All of Us Seeks Proposals to Support Future Participant Experience

Research Opportunity Announcement outlines expertise and services envisioned for new research support and technology award

The National Institutes of Health’s All of Us Research Program has released a new funding opportunity seeking technology and research services partners to help develop the program’s future participant experience. This effort will require strong expertise in designing engaging and accessible digital platforms, implementing research protocols that are carried out through different channels, and supporting a range of other activities to facilitate participants’ involvement in research.

“All of Us is committed to nurturing relationships with at least one million people who reflect the diversity of the U.S. To do so, we need to refine our tools to overcome barriers to participation and enhance our digital participant experience,” said Chris Lunt, chief technology officer, All of Us Research Program. “We are looking for innovative solutions that will amplify the strengths of the program, provide the next generation of our platform to evolve our capabilities, and meet the needs of our program partners and participants.”

The scope of work includes two core components. A research technology systems core will focus on developing a secure platform that is capable of facilitating nationwide participant involvement, including in their use of digital health technologies, connection of election health records, and access to returned personal health information. The platform will also be used to deploy surveys, and manage robust communications, marketing, and analytics support for program staff and partners.

A program management and delivery core will develop refined consent and data collection methods and tools, and multi-language services to support participants in at least three or more languages to go beyond English and Spanish. Additionally, this core will evaluate potential options to provide at-home and mobile technology to ensure more participants can fully participate in the program.

Proposals should also demonstrate capabilities and expertise to support cloud systems security and privacy implementation and compliance with National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards to a minimum Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) Moderate requirement.

“We are committed to upholding the trust participants have in the program. Protecting their data and privacy is critical to maintaining that trust,” said Lunt. “We require all of our partners to adhere to strict data security policies and procedures, while also promoting an environment for innovation and growth. We look forward to reviewing ideas and identifying potential partners that will build and maintain tools to support an active community of participants.”

The selected awardee(s) will also be expected to transition the program’s current participant and study staff services – supported by the Participant Technology Systems Center and the Participant Center – to this scope of work during the base year period. Total funding for this effort is estimated at $37.5 million for the base period. 

The application process for this Research Opportunity Announcement (ROA) will include five phases. The first phase will require submission of a white paper, due on March 20, 2023, at 3 p.m. ET. Offerors are encouraged to propose partnerships within their proposal. NIH reserves the right to select separate proposals to support individual cores with the expectation that partners would collaborate to achieve the program’s goals.

Anyone interested in learning more about this opportunity is encouraged to join a pre-submission webinar on February 2, 2023 at 2 p.m. ET. Registration is required to attend the webinar. Questions can be emailed in advance by January 30, 2023, to AOU-ROA@nih.gov. 

Review the Research Opportunity Announcement for full details about the scope of work and steps to apply. 

All of Us is a registered service mark of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS).