Established in 1994, the Lyme Disease Research Program of the New York State Psychiatric Institute is the first in the United States to focus research efforts on the neuropsychiatric aspects of Chronic Lyme Disease in adults and children. Using the vast research resources of the New York State Psychiatric Institute (one of the largest federal grant recipients for mental health research in the United States outside of the National Institute of Mental Health) and of its physically adjacent medical partner, the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, scientists at the Lyme Disease Research Program have explored clinical phenomenology, brain imaging, and treatment questions related to chronic Lyme disease. Given that scientists at the New York State Psychiatric Institute in the early part of the 20^th century were instrumental in identifying the spirochetal origin of neurosyphilis, a 21^st century focus on Borrelia burgdorferi, a similar spirochetal organism, seems appropriate. Most of the doctors at the Lyme Disease Research Program are on the faculty of the medical school of Columbia University.

Funding support for the Lyme Disease Research Program comes from the generous support of private donors, small and large foundations, private companies, and state and federal grant agencies.