Vol. 2, No. 12
Action Items:
  • Attend the Working Groups Celebration on June 29
  • Contribute your community photos to the RADx-UP Image Bank
  • Register for the next Community Consultation Studio on July 12
Dear RADx-UP partners,

Last week, the CDCC completed the process of transferring the first batch of RADx-UP data to the RADx Data Hub. This dataset included NIH RADx-UP Common Data Elements (CDEs) from 53 of the 76 RADx-UP projects that have transferred CDE data to the CDCC to date. 

This is a significant milestone for our consortium. Congratulations! 

NIH is building the RADx Data Hub to be a national resource of RADx-generated research data that can help researchers and public health officials better understand the impact of the pandemic, including the outcomes, the disparities, and the possible solutions. 

RADx-UP is a key partner in the Data Hub. Your consistent use of the NIH RADx-UP CDEs allows the CDCC to aggregate data from across all the populations and communities that your project teams study and engage. RADx-UP data will be crucial to the relevance and impact of the RADx Data Hub. 

Just as with our new Partnering for Impact initiative – in which you can collaborate to analyze the RADx-UP aggregated data – the RADx Data Hub presents exciting opportunities for you to apply your scientific questions to the larger dataset in that data hub.

The RADx Data Hub is looking for RADx-UP investigators to test drive the Hub and the analysis workbench under development in the Hub. If you are interested in participating and helping the Hub define and refine its capabilities, let your EIT know today. 
Updates to myRADx-UPhome 

Project data managers, please review the release notes for the latest changes to myRADx-UPhome, which include the ability to upload version 1.4 of the CDEs; weekly automated emails on Data Quality Resolution requests within the past week; and all data uploads now are stored in the RADx-UP database, so if you upload a file by mistake, you must be delete the file manually. 

Also, this is a friendly reminder to sign into MRUH to see the directory. Check your project information and find similar projects there.
Submit a photo from your community 

The CDCC is collecting images for the RADx-UP Image Bank. Please share your photos that tell the story of how COVID-19 has affected your family, community, career, relationships, and other aspects of life. Submit up to five photos per month and be entered into a raffle to receive a $150 digital gift card.

Learn more on myRADx-UPhome. (Note that all persons appearing in the photos must complete and upload a consent to be included in the RADx-UP Image Bank; if you plan to be out in the community at an event, download and carry consent forms!) 
India Home submitted this photo of their van in front of a Sikh Gurdwara. 
Engagement Resource Center’s next Community Consultation Studio

The next Community Consultation Studio, to be facilitated by Magdalene Wellman of Community-Campus Partnerships for Health, will be July 12 from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. ET.

This session will engage the end-users of the Resource Page to gather quality improvement feedback, perspectives, and priorities about  new resources, research Briefs, and the RADx-UP Image Bank.

Community partner participants can receive $300 for reviewing Engagement Resource Center materials and attending the one-hour session. If you are interested and would like to attend, register by July 5. (You will receive a calendar invite and further details by July 8.) Contact Hailey Leiva with any questions.
New analysis concepts for your review 

We have received submissions of nine RADx-UP analysis concepts from seven members of the consortium. Learn about each of the concepts on the View Vetted Concepts page of myRADx-UPhome (after login, use the navigation to find Engage > Publications > View Vetted Concepts) and contact the submitter to indicate your interest in collaborating on the writing team.

Please join! These are consortium-wide publication opportunities!
Rapid Research Pilot Program awards to new research studies 

The CDCC Rapid Research Pilot Program seeks to improve access to and uptake of diagnostic COVID-19 testing in communities of underserved and vulnerable populations, and better understand factors that have led to the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on these groups as well as develop interventions to reduce those disparities. From South Asian immigrants to the Alabama’s Black Belt Counties to underserved youth, five Rapid Research Pilot projects will further the goal of the program.  
RADx-UP community engagement Research Roundup

In this RADx-UP Research Roundup, we highlight three RADx-UP projects and how they perform community-engaged research in order to ensure that the study design, strategy, and analysis support and meaningfully engage the community. Especially in the context of the pandemic, which has exacerbated health disparities, communities are essential partners in conducting research that meaningfully advances the science of COVID-19.
Spanish-language virtual town hall recording 

RADx-UP Kansas/Juntos recently hosted a Spanish-language virtual town hall event that featured representatives from community organizations across the state and Ximena Garcia, the senior advisor for COVID-19 vaccine equity to the governor of Kansas. The event focused on lessons learned from the pandemic from the perspective of multiple organizations including school districts and social service organizations. Panelists were selected by RADx-UP Local Health Equity Action Teams.

Watch the recording. 
UC San Diego project LinkUP highlights community leader
 
Anna Frankos served as counselor with LinkUP, the RADx-UP project team at the University of California San Diego. LinkUP is a program to help increase COVID-19 testing and vaccination among people who inject drugs in San Diego County, and it will inform efforts to leverage any of the 185 syringe service programs around the US to reach marginalized communities. Anna worked with the project’s community partner, the Harm Reduction Coalition of San Diego's syringe exchange program, OnPoint. She would bring her dog, Minnie (pictured below, and with puppies!), to help put study participants at ease. 
RADx-UP project returns study results using a comic book 

Safer at School Early Alert (SASEA) partnered with their UC San Diego Health Communications Team to develop a comic book/coloring book as a kid-friendly way for children and parents to learn about what SASEA did at their schools over the past two years. The comic book shares scientific information in a user-friendly format and comes in two versions: version 1 covers wastewater monitoring and version 2 covers wastewater monitoring and surface sampling done by the project team.

The comic books were delivered to schools in early June in addition to SASEA swag bags for school staff. The books are available from the SASAE website in English and Spanish as well as in the RADx-UP resources library.
Working Groups Celebration 

On June 29 at 3 p.m. ET, the RADx-UP Working Groups will come together to celebrate and share their accomplishments. All project teams, CDCC, and NIH program officers can attend. Mark your Outlook Calendar!
COVID-19 educational materials from ASU Southwest Interdisciplinary Research Center 

The Southwest Interdisciplinary Research Center at Arizona State University has shared new COVID-19 public health education materials (in Spanish and English) developed with community partners Campesinos sin Fronteras for border and transborder populations in Arizona. Find these materials in the RADx-UP Resource Library. 
70,000 pounds of bananas!
 
Did you know there’s a world record for the largest fruit stand? Fresh Del Monte and Jewel-Osco set a new record with 70,000 pounds of bananas on display in Chicago on June 8. The stand took 3 days to construct! After breaking the record, the bananas were given away to customers, with the remaining donated to the Northern Illinois Food Bank.  
Please contact us at RADx-UP-CDCC@duke.edu or through your assigned CDCC EIT (see current list under Engagement Impact Teams).

Use this form to alert the CDCC to resources like the item above or other information coming out of your project or community, and please let your EIT know if you need anything translated into another language.