We need you! ‘All of Us’ program recruiting new participants

The COVID-19 pandemic has clearly illustrated how genetics and environment play important roles in everyone’s health. It also revealed the need for more precision medicine, which takes in to account individual factors such as where you live, what you do, and your family health history. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) began laying the groundwork for this precision medicine research in 2019, and now the All of Us program is looking to recruit new participants.

The All of Us program at Tulane University School of Medicine is run by the Clinical Translational Unit and headed up by Vivian Fonseca, MD, assistant dean for clinical research.

"I think this has the potential to change medicine,” said Fonseca. “It has changed how we treat certain cancers, very precise, targeted treatments. And if we could do this for every disease, we'll really have transformed medicine.”

The program has the goal of recruiting one million or more people, who are willing to share health data through methods including surveys and electronic health records. Participants also may be asked to share physical measurements and blood and urine samples. All personal information is protected and de-identified, so that it cannot be attributed back to any individual person.

The health information goes into a database, and physicians and scientists can use it for future health studies. In exchange for participating you will receive valuable information back about your own health, along with a $25 gift card for being part of the study.

Want to find out more?  Visit http://joinallofus.org/tulane or contact allofus@wave.tulane.edu or 504-988-0650 to learn more.