Dear RADx-UP partners,



Happy Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month! The RADx-UP CDCC would like to acknowledge and celebrate the contributions from members of those communities within our CDCC, research partner institutions and community partner organizations. We are grateful for the unique perspectives and value you bring to the RADx-UP consortium. 

RADx-UP currently includes 17 projects focused on Asian American communities and 11 projects focused on Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander communities.  

New Rapid Research Pilot Program grant awardees

Three projects have been awarded funds through the sixth cycle of RADx-UP Rapid Research Pilot Program (RP2) grants. They are:  

• “Attitudes about COVID-19 Testing and Access among Urban and Rural Communities in Mississippi” led by Terrence Shirley from the Drs. Aaron and Ollye Shirley Foundation 
• “Mobilizing saliva-based PCR testing of SARS-CoV-2 to expand access for underserved and uninsured individuals in Connecticut populations” led by Angelique Levi from Yale University 
• “Culturally-relevant Community Connections (C3) to increase COVID testing in the Black/African American Community” led by Schenita Randolph from Duke University School of Nursing 

Learn more about current and past RP2 awardees.

Register for the Community Health Worker Symposium

The RADx-UP Community Health Worker (CHW) Symposium will take place on May 24 at 1 p.m. - 3 p.m. ET. The symposium will showcase a collection of resources and panel discussions to share insights and identify opportunities and challenges for supporting and sustaining CHWs (also known as promotoras). This event was created by the expertise and input from the RADx-UP Working Groups. The symposium will be bilingual with English/Spanish interpretation available. Read more in English. Leer en Español.

RADx-UP project teams collaborate, brainstorm at Concept Creation Forum

The April RADx-UP Project-wide Meeting, called the “Concept Creation Forum,” served as a special opportunity for RADx-UP project teams to collaborate and generate ideas for data analysis, future manuscripts, and other products. RADx-UP investigators and community partners discussed shared experiences, explored the data dashboards, and brainstormed how to best utilize aggregate data (collected as the NIH RADx-UP Common Data Elements) from the consortium. Read more about the Concept Creation Forum.

New analysis concept open for collaboration

A new Analysis Concept has been vetted and is open for collaboration. Emily D’Agostino would like to explore “The relationship between poverty and COVID-19 testing, isolation, job loss, and comorbidities in underserved populations in the US.” View this concept and others.

Collaboration is key to ensuring RADx-UP data and learnings have the greatest impact. Learn about current analysis proposals and their writing teams at the Partnering for Impact homepage. You may also submit your own concept there.

Scientific Meeting follow-up

Yesterday was the third annual RADx-UP Scientific Meeting. Thank you to all who attended and presented their work! Please be sure to take the Scientific Meeting post-event survey to share your thoughts and aid in planning next year’s meeting. Also, keep an eye out for the recording and post-event materials to come. Many thanks to all the project teams, attendees, and the Scientific Meeting Planning Committee. The dedication of project teams and their community partners is apparent and aligned with the RADx-UP mission. Your work is testament to how strong community partnerships can promote health equity.

Celebrating the Social Determinants of Testing and Vaccination Working Group

The RADx-UP Understanding Social Determinants of Testing and Vaccination Working Group has had a successful tenure from 2021 - 2023, with RADx-UP awardees and community partners engaging to develop community-informed shared models of access to testing and vaccination and to disseminate these models. Join the Working Group's final meeting on May 22 from 3 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. ET to review and celebrate the activities the group completed and discuss new opportunities for engagement on these topics since the Working Group will sunset at the end of May.

Existing and former Working Group members as well as new grantees and community partners are invited to attend. If you are interested in joining the celebration, please email Hailey Leiva at hailey_leiva@med.unc.edu.

Project-wide Meeting presentation recaps

Project team highlights Black representation as critical in COVID-19 research, vital to promoting health equity

The February 2023 Project-wide Meeting featured a presentation by RADx-UP researchers Jalissa Shealey and Heather Bradley. While Black communities experience disproportionate rates of COVID-19 infection, there is sub-optimal Black representation in COVID-19 research, according to researchers at Emory University and Georgia State University. This inspired them to explore barriers to Black participation in research and potential solutions to improve their representation. Read more about the project and presentation.

Researchers study testing strategies to reach staff and students with disabilities

The March 2023 Project-wide Meeting featured a presentation by RADx-UP researchers Christina Gurnett, Luke Kalb and Linda Myers. With higher rates of infection and complications, students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are among the communities most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This prompted researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis to develop research questions that explore ways to promote testing and to better support students with IDD, their caregivers, and their educators during the pandemic. Read more about the project and presentation.

RADx Data Hub: Data privacy webinar

The NIH RADx Data Hub is now open to all researchers. There will be a webinar highlighting the importance of data de-identification on May 16 from 12 p.m. - 1 p.m. ET. It will include a discussion of methods to ensure privacy of human subject data and a Q & A session. Register today.

Get in rhythm with nature

Take a moment for mindfulness with In Rhythm with Nature. This multisensory includes flora, fauna, and sounds from the natural world. It also has guided breathing exercises to help you take a break. Check it out!