# San Francisco Bay Clinical Trial Unit: Expanding COVID-19 Testing in Heavily Impacted Communities in San Francisco

> **NIH NIH UM1** · PUBLIC HEALTH FOUNDATION ENTERPRISES · 2020 · $600,000

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
As of mid-May, 2020, severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that
causes COVID-19 disease, has been diagnosed in more than 1.3 million persons in the United States and
accounted for more than 80,000 US deaths. Identifying persons infected with SARS-CoV-2 before they
present to health care can reduce transmission and flatten the epidemic curve. The San Francisco Bay
Area was particularly hard hit early in the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, and like many parts
of the United States, has substantial racial/ethnic disparities in the distribution of cases of COVID-19 in
the City. The eastern parts of the City have the highest case rates, with most heavily impacted
communities including the Mission, Bayview and Sunnydale neighborhoods, and the Tenderloin, but
relatively few COVID-19 testing sites exist there. In addition, outbreaks have been occurring in
congregate living situations in San Francisco, where testing can be difficult to perform. We plan to
increase SARS-CoV-2 testing through 2 low-barrier testing approaches to identify previously
undiagnosed persons. First, we will use a mobile testing unit to reach persons in facilities and
neighborhoods where COVID-19 rates are high. Second, we will conduct testing through a community
mobilization event in a heavily impacted neighborhood in the southeast San Francisco, testing more
than 3000 persons over a four-day time period. We will integrate HIV testing into SARS-CoV-2 testing, as
rates of HIV testing have dramatically declined since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and there
is substantial overlap in the populations at risk of both types of infection. These activities will have the
additional benefit of increasing capacity at the 2 Clinical Research Sites of the San Francisco Bay Clinical
Trials Unit to conduct COVID-19 research, including trials of vaccines and therapeutic interventions.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10166243
- **Project number:** 3UM1AI069496-14S1
- **Recipient organization:** PUBLIC HEALTH FOUNDATION ENTERPRISES
- **Principal Investigator:** Susan Buchbinder
- **Activity code:** UM1 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $600,000
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2020-06-15 → 2021-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10166243

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10166243, San Francisco Bay Clinical Trial Unit: Expanding COVID-19 Testing in Heavily Impacted Communities in San Francisco (3UM1AI069496-14S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10166243. Licensed CC0.

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