Georgia Tech researchers, in collaboration with Emory University and the Morehouse School of Medicine, have received a $5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to increase COVID-19 testing for people affected by diabetes in Georgia. The grant was specifically awarded to The Georgia Center for Diabetes Translation Research (GCDTR), which is a joint collaboration among the three institutions.
A part of the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) initiative, the RADx Underserved Populations (RADx-UP) program will support research that aims to better understand COVID-19 testing patterns among underserved and vulnerable populations; strengthen the data on disparities in infection rates, disease progression and outcomes; and develop strategies to reduce disparities in COVID-19 testing.
Leading the project at Georgia Tech is Regents’ Professor Elizabeth Mynatt, executive director of Georgia Tech’s Institute of People and Technology.
“We are establishing a technology ecosystem to optimize COVID-19 testing by identifying where, with whom, and how to intervene in underserved populations most severely affected by COVID-19 disease,” said Mynatt.
“Our team at Georgia Tech is well-prepared to contribute to this project as we already have faculty that are developing predictive models that anticipate testing needs and determine emergent barriers to optimal testing experiences that account for the needs and attitudes of racial/ethnic minority, rural, and socially vulnerable populations. We will be iteratively optimizing the design, deployment, and evaluation of COVID-19 testing. Working with our community partners, we will determine how to best deploy testing resources, and how to improve the testing experience, including tailoring messaging and educational materials to address community needs and barriers to testing.”