Sixteen winning submissions share $250,000 for resources that elevate patient experiences and improve understanding of Lyme and tickborne disease diagnosis.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced the 16 winners of the LymeX Visible Voices Prize. The winners bring patient, caregiver, clinician, and community perspectives to educational resources designed to help people understand, navigate, and act on diagnostic information.
The LymeX Visible Voices Prize is a national prize competition with a $250,000 prize pool to elevate patient experiences and improve understanding of Lyme and tickborne disease diagnosis. It mobilizes patients, caregivers, clinicians, and innovators to create clear, trusted educational resources that address urgent gaps in awareness and care.
The national call to action invited resources in four challenge areas: diagnostics information and resources, provider-facing educational materials, patient education tools, and community-informed insights. Materials must be based on federal government sources and peer-reviewed literature and be immediately understandable and usable by the intended audience without specialized training.
Recognizing the winning resources
One Grand Prize winner receives $50,000, five Excellence Prize winners receive $20,000 each, and ten Impact Award winners receive $10,000 each. The descriptions below summarize the educational resources presented by the teams.
Grand Prize: $50,000
Drexel University College of Medicine
TickAttack! is a free game that uses interactive challenges to teach children and families about tick safety, prevention, and recognizing early signs of Lyme disease.
Excellence Prizes: $20,000 each
MyLymeCoach
MyLymeCoach’s Heard resource draws on lived experience to help patients organize and communicate their experiences during the diagnostic journey.
The Visible Diagnosis Project
The Visible Diagnosis Project developed a provider-facing educational resource focused on Lyme disease testing limitations and the diagnostic challenges clinicians encounter across specialties.
Global Lyme Alliance
Global Lyme Alliance’s Be Tick AWARE video provides tick-safety education for children, parents, and educators, covering prevention, tick identification and removal, and when to seek medical attention.
Patient Powered Insights from MyLymeData
Patient Powered Insights from MyLymeData uses patient-reported experiences to illustrate the burden of delayed diagnosis through an infographic intended to inform patients and clinicians.
Galaxy Diagnostics
Galaxy Diagnostics developed a clinician-focused educational resource exploring cognitive, mood, and psychiatric symptoms in the context of Lyme disease and associated vector-borne infections.
Impact Awards: $10,000 each
Bay Area Lyme Foundation
Bay Area Lyme Foundation developed educational information to support patient and provider conversations about Lyme disease symptoms, testing, and diagnostic decisions.
YMD
YMD created a card that helps patients organize their symptom histories and share their experiences with clinicians.
Functional Medicine Research and Technology Center
Functional Medicine Research and Technology Center developed a resource using patient records, public health data, and research to organize diagnostic journeys, symptom tracking, and visual information for patients and clinicians.
Tick Risk Collaborative
Tick Risk Collaborative’s TickTriage resource brings tick-bite information into an accessible format for use by clinicians.
VectorWise CME
VectorWise CME developed clinician education focused on early Lyme disease diagnosis, testing limitations, and diagnostic delays.
Trail Ready Solutions Team
Trail Ready Solutions Team translates public health guidance into practical tick-safety education for families, outdoor workers, and people who enjoy outdoor recreation.
LymeAlert
LymeAlert developed an interactive educational website to help people understand Lyme disease risk and symptoms and prepare for conversations with a health care provider.
LymeLibrary
LymeLibrary organizes cited explanations around questions about Lyme disease testing, symptoms, and local context, helping users prepare questions for clinicians.
HealthLit
HealthLit developed a caregiver resource for tracking children’s symptoms over time and understanding Lyme disease testing.
LymeTV
LymeTV developed an interactive educational platform that presents information about Lyme disease testing in a visual workflow for clinical conversations.
From lived experience to shared resources
The prize launched on May 29, 2026, and accepted submissions through July 31. HHS received 50 submissions, with 40 eligible entries advancing to evaluation. A multidisciplinary nonfederal panel reviewed eligible submissions, followed by federal review to develop the final winner recommendations.
The evaluation considered practical impact for the target audience, clarity and usability, lived experience and authenticity, and responsible presentation of diagnostic information grounded in federal sources and peer-reviewed literature.
Participants retain ownership of their work while enabling broad public reuse and dissemination under the Creative Commons licensing provisions of the challenge rules.
About the LymeX Visible Voices Prize
The LymeX Visible Voices Prize is sponsored by HHS and the LymeX Innovation Accelerator. LymeX is a public-private partnership between HHS and the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation. The LymeX Visible Voices Prize is one of four 2026 LymeX prize competitions, part of the HHS Lyme Disease Moonshot to make invisible illness visible and improve care for Americans living with Lyme disease.
Learn more about the LymeX Visible Voices Prize and HHS Lyme disease initiatives.
Submissions are intended solely for educational and informational purposes and do not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment recommendations.