background and digital health work give her research profile an unusual mix of lived experience and scientific development. What’s next: - The UCLA projects appear aimed at further development and validation of point-of-care diagnostics. - Goodreau will continue research at UCLA on Lyme disease and other tick-borne disease diagnostics. - Her broader work through the LivLyme Foundation, including patient support and public awareness efforts, is likely to continue alongside the lab research. The bottom line: - Goodreau’s four awards spotlight a push to make Lyme and tick-borne disease testing quicker, closer to patients and easier to access.