How COVID-19 spreads and can be reduced in low-resource communities
Official title: COVID Global Mix - Global Mix / Investigation of COVID-19 Disease Parameters for Transmission Models in Low-Resource Settings
Funded at Ut Southwestern Medical Center · NIH-11495178 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project measures how COVID-19 spreads within households in low-resource countries and uses that information to model how vaccines and measures like masks, school closures, and stay-at-home actions could lower infections.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Ut Southwestern Medical Center NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Dallas, United States) |
| Project start | March 1, 2022 |
| Project end | February 28, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $6,912 |
| NIH project number | 3R01AI161399-06S2 |
| Project ID | NIH-11495178 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal participants are people living in the low-resource communities enrolled in the GlobalMix household cohorts who are willing to provide routine respiratory samples and contact information over time.
✕Less likely to help
People who do not live in the participating low-resource community sites or who cannot provide repeated samples and contact information are unlikely to benefit directly from joining this project.
What this research studies
You would join a community-based effort that follows households over time to see who gets respiratory infections and when. Study teams collect regular respiratory samples and record close-contact patterns between people in the household and community. Researchers combine these real-world data with detailed social-contact maps from the GlobalMix project to build models that reflect local transmission. Models are then used to look at how vaccination and non-pharmaceutical steps (masks, school closure, shelter-in-place) might change infection spread in those settings.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could help design more effective and locally appropriate COVID-19 prevention strategies in low-resource communities.
How similar studies have gone: Household surveillance and contact-pattern studies have previously helped guide public-health actions, but LMIC-specific COVID-19 transmission data remain more limited.
Where this research is happening
-
Ut Southwestern Medical Center
Dallas, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Omer, Saad B. — Ut Southwestern Medical Center
- Study coordinator: Omer, Saad B.
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.