KU Med Receives Over $3.75 Million to help with COVID-19 Testing with Rep. Davids’ Support

The University of Kanas Medical Center has been awarded an over $3.75 million grant from the National Institutes of Health for KU Med's effort to help local organizations address disparities in COVID-19 testing. Rep. Sharice Davids helped advocate for the funding.

The initiative awarded the grant money, "RADx-UP: Improving the Response of Local Urban and Rural Communities to Disparities in COVID-19 Testing," seeks to help to improve the health of Kansans in rural and urban communities during this unprecedented global pandemic. It uses community-developed and community-informed strategies to increase testing and contract tracing of COVID-19 cases in Kansas' most vulnerable communities.

"Many people in our community face difficulty accessing health care, and these disparities have become even more apparent as a result of the COVID-19 crisis," said Rep. Davids. "I'm glad to have played a role in securing this funding and I'm excited to see the community-informed work that has begun in Wyandotte County with the local Health Equity Task Force. I look forward to seeing this work expand to assist other regions in Kansas."

RADx-UP aims to understand COVID-19 testing patterns better among underserved and populations; strengthen the data on disparities in infection rates, disease progression and outcomes; and develop strategies to reduce these disparities in COVID-19 testing. To accomplish these goals in rapid fashion, the program is supporting projects with established community partnerships that can use their existing research infrastructures to swiftly implement strategies and interventions to increase access and uptake of COVID-19 testing.