How COVID-19 spreads in low-resource communities
COVID Global Mix - Global Mix / Investigation of COVID-19 Disease Parameters for Transmission Models in Low-Resource Settings
This project measures how COVID-19 moves through households and communities in low- and middle-income countries to help design better ways to prevent 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 ID | NIH-11408589 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
Researchers will follow households enrolled in the GlobalMix network over time and collect respiratory and blood samples when people get sick or at scheduled visits. Team members will record who people interact with in their daily lives and combine those contact data with the lab results to estimate how often infection passes between household members. The group will build computer models tailored to low-resource settings to test how vaccines, masks, school closures, and other measures might lower transmission. Results will be used to recommend interventions that fit local community contact patterns.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal participants are people of all ages living in households at participating GlobalMix field sites in low- and middle-income communities who can provide respiratory and blood samples and share information about their daily contacts.
Not a fit: People who do not live in the study communities or who need immediate medical treatment rather than participation in surveillance are unlikely to receive direct benefit from joining.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could guide more effective, locally appropriate vaccination and public-health strategies to reduce COVID-19 spread in low-resource settings.
How similar studies have performed: Prior household transmission and social-mixing studies have informed COVID-19 policies, though longitudinal, LMIC-specific data remain relatively limited.
Where this research is happening
Dallas, United States
- Ut Southwestern Medical Center — Dallas, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Omer, Saad B. — Ut Southwestern Medical Center
- Study coordinator: Omer, Saad B.
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 below.