Moana: Alternative Surveillance for COVID-19 in a Unique Population (MASC-UP)

Status: Current

The Moana: Alternate Surveillance for COVID-19 in a Unique Population (MASC-UP) study is deploying innovative, culturally tailored, multi-modal, multi-level participatory surveillance systems in the largest Marshallese community in the United States, Northwest Arkansas, and offered remotely nationwide. MASC-UP will demonstrate the value of culturally tailored, participatory disease surveillance developed and tested in real-world settings to mitigate COVID-19 disparities in a high-risk, clustered population that has been profoundly underserved by public health efforts to date. Our findings can be rapidly adapted and disseminated for improved surveillance and disease prevention in other high-risk minority groups across the United States.​

Principal Investigator(s)

• Denise Dillard, PhD, MS
• Erin R. Morgan, PhD, MS

Team Member(s)

• Clemma Muller, PhD, MS
  Co-Investigator
• Maddy Rantala, MS
  Research Assistant
• Meghan Lindell
  Research Coordinator
• Marla Alohilani Tam-Hoy Barhoum, MEd
  Recruitment Coordinator

Heath Research Initiatives

• Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander