# The RCMI Program in Health Disparities Research at Meharry Medical College

> **NIH NIH U54** · MEHARRY MEDICAL COLLEGE · 2021 · $268,287

## Abstract

Abstract
COVID-19 has created a "state of emergency" for African Americans in the US. Africans Americans with pre-
existing conditions and greater economic difficulties are especially vulnerable in the current pandemic. As of
3/1/2021, three vaccines have received emergency use authorization that protect against severe illness related
to COVID-19. However, recent findings indicate 31% of adults self-reported “wait and see”, of which 16% were
African American. It is a national priority to identify strategies to address vaccine hesitancy and tailoring
communication strategies is a top recommendation. Our preliminary studies suggest that a social marketing
campaign disseminating tailored messages informed by using community-engaged approaches may effectively
increase confidence in COVID-19 vaccines, and ultimately, uptake among African Americans. This project
seeks to test the feasibility and impact of a multi-layered, culturally-appropriate social marketing intervention
targeting COVID-19 vaccine hesitant (VH) African Americans to increase vaccine confidence, uptake, and
completion of multi-dose vaccine series in Nashville/Davidson County, Tennessee. To achieve this goal, we
propose the following specific aims: Aim 1: Engage with key stakeholders to develop a multi-layered,
culturally-appropriate social marketing intervention (CoVax Facts) targeting African Americans who are
COVID-19 VH. Aim 2a: Conduct a pilot study of the intervention and study protocol to demonstrate feasibility
and assess impact on COVID-19 vaccine rates. Aim 2b. To retrospectively explore knowledge, attitudes,
intentions, and implementation outcomes post intervention. This study’s novelty lies in being the first to assess
the feasibility and preliminary efficacy of a multi-layered, theory-based social marketing intervention, which is
deemed culturally-appropriate using tailoring strategies. A multi-disciplinary group of investigators on this
project have expertise in biological concepts (e.g., viruses and vaccines), epidemiology (e.g., COVID-19
surveillance/disparities), vaccine hesitancy, community engagement, health communication, and intervention
development and implementation science. Our team is led by Jennifer C. Erves, PhD, MPH, MAED, MS,
CHES (Meharry Medical College [MMC]), Co-Is Jamaine Davis, PhD (MMC) and Heather Brandt, PhD (St.
Jude), and mentor Maureen Sanderson, PhD (MMC). The research team will leverage their community
partnerships and resources of the Research Centers in Minority Institutions Program in Health Disparities
Research at MMC, Vanderbilt Qualitative Research Core, and St. Jude HPV Cancer Prevention Program to
conduct this research. IMPACT: The knowledge, experience, and data provided by this award will: 1) further
inform research on social-marketing interventions using tailored health communication to reduce COVID-19
health-related disparities, and 2) prepare our team to secure future R01 funding to assess a larger, well-
powered RCT to assess eff...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10367265
- **Project number:** 3U54MD007586-34S7
- **Recipient organization:** MEHARRY MEDICAL COLLEGE
- **Principal Investigator:** Samuel Evans Adunyah
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $268,287
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 1997-09-30 → 2022-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10367265

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10367265, The RCMI Program in Health Disparities Research at Meharry Medical College (3U54MD007586-34S7). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10367265. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*