08 May Pay it forward: Join with ‘All of Us’ Research Program to build a healthier future

By signing up for All of Us, you will help accelerate the growth of precision medicine. We will be able to deliver better health for every American.

By Alex M. Azar II and Francis S. Collins, USA Today

In 1948, more than 5,000 people in the little town of Framingham, Mass., volunteered for a study to find answers about the mysterious, growing epidemic of heart disease. Every two years for decades, they had a physical exam, gave blood and urine samples, and answered questions about their health. Their children and grandchildren joined, too. Because of them, we now know the big risk factors for cardiovascular disease and have saved millions of lives through new prevention strategies, drugs, procedures and education.

The Framingham study taught us something important: Driving the future of medicine requires the generosity of volunteers who, in the service of science and generations to come, choose to “pay it forward” and help provide the data today that produce cures tomorrow. The Department of Health and Human Services is devoted to improving the quality of health care for every American, and today, we have tools to advance that mission that would be unimaginable to the Framingham volunteers 70 years ago.

Imagine the power of a project that asks 1 million people from across the United States to volunteer to help find answers about virtually all health conditions we face. Starting today, you can be one of those volunteers. The All of Us Research Program, led by the National Institutes of Health, in collaboration with more than 100 partner organizations, seeks at least 1 million participant partners from all walks of life, who are willing to contribute health information over decades to come, to support research that holds the promise of leading to better health care and better health. Read more …