COVID-19 Related Research

COVID-19: Information for NIH applicants and recipients of NIH funding

CEAL
Community Engagement Alliance Against COVID-19 Disparities

CEAL provides trustworthy information through active community engagement and outreach to the people hardest-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, with the goal of building long-lasting partnerships as well as improving diversity and inclusion in our research response to COVID-19. Find resources to share on different COVID-19 topics, including COVID-19 basics, vaccines, clinical trials and diversity and inclusion in clinical research. Visit Resources to Share from the NIH Community Engagement Alliance

April 29, 2021: NIH to invest $29 million to address COVID-19 disparities

September 16, 2020: NIH to assess and expand COVID-19 testing for underserved communities

NIMHD-Cosponsored Funding Opportunity Announcements

• PAR-20-243 - Digital Healthcare Interventions to Address the Secondary Health Effects Related to Social, Behavioral, and Economic Impact of COVID-19 (R01 - Clinical Trial Optional)

  In addition to supporting research related to the direct clinical effects of COVID-19, NIMHD seeks to fund research on the role and impact of digital health interventions [e.g., mhealth, telemedicine and telehealth, health information technology (IT), and wearable devices] to address access, reach, delivery, effectiveness, scalability and sustainability of health assessments and interventions for secondary effects (e.g., behavioral health or self-management of chronic conditions) that are utilized during and following the pandemic, particularly in populations who experience health disparities and vulnerable populations.

• PAR-20-237 - Community Interventions to Address the Consequences of the COVID-19 Pandemic among Populations Experiencing Health Disparities and Vulnerable Populations (R01- Clinical Trial Optional)

  NIMHD is encouraging research to test the impacts of both mitigation strategies to prevent COVID-19 transmission and interventions that address the pandemic’s adverse psychosocial, behavioral, and socioeconomic consequences among populations experiencing health disparities and other vulnerable groups.

• PA-20-172 - Long-Term Effects of Disasters on Health Care Systems Serving population experiencing health disparities (R01- Clinical Trial Optional)

  The immediate impact of natural and human-made disasters on health and health care in the United States has been well-documented, but little research has focused on the long-term impact of disasters on health care systems serving population experiencing health disparities. NIMHD seeks to support investigative and collaborative research focused on understanding the long-term effects of natural and/or human-made disasters on health care systems serving population experiencing health disparities in the U.S., including the U.S. territories.

RADx Initiatives

As part of NIH’s multi-faceted response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the agency has launched an unprecedented four-pronged initiative entitled Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics, or RADx, to catalyze the scientific community to improve testing technologies, capacity, and accessibility for the country.

RADx-Underserved Populations (RADx-UP) is one of the four RADx components. RADx-UP will establish a network of community-engaged projects to improve access to and acceptance of testing in underserved and vulnerable populations. These populations include:

• Racial and ethnic minorities
• People in nursing homes, jails, rural areas or underserved urban areas
• Pregnant women
• The homeless

The overarching goal of this $500M effort is to understand factors that have led to the disproportionate burden of the pandemic on these populations, so that interventions can be implemented to decrease the disparities.

RADx-Underserved Populations Funded Research Projects
Visit this page for a list of funded RADx research projects, including RADx-UP funded by NIMHD and other NIH institutes.

September 30, 2020 - NIH to assess and expand COVID-19 testing for underserved communities - RADx-UP will support projects designed to rapidly implement testing strategies.

NIMHD is supporting the following programs:

• RFA-OD-20-013 - Emergency Awards: RADx-UP Coordination and Data Collection Center (CDCC) (U24 Clinical Trial Optional)

  The CDCC will serve as a national resource, working with NIH scientific staff and consortium members to coordinate and facilitate research activities focused on facilitators and challenges to testing in underserved communities. The RADx-UP CDCC will provide overarching support and guidance in administrative operations and logistics; COVID-19 testing technologies; community engagement; and data collection, integration, and sharing. It will also facilitate RADx-UP collaborative research by providing organizational and analytical infrastructure and expertise, supporting data integration and analysis, and coordinating across RADx-UP projects and the NIH-supported RADx initiatives that are developing and validating new COVID-19 testing technologies.

