The All of Us Research Program has awarded a total of $8.7 million to seven national community partners to strengthen recruitment of participants and researchers underrepresented in biomedical research. All of Us is a national effort that aims to build one of the largest, most diverse databases of health information from one million or more people that researchers can use to study health and disease. With this new funding, partners will collaborate with other program awardees and divisions to involve underrepresented communities using engagement, outreach, enrollment, and retention strategies and tactics.
“Our community engagement partners provide crucial support to help deliver on the promise of All of Us,” said Josh Denny, M.D., M.S., Chief Executive Officer of All of Us Research Program. “Through their continued commitment to the program, they fortify our network of trusted community organizations, provide a vital sounding board to shape our activities and direction, lend their expertise to overcome communities’ distrust of research, motivate diverse communities to enroll and remain engaged with our program, and support diverse researchers doing research in All of Us.”
As part of the new award, the partners will build networks of community organizations and engage with the program’s health care provider organizations and other partners to promote enrollment and recruitment. Additionally, many will engage with researchers from underrepresented groups and help advance the science of engagement.
The seven community partners that have been awarded funding include:
- American Association on Health and Disability (AAHD): AAHD will establish the All of Us Disability Consortium and host a series of listening sessions.
- Asian Health Coalition (AHC): AHC will work with a network of community-based organizations and national organizations and train dozens of program champions.
- FiftyForward: FiftyForward will utilize its centers, partners, and peer ambassadors to conduct outreach and engagement activities to promote enrollment among older adults and address the digital divide.
- National Alliance for Hispanic Health (NAHH): NAHH’s Todos Juntos: All of Us Research Program will conduct outreach and engagement activities to promote the enrollment of Hispanic and Latino communities.
- National Baptist Convention USA Inc. (NBCUSA): NBCUSA will conduct outreach and engagement activities to promote the enrollment of African Americans through their network of more than 31,000 churches with 7.5 million members in 50 states, as well as train health ambassadors through their Health Outreach and Prevention Education (H.O.P.E.) initiative.
- Stanford University: The Stanford University team will conduct outreach and engagement activities to promote the enrollment of sexual and gender minorities (SGM). They will also establish an Intersectional Advisory Group and Adolescent SGM Advisory Group to advance the priorities of the program.
- Baylor College of Medicine (BCM): BCM will engage researchers from diverse backgrounds, including those from underrepresented groups, to utilize the All of Us data resources to advance precision medicine. Their strategies will include coordinating a faculty summit conference, an “Evenings with Genetics” series to engage prospective researchers, and small seed grants for researchers interested in exploring the program’s data analysis platform, the Researcher Workbench.
To date, more than 400,000 participants have enrolled in the program, including more than 292,000 who have completed all the initial steps of the program. Of those, about 80% come from communities that are historically underrepresented in research—racial and ethnic minorities, sexual and gender minorities, residents of rural areas, and other groups.
Learn more about All of Us partners and funding opportunities.
These awards are supported by NIH award numbers: OT2 OD031916; OT2 OD027077; OT2 OD031932; OT2 OD025277; OT2 OD031918; OT2 OD025315; and OT2 OD025276.
All of Us, the All of Us logo, and “The Future of Health Begins with You” are service marks of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
