Despite a steady rise in alpha-gal syndrome on the Island coinciding with the rise in lone star ticks and continuing high levels of Lyme disease, funding for a public health official who has been researching tick-borne illnesses on Martha’s Vineyard has dried up.
Lea Hamner has been working as an epidemiologist with the Martha’s Vineyard Tick Program through a grant since 2023, but funding for the program was rescinded in the spring by the federal government. Money that was set aside for Hamner is coming to an end this month.
Hamner has been working with case investigator Betsy VanLandingham on the Island to track diseases thanks to two contracts totaling $133,000 per year. The funds, started partially during the COVID-19 pandemic, pay for work to monitor a database of diseases and stem outbreaks, bring together researchers and scientists to the Island, and continue overall work to address tick-borne illnesses not just on the Vineyard but on Nantucket and Cape Cod.
“We could use more folks, not less working on the tick problem,” Hamner told The Times following news the funding would end. Still, she said that the Island has one of the most robust tick prevention and research programs in the state, if not beyond.
“It’s not a small amount of work that goes into sustaining our tiny but mighty tick program,” Hamner said. “If we want a strategic plan to take this on, we need staff to do it.”
Hamner’s work has involved researching tick-borne illness. She monitors the Vineyard, Nantucket, and Barnstable County, and coordinates with wildlife biologist Patrick Roden-Reynolds of the tick program. She has generated epidemiological reports based on data, informing initiatives to better understand and combat illness on a regional level. And she tries to connect researchers and healthcare providers to patients.
While funding for the grant is coming to an end, Hamner is still looking for funding through either state grants or private donations, but she acknowledges that finding state funding is more difficult with the federal government making cuts.
“I would like for myself and Islanders to live without being haunted by the concerns of tick-borne disease. I’m here for it. I’m committed to it,” she said. “My goal is to have a science hub on the Vineyard where all of these top-level scientists and researchers would be able to interact with the community and provide research, so we bring the benefits right here to the Vineyard.”
VanLandingham has funding that will last until June, through the contract. Hamner’s funding was only for part-time work on the Island, while she also works with the Barnstable County health department. She decided to frontload the hours from the grant over the summer months in order to connect with more researchers and with more residents who might be impacted by tick-borne illnesses.
The republicans are choosing to gut the federal government. Cue, “Let’s not fund the federal government and blame it on the democrats. Then let’s fire a bunch of federal employees that we didn’t get around to DOGEing. We’ll blame that on the democrats too,” said the republicans.
We must vote against this corrupt republican government.
Ms Hansen, do you believe that the federal government has the exact precise number of employees it needs to do a great job. Not one more not one less? Is firing people defined as corruption. I thought corruption is something else. Would you ever fire anyone? would you fire the people who are killing and stopping and delaying the solar and wind farms? Or would that be corruption?
The smart way to reduce the federal workforce is carefully, methodically and analytically. Random cuts without forethought or insight is not a smart way. In the 1990s, we reduced the workforce by several hundred thousand workers, but that process took almost 8 years to implement.
Andrew, do you think DOGE was a well considered and calculated effort to reduce unnecessary government employees from a bloated payroll ?
Because many saw this as a slash and burn effort to cut budgets to balance tax cuts for the affluent.
Do you not see the current “shut-down” as a clever strategy to further reduce the size of government in further pursuit of this effort and “pin” it on Democrats insisting on the preservation of healthcare subsidies before signing on to a continuing resolution ?
Are we Great yet?
Trump voters did this.
Another nail in the coffin of healthcare funding and research by the current, caring (not!) administration in Washington, this time affecting Islanders directly.
Perhaps money can be offered by MassGeneral Brigham, as it owns MVH and it’s in their interest to look for solutions for these tick-related diseases.
Saying the end of tick research funding on Martha’s Vineyard is the fault of the current administration, is just wrong. The truth is both Trump and Biden share the blame. Trump cut health programs, yes — but Biden’s HHS also rolled back pandemic-era funding this year, and those cuts hit the very grants that kept Vineyard tick research alive.
This isn’t about one person. The real problem is a broken system where critical programs rely on short-term grants that disappear when Washington shifts priorities. Both parties have treated public health as a budget target or a political football, and local communities are the ones who suffer.
If you want to point fingers, at least be honest — this didn’t happen because of one politician. It happened because leaders in both parties failed to make tick-borne illness prevention a lasting priority. Until that changes, programs like the Vineyard Tick Project will always be hanging by a thread, no matter who’s in the White House.
The pandemic is over. You can’t blame “Trump Cuts” on Biden.
Trump has always wanted to gut the federal employees because he sees them as liberals (doesn’t really matter if they are or not, that’s trumps’s perception). Then, he and his administration wants to hire “republicans.” Steve Bannon claimed months ago that was the goal. This “crisis” is only a smokescreen.
I have dealt with wildlife biologist Patrick Roden-Reynolds for 3 years and can’t say enough GREAT about him. He has tick-surveyed my property for the past 3 years and his reports have guided my tick prevention. I hope he will be available for years to come. Has his funding been rescinded as well?
