URI nets $1M grant to study Lyme disease prevention

Tom Mather is the University of Rhode Island's foremost Lyme disease expert and runs the school's TickEncounter Resource Center. URI received a new $1M federal grant to study Lyme disease prevention and exposure among outdoor workers in the Ocean State.
Tom Mather is the University of Rhode Island's foremost Lyme disease expert and runs the school's TickEncounter Resource Center. URI received a new $1M federal grant to study Lyme disease prevention and exposure among outdoor workers in the Ocean State.

CRANSTON – The University of Rhode Island recently received a new $1M federal grant to study Lyme disease prevention and exposure among outdoor workers in the Ocean State.

The funding comes from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. The study will examine the efficacy of long-lasting permethrin-impregnated clothing worn by outdoor workers.

Permethrin is an ingredient that is lethal to ticks but considered safe for humans and nonharmful to the environment.

A total of $2 million was awarded, with half going to the University of North Carolina and half to URI, where Tom Mather has long been the university’s foremost Lyme disease expert and runs the TickEncounter Resource Center.

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The grant was announced by U.S. Sen. Jack Reed at the REI store in Cranston.

“This new grant is a smart investment that will enable Dr. Mather and his colleagues to field test tick-repellent clothing and better understand the best and safest ways to protect people, particularly folks who spend a great deal of time outdoors,” Reed said in a statement.

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