The LymeX Visible Voices Prize is a $250,000 competition to elevate patient experiences and improve understanding of Lyme and tick-borne disease diagnosis.

Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne disease in the United States and affects hundreds of thousands of Americans each year. Still, many experience delayed or unclear Lyme disease diagnoses due to limited awareness, evolving testing options, and communication gaps. The result is prolonged illness, debilitating complications, increased health care costs, inconsistent care pathways, and reduced quality of life for patients and family caregivers.

With new Lyme diagnostics emerging, how might we make Lyme and other tick-borne disease diagnoses more visible and transparent so patients and clinicians can understand and act on complex information — and learn from real voices?

The LymeX Visible Voices Prize is a new $250,000 competition to elevate patient experiences and improve understanding of Lyme and tick-borne disease diagnosis. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) invites patients, caregivers, clinicians, and innovators to design resources that improve understanding of Lyme diagnostics, elevate patient voices, and support more informed care decisions.

This national call to action, sponsored by HHS and the LymeX Innovation Accelerator and produced by Luminary Labs, builds upon the LymeX Diagnostics Prize (now in Phase 4) and is open to all U.S. citizens and organizations. HHS may select up to 16 winning submissions to receive up to $250,000 in cash prizes: one Grand Prize ($50,000), five Excellence Prizes ($20,000 each), and 10 Impact Awards ($10,000 each).

Teams will design and share resources that improve understanding, communication, and decision-making — translating complexity into clarity. Solutions can focus on one of four challenge areas: diagnostics information and resources, provider-facing educational materials, patient education tools, or 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.

Join a community-driven effort to turn lived experience and emerging science into resources that help people understand, navigate, and act on diagnostic information: Learn more about the LymeX Visible Voices Prize and submit a solution by July 31, 2026.