Study co-author and UVA allergy researcher Dr. Thomas Platts-Mills first discovered the connection between the alpha-gal syndrome and exposure to Lone Star tick bites in 2002. He recognized that patients who had unusual allergic reactions to the cancer drug cetuximab, which contains alpha-gal molecules, also shared a history of Lone Star tick bites. Researchers are still unsure how Lone Star tick bites lead to alpha-gal allergies.