By Jessica Kent, HealthIT Analytics | September 14, 2018
The grant from HRSA will support the participation of community health centers in NIH’s All of Us precision medicine research program.
The HHS Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has awarded $21 million to 46 community health centers to support their participation in NIH’s All of Us precision medicine research program.
The grant will allow community health centers to enroll and retain participants in All of Us, a national research initiative which aims to gather data from one million or more diverse US citizens and accelerate healthcare discoveries.
“HRSA-supported community health centers’ participation in the All of Us Research Program is a critical opportunity for individuals from all walks of life to be represented in research and support the next generation of medical innovation,” said HHS Secretary Alex Azar.
“All of Us will lay the scientific foundation for a new era of personalized, highly effective health care. We look forward to working with people of all backgrounds to take this major step forward for our nation’s health.”
According to HHS, nearly 1400 community health centers currently operate over 11,000 service delivery sites nationwide, serving more than 27 million people.
“Community health centers provide high-quality preventive and primary health care. They can help engage participants from underserved communities, which will be vital to All of Us in producing meaningful health outcomes,” said HRSA Administrator George Sigounas, MS, PhD.
“We are proud to be a part of this historic effort to gather data from people across America to advance medical research and improve health.”
The HRSA funding will also enhance health IT interoperability capabilities at health centers, increasing the preparedness to use and share patient data to fuel future research opportunities.
With this award, HRSA will enhance the diversity of the All of Us research program and help accelerate precision medicine for all patients.
“Community health centers are vital to engaging people who have been underrepresented in research,” said NIH Director Francis S. Collins, MD, PhD.
“The success of the program will rely on a diverse population of participants, and the collaboration with HRSA will help accomplish the All of Us mission to enable individualized prevention, treatment and care for all populations.”