John Nathaniel Aucott, M.D.

Headshot of John Nathaniel Aucott
  • Director of the Johns Hopkins Lyme Disease Clinical Research Center
  • Associate Professor of Medicine
Male

Expertise

Lyme Disease

Background

Dr. John Aucott is an associate professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. An internist and Lyme disease expert in the Division of Rheumatology, he is the director of the Johns Hopkins Lyme Disease Clinical Research Center.

With more than 15 years of research experience on the crippling effects of Lyme disease, he has published studies focusing on characteristics of early Lyme disease differences in males and females with an emphasis on prospects for prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

Dr. Aucott received his medical degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He completed his residency in internal medicine at the University Hospitals of Cleveland. He is fellowship-trained in infectious disease and geographic medicine.

Dr. Aucott and his colleagues were recognized by Johns Hopkins with a Discovery Fund Synergy Award in 2014.

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Titles

  • Director of the Johns Hopkins Lyme Disease Clinical Research Center
  • Associate Professor of Medicine

Departments / Divisions

Centers & Institutes

  • Lyme Disease Clinical Research Center

Education

Degrees

  • MD; Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (1984)

Residencies

  • Internal Medicine; Case Western Reserve University Hospitals (1987)
  • Medicine; Case Western Reserve University Hospitals (1990)

Fellowships

  • Infectious Diseases; Case Western Reserve University Hospitals (1989)
  • Medicine; Case Western Reserve University Hospitals (1991)

Board Certifications

  • American Board of Internal Medicine (Infectious Disease) (2016)
  • American Board of Internal Medicine (Internal Medicine) (1988)

Research & Publications

Research Summary

Dr. John Aucott and his colleague Dr. Soloski are engaged in a multi-year longitudinal study of patients diagnosed with early-untreated Lyme disease and matched controls, the Study of Lyme disease Immunology and Clinical Events (or SLICE). This has generated a large and unique repository of clinical data and biological samples from patients with a range of clinical outcomes and collected over several seasons.  We have recently published on the immune heterogeneity of patients with Lyme disease using samples from this collection. Our goal is to utilize these samples to help identify new biomarkers of Lyme disease that will inform as to disease diagnosis, disease outcome and understand disease pathophysiology.  Dr. Aucott’s clinical research site recruits and enrolls participants with untreated early Lyme disease and erythema migrans for these studies. Participants have extensive clinical characterization pre and post-treatment. The Lyme sample biorepository will provide serum samples from this collection for the proposed studies and the clinical study team will as aid in the analysis and interpretation of results.

Research Support

Study of Lyme Disease Immunology and Clinical Events (SLICE) 

(Soloski, M.J., Aucott, J.N. Co-PI) 12/14/08- ongoing

Lyme Disease Research Foundation of Maryland

Multi-year, prospective, longitudinal study analyzing patients with early untreated Lyme disease and characterizing clinical status before and after treatment. Clinical parameters are measured using validated symptoms surveys of fatigue, pain, and health care quality of life. Blood samples are collected for analysis of multi-parameter flow cytometry to determine if the levels and/or phenotype of immune lymphocytes change in peripheral blood during the course of Lyme disease. In addition, a biorepository of serum, DNA, and peripheral blood lymphocytes is stored for future analysis. We predict that such studies will be relevant to identifying new biomarkers for disease progression and provide insights into the mechanisms involved in the varying pathophysiologies that arise following B. burgdorferi infection.

Analysis of Health Care Insurance Claims for Lyme Disease   

(Weiner, J., Aucott, J.N., Co-PI) 10/20/11-ongoing

Lyme Disease Research Foundation of Maryland

This study examines the costs and magnitude of care associated with Lyme disease across the United States by examining health insurance claims data from over 47 million individuals across the United States

United States School of Public Health Faculty Experiences and Opinions regarding Lyme Disease

(Aucott, J.N., PI) 03/20/12-ongoing

Lyme Disease Research Foundation of Maryland

This study is a web-based survey of Lyme disease opinions of School of Public Health Faculty in the United States. This survey of over 9,000 full-time faculty members explores attitudes of this select group of individuals about acute Lyme disease, Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome and their impact on public health.

Evaluation of Internet-Based Educational Instrument for Identification of Erythema Migrans Rash of Lyme Disease

(Aucott, J.N., PI) 05/04/12- ongoing

Lyme Disease Research Foundation of Maryland

This study is being conducted to assess the knowledge of individuals seeking information about Lyme disease on the Internet and their ability to correctly identify the typical and non-classic manifestations of Erythema Migrans.

Qualitative interviews of individuals with Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome

(Leonard, L., PI/Aucott, J.N. co-Investigator) 06/15/12-ongoing

Lyme Disease Research Foundation of Maryland

This study interviews individuals with Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome using a rigorous protocol and analysis to document the symptoms and experience of this disease.

