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Sit down and buckle up because the National Institutes of Health’s All of Us Research Program could be pulling into a town near you!
On April 16, 2024, the All of Us Research Program announced its annual nationwide tour focused on engaging historically underrepresented communities in medical research, according to a recent news release.
The national mobile tour, dubbed “the All of Us Journey,” kicked off its route with stops on the East Coast in Ohio before eventually making its way to the New York area in early May.
Other East Coast stops include Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia along with first-time destinations of Vermont, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island.
The program plans to visit more than 80 communities, including central regions like Texas, Colorado, and New Mexico, and West Coast states such as California, Nevada, Utah, and Washington throughout the duration of the tour.
Find All of Us Research Program in a city near you.
About the ‘All of Us Journey’ Tour
The annual mobile tour is the perfect opportunity to learn about the All of Us Research Program and what it can do for your health and the health of your community.
The All of Us Research Program is a historic effort to build an extensive health database of over 1 million Americans.
Using this data researchers can explore how biology, lifestyle, and environmental differences affect health and disease.
The program’s data collection efforts have culminated in the discovery of 275 million new genetic variants —made possible thanks to the diversity of the program’s data.
“Where we live, our zip code, or ‘ZNA,’ is as important as our DNA,” said Dr. Karriem Watson, chief engagement officer of All of Us. “We all experience health differently and have different exposures. When people from all communities and backgrounds have the chance to take part in research, we can learn more about these influences and find more tailored ways to prevent and treat disease.”
The mobile exhibit features activities, videos, puzzles, a digital gaming hub, and an augmented reality experience that shows off the profound impact of precision medicine.
The exhibit will be manned by multilingual staff members to answer questions about the program.
“By engaging participants from diverse communities, we can begin to change the one-size-fits-all approach to medicine,” said Dr. Holly A. Garriock, chief cohort development officer of All of Us.
All of Us has made nearly 300 stops across 42 states and the District of Columbia to register more than 14,000 participants in the program since the mobile tour began in 2018, according to the news release.
As of April 2024, nearly 1.2 million people have begun the enrollment process by creating an online account, according to data on the All of Us Research Program.
Research Equity Starts with All of Us
There is no All of Us without you!
While over 1 million Americans have created an account, only 790,000 have made it through program consent.
During the consent part of the program, you sign forms agreeing to share electronic health records (optional), complete the surveys, provide physical measurements (optional), and donate a specimen to a local biobank (optional).
The collection of this data is essential to understanding how diseases impact communities, especially communities of color.
For instance, All of Us Research Program data is made up of 16.7% data from Black Americans and 16.1% data from Latinos.
Both populations have been underrepresented in scientific research, meaning results might not always benefit those communities.
That’s why specimen samples are so crucial to the program.
Something that stands out about the All of Us Research Program is that you get back what you put into it.
Not only does your sample tell researchers, but the sample also invites participants to learn more about themselves and where they come from via a free ancestry report.
Learn more about the All of Us Research Program by visiting their website or locate a stop on the tour nearest you!
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