OUR TEAM

Research Scientist in the MIT Department of Biological Engineering

Beth leads research on the connections, comorbidities, and shared pathophysiology among a group of infection-associated chronic illnesses. She has particular expertise in ME/CFS, Long COVID, and Connective Tissue Disorders, and leads the lab’s expansion into these illnesses.

Beth is a Harvard-educated and trained Research Scientist at MIT where she leads biomedical research on a group of complex chronic illnesses and the connections between them. Beth studies how these illnesses overlap, why they frequently co-occur, and their shared pathologies. She is building and leading a cross-illness unit of research called Project Connect at MIT. It encompasses multiple studies and research projects that map overlapping and interlocking pathophysiology and rates of comorbidities across related chronic diseases in order to accelerate solutions. Through an innovative and interdisciplinary cross-illness approach, Beth investigates key mechanistic connections that have been historically siloed and overlooked, revealing important new insights into chronic disease pathologies and potential therapeutic targets.

Beth studies the co-occurring illness group of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), long COVID, chronic Lyme disease, dysautonomia/postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), small fiber neuropathy, fibromyalgia, endometriosis, and connective tissue disorders like hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (hEDS) — and their associations with autoimmune, gastrointestinal, reproductive, spinal, and sleep conditions. She has particular expertise in ME/CFS and long COVID, and a subfocus on examining potential mechanisms driving some of their less studied pathologies: connective tissue, spinal, and reproductive health conditions across illnesses. Beth is especially interested in advancing cross-illness research with multiple illness comparator cohorts, and in accelerating research on these illnesses towards clinical trials. Identifying therapeutic targets and potential treatments is imperative, including ones that target pathologies and pathomechanisms shared by multiple illnesses.

Beth develops and helps design new and future research directions for the Tal Research Group. The lab began with a focus on chronic Lyme disease, and Beth spearheads the lab’s expansion into researching associated illnesses, such as developing new research projects on ME/CFS as well as on connective tissue and spinal disorders across illnesses. She contributed to both the study design and survey writing of the lab’s MAESTRO clinical study, the largest clinical study in MIT history. She brings a particular interest in screening for and analyzing comorbidity and shared pathologies in clinical studies on these illnesses. She contributes ideation, research, and writing to the lab’s studies and manuscripts, and leads the lab’s funding and grant-writing work.

Beth aims to conduct clinically-impactful, translational research that advances knowledge of chronic diseases and their risk factors, helping physicians and patients improve diagnosis, prevention, and treatment. She also supports patient involvement and patient expertise in biomedical research. All of these conditions disproportionately impact female patients, have lengthy diagnostic delays and few official treatments, and are under-researched compared to their disease burdens. Patients commonly develop several of these multi-system illnesses simultaneously, yet science and clinical care are only beginning to understand and address this complexity. It will be critical to explore why women are more likely to develop these illnesses and to study female pathological immune responses to infections and environmental exposures. Beth is excited and proud to be an inaugural member of the Tal Research Group at MIT!