Google.org awarded $1 million to support Atlanta-based Morehouse School of Medicine's ongoing research on the disproportionate effect the COVID-19 pandemic has had on communities of color.
Google will provide a team of engineers and data scientists to work with the Satcher Health Leadership Institute and Morehouse School of Medicine over the next six months to build a database with information on the virus's effect by race, ethnicity, gender and socioeconomic status, among other factors. The project will map data on the spread of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths across the U.S.
Researchers aim to use the data to help policymakers better understand how to ensure communities of color disproportionately affected by the pandemic receive targeted help to close racial gaps, and ensure that resources and support for battling the virus are made available, according to the news release.
"By looking at the social and political determinants of COVID-19 outcomes, we can inform resource allocation and management, jurisdictions' response and mitigation strategies, testing, contact tracing, and overall implications for health equity for vulnerable populations," said Daniel Dawes, director of the Satcher Health Leadership Institute and principal investigator of the grant award.