CCS/MSP432P401R: UART interrupt using RTOS

Tool/software: Code Composer Studio

I am wondering if my code for a UART RX interrupt is correct.  I got to this point by scouring the UART.h file for info.  The code works fine, it just seems weird that I must have the UART_read() function in the while loop for it to work properly.  I have made sure that the UART_read() function doesn't block and the while(1) loop can continue.  Please see my code below...

Thank you!

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/*
 *  ======== uartecho.c ========
 */
#include <stdint.h>
#include <stddef.h>
#include <unistd.h>
/* Driver Header files */
#include <ti/drivers/GPIO.h>
#include <ti/drivers/UART.h>

/* Driver configuration */
#include "ti_drivers_config.h"

static char response;


void readCallback(UART_Handle uartHandle, void *response, size_t count)
{

    GPIO_toggle(CONFIG_GPIO_LED_0);

}

/*
 *  ======== mainThread ========
 */
void *mainThread(void *arg0)
{

    UART_Handle uart1;
    UART_Params uartParams1;

    /* Call driver init functions */
    GPIO_init();
    UART_init();

    /* Configure the LED pin */
    GPIO_setConfig(CONFIG_GPIO_LED_0, GPIO_CFG_OUT_STD | GPIO_CFG_OUT_LOW);

    /* Turn on user LED */
    GPIO_write(CONFIG_GPIO_LED_0, CONFIG_GPIO_LED_ON);

    /* Create a UART with data processing off. */
    UART_Params_init(&uartParams1);
    uartParams1.readMode = UART_MODE_CALLBACK;
    uartParams1.writeMode = UART_MODE_BLOCKING;
    uartParams1.readTimeout = UART_WAIT_FOREVER;
    uartParams1.writeTimeout = UART_WAIT_FOREVER;
    uartParams1.readCallback = readCallback;
    uartParams1.writeCallback = NULL;
    uartParams1.readReturnMode = UART_RETURN_FULL;
    uartParams1.readDataMode = UART_DATA_BINARY;
    uartParams1.writeDataMode = UART_DATA_BINARY;
    uartParams1.readEcho = UART_ECHO_OFF;
    uartParams1.baudRate = 115200;
    uartParams1.dataLength = UART_LEN_8;
    uartParams1.stopBits = UART_STOP_ONE;
    uartParams1.parityType = UART_PAR_NONE;

    uart1 = UART_open(CONFIG_UART_1, &uartParams1);

    if (uart1 == NULL) {
        /* UART_open() failed */
        while (1);
    }

    while (1) {

        UART_read(uart1, &response, 1);

    }
}