Submit Applications for Emergency Awards: Engaged COVID-19 Testing Interventions (US)

Deadline: 7-Jul-21

The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and National Institutes of Health is seeking proposals for the Emergency Awards: Community-Engaged COVID-19 Testing Interventions among Underserved and Vulnerable Populations RADx-UP Phase II to support Phase II of the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics – Underserved Populations (RADxSM-UP) initiative.

Objectives

Specific research objectives of PhaseII studies will address key questions focused on underserved and vulnerable populations including, but not limited to:

What testing interventions can be implemented and evaluated rapidly to decrease COVID-19 disparities as COVID-19 vaccines become increasingly available? For example, for those who are unable or unwilling to be vaccinated, how can testing support their health and safety?
For those who are hesitant about getting vaccinated, would having testing available post-vaccination help reduce hesitancy and foster vaccine confidence?
What COVID-19 diagnostic options are most acceptable and in what setting?
What are the effective methods and interventions to incorporate testing and other strategies, such as genetic sequencing, to help identify and mitigate the transmission and population spread of existing or new variants of COVID-19?
How can research on the social determinants of health (SDOH) help identify, understand, and address testing and vaccine access and uptake in low-resourced geographic areas or communities with high levels of social vulnerability?
Does COVID-19 testing help address vaccine hesitancy and uptake, and if so, how?
What community-driven interventions are effective to ameliorate stigma, bias, distrust, and fear regarding symptomatic and asymptomatic COVID-19 testing and vaccination?
How does COVID-19 vaccine availability affect attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors related to testing intentions in specific communities and how can this information be applied to improve testing uptake?
What is the role of frequent home testing with point-of-care methods in promotion of behavioral mitigation and vaccine uptake?
What consent approach, testing method, testing frequency, and contact tracing methodologies are most effective to identify COVID-19 and prevent transmission in school or childcare settings?
Are there existing prevention and health education programs in the school setting that can be adapted and scaled to promote COVID-19 safety measures, testing participation, testing literacy, and follow-up with health care providers at the child (across early childhood, elementary, middle and high school years), parent, and school staff levels? Could these programs be extended to address vaccine hesitancy and encourage vaccine uptake among adolescents?

Specific Areas of Research Interest

COVID-19 Testing Research Topics focused on underserved and vulnerable populations of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

Studies using rapid cycle designs to examine evolving COVID-19 testing technologies to improve uptake of testing, vaccination, and repeat testing of communities and individuals across the lifespan due to changes in the nature of the virus (variant presentation, infection risk, transmission rates)
Interventions to improve implementation and adherence to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) behavioral mitigation guidance (e.g., masks, hand washing, physical distancing, and limited indoor gatherings) in settings that serve vulnerable communities or (non-healthcare) frontline workplaces in combination with frequent testing to identify COVID-19, prevent transmission, and promote vaccine uptake
Development and testing of implementation strategies that increase the reach, access, uptake, and sustainability of COVID-19 testing in community-, workplace-, school-, or family-based settings (e.g., technology-based approaches, mobile health units)
Pragmatic or theory driven behavioral intervention trials, including culturally adapted versions of evidence-based interventions, to increase motivation, and health literacy for testing and vaccination uptake in environments with known low testing and vaccination base rates
Research to examine and address disparities in the availability, ease of use, and/or accessibility of at-home testing options, or other new FDA-authorized or approved point-of-care testing technologies
Modeling and/or simulation studies using testing data, including that from RADxSM-UP Phase I, to understand drivers of COVID-19 disparities; to predict the impact of testing and contact tracing strategies and development of interventions based on modeling and simulation findings to reduce COVID-19disparities
Multilevel interventions that address barriers, knowledge and attitudes, and testing and vaccine uptake at individual, interpersonal/family, and/or community levels
Role of test distribution on health disparities, including the examination of access to healthcare and specific diagnostics and systems-level barriers and facilitators for equitable uptake
Research on which types of distribution channels (or combinations of distribution channels) and supports (e.g., financial, informational, or technology) are needed to acilitate access to and uptake ofCOVID-19 self-testing kits
Post-vaccination testing studies to understand the effect of vaccination on healthcare utilization for chronic medical conditions, mental health care, and antibody production
Post-vaccination testing studies to understand the effect of vaccination on behavior (e.g., mitigation strategies) and subsequent infection and testing among individuals with and without prior infection
Effective testing strategies implementable across a range of school/childcare reopening policies and protocols to inform in-person return or maintenance of in-person return to school/childcare settings
Testing, mitigation, and follow-up protocols for safe school reopening efforts (early childhood education through grade 12), including comprehensive vaccination education programs in school-based settings (including special education settings)

Funding Information

Award Budget: Application budgets in general are limited to $750,000 per year in Direct Costs and need to reflect the actual needs of the proposed project.
Award Project Period: The maximum period is 2 years.

Eligibility Criteria

Higher Education Institutions
- Public/State Controlled Institutions of Higher Education
- Private Institutions of Higher Education
- The following types of Higher Education Institutions are always encouraged to apply for NIH support as Public or Private Institutions of Higher Education:
  - Hispanic-serving Institutions
  - Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs)
  - Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs)
  - Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions
  - Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs)
Nonprofits Other Than Institutions of Higher Education
- Nonprofits with 501(c)(3) IRS Status (Other than Institutions of Higher Education)
- Nonprofits without 501(c)(3) IRS Status (Other than Institutions of Higher Education)
For-Profit Organizations
- Small Businesses
- For-Profit Organizations (Other than Small Businesses)
Local Governments
- Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (Federally Recognized)
- Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (Other than Federally Recognized)
Other
- Native American Tribal Organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments)
Foreign Institutions
- Non-domestic (non-U.S.) Entities (Foreign Institutions) are not eligible to apply.
- Non-domestic (non-U.S.) components of U.S. Organizations are not eligible to apply.
- Foreign components, as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are not allowed.