Deadline: 22-Apr-22
The Coordination and Data Collection Center (CDCC) is pleased to solicit applications for its Rapid Research Pilot Program to provide an expedited funding mechanism (CDCC subawards) to evaluate the feasibility of implementing emerging COVID-19 testing technologies in underserved communities.
The CDCC Rapid Research Pilot Program seeks an applicant pool that draws from the rich diversity of communities, populations, and groups in the U.S including the U.S. territories, tribal nations or organizations (American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Other Pacific Islanders).
Duke University in partnership with the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, is serving as the Coordination and Data Collection Center (CDCC) for the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-supported Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics- Underserved Populations (RADx-UP) program.
The goal of the program is to improve access to and uptake of diagnostic COVID-19 testing in communities of underserved and vulnerable populations. The purpose of the overall program is to better understand factors that have led to the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on these groups, and develop interventions to reduce those disparities.
Objectives
CDCC anticipates that new tests and testing modalities will become available over the course of the RADx-UP initiative. This Rapid Research Pilot Program is intended to provide an expedited mechanism to assess the feasibility of integrating novel or emerging technologies into RADx-UP in coordination with the NIH-supported RADx initiatives. Applicants should address a number of potential challenges including the following three (3) key areas:
- Potential barriers to effective testing should be identified and addressed. Specific barriers may include:
- Requirement of self-collection and self-administered testing versus the availability of a health professional for collection
- Limited health literacy and ability to understand and interpret test methods, results, and follow up recommendations.
- Secured return of test results and a requirement of online or digital delivery of test results
- Test costs and reimbursement
- Alignment of the testing to the target population, or: is the test method appropriate, accounting for the interests, needs, and beliefs of the underserved community?
- Testing workflow and access. Are the tests administered in or outside the home? Are the tests scalable in terms of testing supplies shelf life, storage conditions, and vendor inventories? What are the requirements to report test results?
Funding Information
The amount of the subaward for each Rapid Pilot is up to $200,000 in direct costs, to be expended over one year.
Proposals considered responsive to this RFA:
- Prioritize and engage underserved and vulnerable communities
- Include a community engagement approach to ensure mitigation of barriers to access and testing
- Address gaps in testing or the types of communities already included in the RADx-UP program
- Propose SARS-CoV-2 tests with any of the following characteristics:
- FDA-cleared
- On-label use with an FDA emergency use authorization (EUA)
- Off-label use of FDA-cleared/EUA test is not supported by NIH funds.
Eligibility Criteria
- Eligible organizations are institutions of higher education, industry, state and local governments, and community-based organizations that have the infrastructure to manage such funding.
- Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), tribally controlled colleges and universities (TCCUs), Hispanic-serving institutions, and other minority-serving institutions are encouraged to apply.
- They are particularly interested in receiving proposals developed jointly with community-based organizations and encourage partnerships across these different types of organizations to form interdisciplinary teams, including public-private partnerships.
- Applications with multiple PIs (“co-PIs”) must identify one PI as the main contact PI, with primary responsibility for the administrative aspects of the pilot subaward.
For more information, visit https://radx-up.org/apply-for-grant/