# NIA AD/ADRD Health Care Systems Research Collaboratory

> **NIH NIH U54** · BROWN UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $1,205,096

## Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected skilled nursing facilities’ (SNF) residents and workers,
and it is the biggest challenge U.S. SNFs have faced in decades. SNF healthcare workers are also often
disadvantaged persons at risk for contracting the virus. Thus, universal testing of residents and workers has
been a key management approach to containing viral spread. COVID-19 has magnified long-standing health
disparities in the quality and outcomes of care among minority SNF residents. Equitable SARS-CoV-2 testing
strategies have a critical role to play in mitigating such disparities. This proposal’s overarching goal is to
leverage the foundation of the NIA IMbedded Pragmatic AD/ADRD Clinical Trials (IMPACT) Collaboratory to
establish IMPACT-COVID-19 (IMPACT-C) which will be dedicated to developing and evaluating SARS-CoV-2
testing strategies among highly vulnerable SNF residents and workers. The Aims are to: 1) Establish the
infrastructure of IMPACT-C; 2) Describe disparities in SARS-CoV-2 testing, and identify resident, facility and
policy characteristics associated with COVID-19 outbreaks and outcomes; 3) Engage key stakeholders to
develop culturally sensitive SARS-CoV-2 testing strategies; and 4) Design and conduct cluster RCTs of SARS-
CoV-2 testing strategies embedded in SNF heath systems. All data will be shared with the RADx-UP
Coordination and Data Collection Center. The organizational, administrative, and expertise components for
IMPACT-C will include: leadership, regulatory structures, dissemination, and investigators. IMPACT-C will also
leverage IMPACT’s Data Sharing Collaborative that includes 11 national companies that collectively own over
1,000 SNFs and use a common electronic medical record (EMR) platform. We have already established the
infrastructure to securely and regularly receive daily EMR and COVID-19 data from this consortium and link it
to Medicare claims and Minimum Data Set assessments. Using this rich and representative database, we will
conduct a series of models to inform policies on SARS-CoV-2 testing and to forecast outbreaks. Further, we
will leverage IMPACT’s resources to develop a diverse and engaged group of stakeholders who will identify
barriers to SARS-CoV-2 testing in SNFs, develop solutions, and inform the development of future testing
strategies to be tested in a cluster RCT (Aim 4). We have designed a cluster RCT of 120-150 facilities to
compare the effect of novel, point-of-care testing versus usual care on the rate of COVID-19 infections. The
COVID-19 pandemic is rapidly evolving, and we have the expertise to modify the proposed trial based on
advances in testing technology, improved access to point-of-care testing in SNFs, stakeholder
recommendations, and regional policies. Ultimately, IMPACT-C will be well-poised to rapidly and rigorously
conduct a vaccine trial. In summary, IMPACT-C will establish the infrastructure and expertise to develop and
evaluate SARS-CoV-2 testing strategies f...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10469823
- **Project number:** 3U54AG063546-03S2
- **Recipient organization:** BROWN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** SUSAN L MITCHELL
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $1,205,096
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2019-09-01 → 2023-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10469823

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10469823, NIA AD/ADRD Health Care Systems Research Collaboratory (3U54AG063546-03S2). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10469823. Licensed CC0.

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