Hi Ann! We agree that Patrick is great and couldn’t say enough good things about him either. His funding is through a different state grant which is funded through 2027. As the director of the MV Tick Program, Patrick also administers the Tick Fund (first started by Michael Loberg and Dick Johnson). The Tick Fund previously paid for all Tick Program operations, between grants from 2016-2020. This donor fund allows Patrick to purchase supplies and start programs that are not allowable expenses under the grant. It’s an important source of flexibility so if anyone is inclined to donate, the link is: https://endowmv.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=1095
Maybe trump and his minions should come for some walks in our woods. Then we’d get the funds reinstated!
Ummmm they literally have done that within the past calendar week, as reported on by this very paper!
https://www.mvtimes.com/2025/09/26/rfk-jr-visit-elevates-local-tribal-issues/
but hey, why let the facts get in the way of a good talking point, right?
When was there a “walk in the woods” in that RFK visit? Where was he exposed to ticks? Although considering he could swim in a garbage-infested sewer dump and brag about it (and bring his kids!) he does seem to have an amazing immune system…
This was funded from from a grant from the Biden administration that expired. More importantly it was money dedicated to Covid tracing, yet not used for that purpose. “Still, she said that the Island has one of the most robust tick prevention and research programs in the state, if not beyond.” Pay attention to details TDS sufferers.
Hi John! To clarify, this funding was absolutely used to investigate and contact trace COVID-19. It was first awarded in 2021 and COVID cases were investigated intensively through 2023. In 2023, most folks were testing themselves at home so we weren’t getting reliable reporting to public health and the funds allowed us to efficiently pivot our now-trained staff onto other infectious diseases. Building capacity for COVID directly translated to building capacity for other disease outbreaks, preparedness, response and prevention, including tickborne diseases. It is actually a very efficient use of taxpayer dollars to strengthen public health systems, not just respond to one-off concerns and dismantle all that good work. Now it is time to sustain these programs beyond the initial investment so we don’t lose the capacity we’ve built. If we do, another outbreak is a matter of if, not when, and building the capacity from scratch again means greater costs and slower response.
Shouldn’t this work be done in sophisticated labs of research institutions that do this kind of thing?
A fair question! We certainly work with researchers with specialized labs and technology, but those researchers need our on-island staff to help them collect ticks, establish clinical-research partnerships, recruit and enroll study participants, and provide logistical and scientific input into study designs. Many researchers would love to do work here, helping support islanders, but don’t have the means to execute such projects without on-island help. That’s where I come in!
The lab work is done in sophisticated research intuitions.
The field work is done where the ticks are.
They fired Quint? Who’s going to kill the new jaws? We’re going to have to close the woods?
How can we help with private donations? Is there a donation recipient you could link for private donations?
The Martha’s Vineyard Tick Program, which supports tick yard surveys, tick bite prevention, tickborne disease epidemiology, and research partnerships, has a donation fund through the Martha’s Vineyard Community Foundation. The fund was created by Michael Loberg and Dick Johnson and has kept the program and staff afloat as grants have come and gone. For example, community donations kept the program alive from 2016-2020 after the MV Hospital grant ended and before the state/federal grants became available. If you are so inclined to support this work as we recalibrate funding prospects, please visit: https://endowmv.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=1095
It’s long past due that a significant causal agent is addressed, the hyper abundant deer populations. With estimates ranging from 50-65 per sq.mile, the density of deer herds are well beyond the 8-12 per. sq.mile that is considered in balance with the local ecology. Several studies throughout the Northeast and through the mid Atlantic indicate our local forests are not regenerating due to high deer browse. Here we see non-related massive die off of American Beech and Pitch Pine, but very little indication oak seedlings are regenerating. On my own property a small experiment shows all new acorn produced white oaks are completely eaten to the soil line. As a result invasive species opportunistically move into dead zones, not favored by deer, a new monoculture of exotic plants becomes established. A visit to areas in Virginia and Pennsylvania with up to 110 deer per sq.mile leaves a bare understory below browse line, and intensive erosion. Without intervention, a sterile, less diverse island flora will result, along with the significant health risks associated with large deer herds.
I just read the 21 comments to date here and would like to address a few of them. First, to blame Biden because this was not permanently funded seems to be showing someone’s BDS, Someone did bring up TDS.. I’ll take the word of people who said this funding started off as COVID money. But as someone said, COVID dollars were not being used as the pandemic wound down. I think funding research about ticks and their associated diseases was a better option than what another state did with that money. The governor of Florida spent $600,000 of money allocated for COVID in a human trafficking scheme to fly 48 people on luxurious private jets to MV. as a publicity stunt. And Al Gore wasn’t even on the plane! That’s almost 5 years worth of tick studies. And yeah, temporary funding by congress sometimes expires. Like those tax cuts for the wealthy that are in discussions now. So here’s a quick assessment about that.. If you think the wealthy should be able to keep their trillion dollar tax cuts and defund tick research , you may have BDS — If you think the opposite way you may have TDS.
Tick research is not defunded. The covid grant money discussed here was not a tick research grant. Facts matter. Is there some reason not to apply for an actual tick research grant and stop the hysterical political posturing?
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