National Institutes of Health To Launch Million-Person All of Us Research Program

The National Institutes of Health is launching a historic research program to gather data from one million or more people living in the United States. The All of Us Research Program will open enrollment nationwide on Sunday, May 6, 2018, marking the event with community activities in seven cities across the country.  By taking into account individual differences in lifestyle, environment, and biology, researchers hope to uncover paths toward delivering precision medicine.

The All of Us Research Program intends to partner with one million or more people across the United
States who will share information over time to help build the world’s largest and most diverse data
resources for health research. Researchers of all kinds, including citizen scientists, will be able to
request access to All of Us information to conduct studies to inform how individual
differences affect health and disease. Findings from these studies may lead to more tailored health
care approaches in the future.

“The All of Us Research Program is an opportunity for individuals from all walks of life to be represented in research and pioneer the next era of medicine,” said NIH Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D. “The time is now to transform how we conduct research—with participants as partners—to shed new light on how to stay healthy and manage disease in more personalized ways. This is what we can accomplish through All of Us.”

All of Us and its partner organizations will mark the national launch with events around the country to raise awareness about the program and the opportunity to join. Members of the public also may
participate remotely in the launch events by viewing live videos online and by taking part in
accompanying social media activities.

“All of us are unique, but today we live mostly in an era of ‘one-size-fits-all’ medicine,” said Eric Dishman, director of the All of Us Research Program. “I’m alive today because of precision medicine, and I think everyone deserves that same opportunity no matter the color of your skin, your economic status, your age or your sex or gender. In other words, it will truly take all of us.”

NIH has funded more than 100 organizations from community groups to health centers, academic medical centers and private companies to carry out the program. These organizations have collaborated to develop the program’s protocol and technology systems, to engage diverse communities, to enroll participants and to securely gather and store participants’ information and biological samples for use in research.

In future phases of the program, children will be able to enroll and the program will add more data types, such as genetic data. In addition, data from the program will be broadly accessible for research purposes. Ultimately, the All of Us Research Program will be a rich and open data resource for traditional academic researchers as well as citizen scientists—and everyone in between.

Community-based launch events

On the program’s May 6 launch date, the All of Us Research Program will host special events  in diverse communities around the country, including:

  • Birmingham, Alabama
  • Chicago, Illinois
  • Detroit, Michigan
  • Kansas City, Missouri
  • Nashville, Tennessee
  • New York, New York
  • Pasco, Washington

People also may take part in social media activities (#JoinAllofUs) or tune in at Launch.JoinAllofUs.org  to watch speakers across the country talk about precision medicine and the power of volunteering for research.

To learn more about the program and how to join, please visit www.JoinAllofUs.org .

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