 

Completed Research Projects

Diagnostic Challenges of Early Lyme Disease

(Aucott, J.N., PI)     12/14/08-06/15/11

This was a series of retrospective studies using clinical case records from evaluations of clinical characteristics of patients presenting to my Lyme disease referral clinic.  This analysis demonstrated the difficulty with diagnosis experienced by practicing physicians.  High rates of misdiagnosis and unexpected diagnoses of Lyme disease were documented.

Characterization of Adult Lyme Disease in Maryland 

(Dumler J.S., P.I./Aucott J.N., Co-Investigator) 01/01/01-01/01/03

We performed a two-year evaluation of Borrelia burgdorferi culture and supplemental tests for definitive diagnosis of Lyme disease. Clinical evaluations of patients were performed before applying high-volume blood cultures, skin biopsy for culture and PCR, and serodiagnosis to a cohort of patients with suspected Lyme disease. The study was performed to confirm the relative utility of culture and to compare laboratory testing algorithms to the clinician-based diagnosis of Lyme disease.

Selected Publications

View all on PubMed

Alghaferi MY, Anderson JM, Park J, Auwaerter PG, Aucott JN, Norris DE, Dumler JS. Borrelia burgdorferi Heterogeneity among human and murine isolates from a defined region of northern Maryland and southern Pennsylvania: Lack of correlation with invasive and noninvasive genotypes. J Clin Micro 2005 v43, No 4: 1879-1884.

Coulter P, Lema C, Flayhart D, Linhardt AS, Aucott JN,  Auwaerter PG, Dumler JS. Two-year Evaluation of Borrelia burgdorferi culture and supplemental tests for definitive diagnosis of Lyme Disease. J Clin Micro 2005 v43, No 10: 5080-5084.

Auwaerter, P.G, Aucott, J., & Dumler J.S. (2005). Lyme borreliosis (Lyme disease): molecular and cellular pathobiology and prospects for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Expert Reviews in Molecular Medicine, 6(2), 1-22.

Morrison, C. Seifter, A., &  Aucott, J.N. (2009). Unusual Presentation of Early Disseminated Lyme Disease: Horner’s Syndrome and Atypical Rash with Negative Serology. Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine. 22 (2), 219-222.

Aucott J, Morrison C, Munoz B, Rowe PC, Schwarzwalder A, West SK. (2009) Diagnostic challenges of early Lyme disease: Lessons from a community case series. BMC Infectious Diseases 9:79.

Aucott JN, Rebman AW, Crowder LA, Kortte KB. Post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome symptomatology and the impact on life functioning: is there something here? Qual Life Res (2012) DOI 10.1007/s11136-012-0126-6

Eshoo MW, Crowder CC, Rebman AW, Rounds MA, Matthews HE, Picuri JM, Soloski MJ, Ecker DJ,    Schutzer SE, Aucott JN. Direct Molecular Detection and Genotyping of Borrelia burgdorferi from Whole Blood of Patients with Early Lyme Disease. (2012) PLoS ONE 7(5): e36825. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0036825 PMC3348129

Aucott JN, Crowder LA, Yedlin V, Kortte KB. Bull's-Eye and Nontarget Skin Lesions of Lyme Disease: An Internet Survey of Identification of Erythema Migrans. Dermatol Res Pract. V 2012. P 1-6. doi: 10.1155/2012/451727.

Aucott JN, Seifter A, Rebman A. Probable late Lyme disease: a variant manifestation of untreated Borrelia burgdorferi infection. BMC Infectious Diseases 2012;12 (1) 173

Aucott JN, Crowder L, Kortte KB. Development of a Foundation for a case definition of Post- treatment Lyme disease Syndrome. International Journal of Infectious Diseases. 2013; 17 (6) e443 - e449.

Schutzer SE, Berger BW, Krueger J, Eshoo MW, Ecker DJ, and Aucott JN. Atypical Erythema Migrans in Patients with PCR-Positive Lyme Disease. Emerging Infectious Diseases • www.cdc.gov/eid • Vol. 19, No. 5, May 2013

Soloski, M. J., Crowder, L. A., Lahey, L. J., Wagner, C. A., Robinson, W. H., Aucott, J. N. (2014)  Serum Inflammatory Mediators as Markers of Human Lyme Disease Activity. PLOSOne- in press

Activities & Honors

Honors

  • The Warfield T. Longcope Prize in Clinical Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
  • Elton Hoyt III Award for Excellence in Research carried out by a House Officer (1987) and Fellow (1988), University Hospitals of Cleveland
  • Ambulatory Teacher of the Year, Internal Medicine Residency Training Program, University Hospitals of Cleveland/Cleveland VAMC
  • Phi Beta Kappa
  • Alpha Omega Alpha
  • Discovery Fund Synergy Award, Johns Hopkins, 2014

Memberships

  • Thayer Firm Faculty, Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD, 1996
  • Director, Lyme Disease Research Foundation of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, 2007

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