Pacific Islanders: Earn incentives for participating in a COVID-related study

Pacific Islanders: Earn incentives for participating in a COVID-related study

Pacific Islanders: Earn incentives for participating in a COVID-related study


9/20/2021

Photo of flyerPhoto of flyer

Pacific Islander volunteers are being sought to take part in a University of Guam–led study seeking to learn more about Pacific Islanders’ knowledge and understanding of COVID-19 and COVID-19 testing. Pacific Islanders — defined as the indigenous people of Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, Tonga, Hawai’i, and Palau — collectively have among the highest morbidity and mortality rates associated with COVID-19 in the United States. 

Up to $35 in incentives is available for completing two questionnaires and referring up to a maximum of three other interested and willing Pacific Islanders.

The study, titled UOG RADx-UP: Protecting Life Project (Puipuia le Ola/Prutehi I Lina’la) is one of 69 projects across the United States funded by the National Institutes of Health. RADx-UP stands for the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (in) Underserved Populations. This project is a partnership between the University of Guam and the University of Hawai`i John A. Burns School of Medicine, and both sites are actively seeking to recruit up to 800 participants in Guam and 4,000 participants in Hawaii. 

Eligible participants must:

  • self-identify as Pacific Islander
  • be 18 years of age or older
  • have never tested positive for COVID-19
  • be in Guam for at least three months
  • not have a bleeding problem or disorder, an immune deficiency disorder, or an autoimmune disease.

Participants will be asked to complete two confidential questionnaires and to provide a specimen for COVID-19 testing. In addition, educational sessions will be offered about COVID-19 in the Pacific Islander communities along with information about COVID-19 prevention and testing. 

To determine eligibility, interested participants may visit https://url.uog.edu/radxup.

For more information, please contact a UOG RADx-UP research associate from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays at (671) 735-0215 or via email at radxup@triton.uog.edu. The project is also on Facebook as “UOG RADx-UP Protecting Life Project.”

This study has been approved by the UOG Institutional Review Board's Committee on Human Subjects Research (CHRS#: 21-15).