NIH awarded UC San Diego $33 million over four years for five Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) projects https://www.nih.gov/radx.
The RADx program responds to the nation’s need for innovative solutions in diagnostic technologies and expertise in infectious diseases, informatics, data science, clinical pathology, bioengineering, and other related areas.
The RADxSM initiative was launched in 2020 to speed innovation in the development, commercialization, and implementation of technologies for COVID-19 testing. The RADxSM initiative has four programs, RADx Tech, RADx Advanced Technology Platforms, RADx Underserved Populations (RADx-UP) and RADx Radical (RADx-rad).
The RADx-UP program funds projects aimed at understanding why some communities are disproportionately affected by COVID-19. The goal is to reduce the factors associated with these disparities.
The RADx Radical (RADx-rad) program supports innovative approaches to address gaps in COVID-19 testing. One of the RADx-rad projects with funding for $4,970,492 over two years is going to address Harnessing Technological Innovation and Community-Engaged Implementation Science to Optimize COVID-19 Testing for Women and Children in Underserved Communities.
According to Lucila Ohno-Machado, MD, PhD, Chair, Department of Biomedical Informatics at UC San Diego Health, “The RADx program includes using AI models to help detect disease using novel sensors. Lessons learned from the current focus on COVID-19 will be leveraged in many other health sciences challenges and the data will be shared to accelerate other discoveries.