# Eliminating COVID-19 disparities in partnership with underserved/vulnerable transnational communities of Arizona

> **NIH NIH U54** · ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY-TEMPE CAMPUS · 2021 · $996,702

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic significantly affects the entire State of Arizona but impacts communities along the
border with Mexico disproportionally. Majority Latinx and American Indian communities along this border have
higher infection rates and less access to testing and vaccination. This proposed supplement aims to increase
access to testing and related services for these underserved transnational communities. The expansion of our
current community-driven and culturally congruent project will advance knowledge about barriers to care and
effective strategies to increase testing and vaccination in the border region. This application extends the work
of ASU’s health disparities U54 center grant (RFA-MD-17-005; 5U54MD002316) and its RADx-UP supplement
(3U54MD002316-14S1) by reducing disparities in COVID-19 diagnostics, vaccination, education, wraparound
services and health care, with the goal of improving the health of vulnerable and underserved communities.
The aims of this emergency competitive revision closely match and enhance the aims of the current U54 award
and its RADx-UP supplement. The focus on populations along the AZ-Mexico border will add to existing
knowledge about assets and vulnerabilities of diverse transnational communities disproportionally affected by
the pandemic. The approach empowers local communities, is data driven, and creates the infrastructure
capacity for community-driven delivery of care. Following a Community Based Participatory Research (CBPR)
orientation, the revised supplement expands our existing R.A.P.I.D. program by improving access and
decreasing hesitancy to COVID-19 testing and vaccination among underserved and vulnerable populations in
the border region. Equality Health Foundation (EHF) will continue to serve as the lead community partner for
the proposed revised supplement and the ASU Biodesign Clinical Testing Laboratory (ABCTL) will provide and
analyze the saliva-based polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing for SARS-CoV-2. Local partners
coordinated by EHF under the One Community Initiative against COVID-19 will implement the vaccination
program. Over two years, the revised supplement aims to reach 7,000 additional community members living
and working along the AZ-Mexico border. CDCC surveys from border communities will be added to the
ongoing longitudinal study we are conducting to assess the intervention’s impact and also by comparing
randomly selected participants (N=200) with a matched comparison group (N=200) randomly selected from
regular testing sites. We will also conduct ongoing COVID-19 variants sequence validation among those tested
and inform appropriate health authorities if significant variants emerge. The transdisciplinary team has the
infrastructure, capacity, and community partnerships in place to implement the project effectively and
efficiently. ASU’s existing NIMHD-funded U54 center, guided by its Community and Scientific Advisory Board
and in collaboration with g...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10414714
- **Project number:** 3U54MD002316-15S2
- **Recipient organization:** ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY-TEMPE CAMPUS
- **Principal Investigator:** Flavio Francisco Marsiglia
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $996,702
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2007-09-30 → 2025-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10414714

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10414714, Eliminating COVID-19 disparities in partnership with underserved/vulnerable transnational communities of Arizona (3U54MD002316-15S2). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-21 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10414714. Licensed CC0.

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