National Institute of
General Medical Sciences

The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) is pleased to announce four additional grant awards as part of the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics for Underserved Populations (RADx-UP) program, a $500 million National Institutes of Health (NIH)-wide initiative. The program aims to understand COVID-19 testing patterns among underserved and vulnerable populations; strengthen data on disparities in infection rates, disease progression, and outcomes; and develop strategies to reduce disparities in COVID-19 testing. NIGMS staff helped lead this trans-NIH initiative, and we previously announced five initial awards under the program.

Three out of the four recent awards went to Institutional Development Award (IDeA) program grantees: Montana State University, Bozeman, Alexandra K. Adams, P20-GM104417-07S1; University of Hawaii at Manoa, Richard Yanagihara, P30-GM114737-05S1; and Louisiana State University Pennington Biomedical Research Center, John P. Kirwan, U54-GM104940-05S3. The fourth went to a Common Fund National Research Mentoring Network (NRMN): Science of Mentoring, Networking, and Navigating Career Transition Points award, managed by NIGMS: University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Akshay Sood, U01-GM132175-02S1.

These awards align with NIGMS’ mission to help build the nation’s research capacity through the IDeA program and mentoring and networking capabilities for researchers from diverse backgrounds through NRMN. They will also allow a greater understanding of the basis for the morbidity and mortality disparities observed in vulnerable and underserved populations that are disproportionately affected by COVID-19.

For more information about RADx-UP and other Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) programs, visit the NIH RADx webpage.