Dear RADx-UP Consortium,
The COVID-19 pandemic revealed not only weaknesses in healthcare delivery but also the structural barriers in access to testing, treatment, and reliable information. These barriers disproportionately affected underserved communities, raising critical questions for all of us as researchers: how can we design studies, interventions, and data systems that promote access to all populations?
Your collective work through RADx-UP—along with the efforts of the RADx-UP Coordination and Data Collection Center (CDCC)—has now been synthesized into the Public Health Emergency Preparedness Playbook.
This playbook represents far more than a report. It is a research-informed framework for advancing emergency preparedness, built directly from the insights, innovations, and dedication of your teams.
Key contributions from your research include:
• Approaches for building and sustaining communities of practice beyond individual studies.
• Methods to embed community voices into research protocols and data governance.
• Evidence demonstrating the power of community-led solutions to increase access.
• Strategies to evaluate and counter misinformation with culturally tailored, plain-language communication.
• Models for aligning funding with long-term community priorities.
Thanks to your efforts, this resource now offers a roadmap for researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and communities working to bridge evidence and practice—before the next public health crisis.
On behalf of the RADx-UP program, thank you for your commitment, your collaboration, and your vision. This playbook simply would not exist without your contributions.
You can explore the playbook (in English and Spanish) here: https://ccphealth.org/partnering/radx/
With gratitude,
The RADx-UP CDCC