• NOT-OD-20-119 - Notice of Special Interest (NOSI): Emergency Competitive Revisions for Social, Ethical, and Behavioral Implications (SEBI) Research on COVID-19 Testing among Underserved and/or Vulnerable Populations

  NIMHD, the NIH Office of the Director, and other NIH Institutes are supplementing relevant active grants to identify, analyze, and address the social, ethical, and behavioral factors likely to influence access to and uptake of COVID-19 testing in underserved and/or vulnerable populations. These studies will assess the ethical, historical, health care, social, and contextual factors that affect COVID-19 testing, as well as how cultural beliefs and attitudes, perceived expectations, and preferences influence people’s ability and willingness to get tested and participate in follow-up evaluations.

• NOT-OD-20-120 - Notice of Special Interest (NOSI): Emergency Competitive Revisions for Community-Engaged Research on COVID-19 Testing among Underserved and/or Vulnerable Populations

  NIH aims to understand the factors that lead to COVID-19–related health disparities so that effective interventions can be implemented. As part of this initiative, NIMHD is supporting 2-year community-engaged Testing Research Projects. These projects will examine SARS-CoV-2 infection patterns and efforts to increase access and effectiveness of testing among underserved populations. This Testing Research Project funding opportunity will supplement relevant active research grants and cooperative agreements with community collaborations or partnerships to support COVID-19 testing among underserved and/or vulnerable populations.

• NOT-OD-20-121 - Notice of Special Interest (NOSI): Limited Competition for Emergency Competitive Revisions for Community-Engaged Research on COVID-19 Testing among Underserved and/or Vulnerable Populations

  NIH seeks to understand COVID-19 infection patterns and efforts to increase access and effectiveness of testing among underserved and vulnerable populations. As part of this initiative, NIMHD is supporting 2-year community-engaged Testing Research Projects. These projects will examine SARS-CoV-2 infection patterns and efforts to increase access and effectiveness of testing among underserved and/or vulnerable populations. This Testing Research Project funding opportunity will support supplements to eligible NIH grantees that are part of large-scale networks, consortia, centers, and other current programs that have adequate capacity and infrastructure and established community-engaged relationships to support large-scale testing.

Technical Assistance Webinar

• RADX-UP Funding Opportunity Announcement Webinar – July 2020
  The webinar includes an overview of the RADx-UP initiative, followed by presentations on each funding opportunity with Question and Answer sessions for each. The webinar concludes with a final, open Question and Answer session.

RADx-RAD

RADx-RAD will support new, non-traditional approaches, including rapid detection devices and home-based testing technologies, that address current gaps in COVID-19 testing.

• RFA-OD-20-016 - Emergency Awards: RADx-RAD Multimodal COVID-19 surveillance methods for high risk clustered populations (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)
  
  This FOA invites applications to pursue development and validation studies of COVID-19 surveillance methods, not based or focused on direct viral testing of individuals, in settings and institutions, including residential, with a high density of individuals who are together for prolonged periods of time. Applications are invited that translate a combination of digital surveillance modalities into platforms that can assist the professional staff of high-risk facilities in making clinically meaningful care recommendations for patients at risk of COVID-19 or other respiratory viruses.

December 21, 2020 - NIH to support radical approaches to nationwide COVID-19 testing and surveillance - RADx-rad program will fund non-traditional and repurposed technologies to combat the current pandemic and address future viral disease outbreaks.

More information on the RADx Program

• Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) NIH Home Page
  The RADx initiative is a national call for scientists and organizations to bring their innovative ideas for new COVID-19 testing approaches and strategies.


• NIH One Step Closer to Speeding Delivery of COVID-19 Testing Technologies to Those Who Need It Most Through RADx-UP
  This piece was authored in collaboration with the leadership across NIH and represents a unified effort to meet the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic with excellence and innovation.

Page updated Jan. 12, 2024