Why I Applied for Federal Grant Funding for TickBiteData

Over the past few months, TickBiteData has grown from a small grassroots project into a rapidly expanding patient-reported data initiative focused on tick bites, Alpha-gal Syndrome, and related long-term health experiences.

As the founder of TickBiteData, I believe transparency matters — especially in a space where patients often feel unheard, dismissed, or left searching for answers on their own.

That is one reason I want to openly address why I applied for federal grant funding.

Recently, increased federal attention and proposed funding surrounding Alpha-gal Syndrome and tick-borne illness research — including discussion around multi-million-dollar government funding opportunities — has sparked significant interest across organizations, advocacy groups, and newly formed initiatives. Almost overnight, many groups have entered this space hoping to secure a portion of available funding tied to research, education, and public health efforts.

I believe patients deserve transparency about where TickBiteData stands in all of this.

I applied as the founder of TickBiteData because the volume of patient experiences being shared through this platform continues to reveal important patterns that deserve further organization, study, and responsible analysis. What started as people simply sharing their stories has grown into a much larger conversation surrounding diagnostic delays, misdiagnosis, neurological symptoms, food-related fears, social isolation, and the long-term impact tick-borne illness can have on everyday life.

TickBiteData was not created in response to funding opportunities. The project existed before the recent national attention, and it continues to grow because patients themselves continue contributing their experiences.

If funding were ever secured, the goal would be to strengthen the infrastructure behind the project in ways that directly support the community, including:

• improving survey and data systems

• expanding outreach to underrepresented regions

• supporting responsible data organization and analysis

• improving educational resources and public awareness

• building stronger pathways for future collaboration with researchers and institutions

TickBiteData is not attempting to replace physicians, researchers, universities, or public health agencies. The goal is to contribute something valuable that has historically been difficult to capture at scale: organized patient-reported experiences.

Every survey submitted is reviewed carefully, and every person who shares their story contributes to a larger effort to better understand what many patients feel has been overlooked for far too long.

Whether TickBiteData remains fully grassroots or eventually evolves into a larger research-support initiative, I believe the public deserves openness about its mission, goals, and intentions.

That transparency starts with me.

Brittany Adkison

Founder | TickBiteData

www.tickbitedata.com

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