Photo Courtesy of Priya Sarin, Kraft Community Health

The Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostic-Underserved Populations (RADx-UP) Program is a consortium of community-engaged research projects whose aim is to transform COVID-19 research to eliminate health disparities heightened by this pandemic. This nationwide program builds innovative and sustainable solutions to expand testing access and uptake in underserved, vulnerable communities. These community projects are supported by the Coordination and Data Collection Center (CDCC), whose vision is to use a community-centered approach. CDCC serves the community project teams and their community partners through education, training, implementation guidance, and coordination by supporting projects across the country with established community partnerships.

CCPH celebrates two rewarding years of partnership with the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics – Underserved Populations (RADx-UP) project. A consortium of over 125 community-based projects focused on expanding access to COVID-19 testing across the U.S., RADx-UP demonstrates how essential community engagement is to researching and addressing health disparities. View the newly-released video to hear from CCPH Executive Director Al Richmond and other RADx-UP leaders about this essential work.

People involved in the program

This program is a partnership with The Duke Clinical Research Institute at Duke University and the Center for Health Equity Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Al Richmond, CCPH Executive Director, serves as the Co-Lead of the Engagement Core. The RADx-UP team consists of a Director of Community Engagement & Capacity, Community Engagement Manager, Community Engagement Coordinators, and consultants to support the four CDCC functional cores. 

Research resulting from the program

CCPH supports research projects and initiatives to build robust and sustainable programs that advance COVID-19 testing and ensures that best practices and technical assistance for community engagement research are applied through a health equity and social justice lens. 

2020-2021: Year in Review

This infographic, 2020-2021: Year in Review, offers a glimpse of the first 352 days of CCPH’s work as part of RADx-UP to address health disparities related to testing access in underserved communities.  Review the infographic here.

Community engagement resulting from the program

CCPH’s support of the CDCC is pivotal because its broad reach into communities throughout the United States will help to accomplish a key goal of enhancing the projects’ engagement efforts to expand COVID-19 testing access and uptake in communities of color. CCPH community engagement work is far-reaching and constantly increasing through new partnerships, including the CDCC RADx-UP community projects, their community partners, and new collaborative community grantees. 

CCPH’s involvement in the program

CCPH’s involvement in the program supports a community-centered, flexible program infrastructure and a participatory and inclusive community engagement program. Specifically, CCPH provides the following services to support the CDCC:

  • capacity-building to RADx-UP projects
  • training and technical assistance for community engagement approaches to identify and address barriers to implementation
  • serve as a robust knowledge repository
  • provide content expertise in the design and implementation of the convenings

RADx-UP Training and Services Menu

Please see our menu of dynamic training and services designed to meet the community engagement needs of the Coordination & Data Collection Center and RADx-UP-funded projects. To schedule a training, please contact RadxUP@ccphealth.org.

Meet the Community-Campus Partnerships for Health RADx-UP Team

Al Richmond, MSW
Executive Director
CO-PI, CDCC Community Engagement Core

Melvin Jackson, MSPH
CCPH Consultant

Emily D. Finley, MPH
Engagement Lead

Charisse S. Iglesias, PhD
Training & Content Development Specialist

Kunga Denzongpa, PhD, MPH
Data & Evaluation Manager

Alan L. Wells, PhD, MPH
Evaluation Specialist

Information Dissemination

For additional information, visit the CDCC RADx-UP website:  https://radx-up.org

News and Webinars

HBCU Coalition Member Spotlight: Virginia Hunter

HBCU Coalition Member Spotlight: Virginia Hunter

Community-Campus Partnerships for Health, in partnership with RTI International, is utilizing our diverse network and partnerships with college and university affiliates to increase the engagement of Historically Black College and University (HBCU) students, faculty, staff, and researchers in the All of Us Researcher Academy and use of the All of Us Researcher Workbench. We recently sat down for a conversation with our Engagement Strategist, Virginia Hunter, whose work with CCPH helps increase the visibility of the program at HBCUs.

As an alumna of an HBCU with deep roots in the community, Virginia shares her personal connection to HBCUs, her hopes for the All of Us Research Program, and why it’s important. Continue reading to learn more.