Notice Number: NOT-OD-18-127

Key Dates
Release Date: January 31, 2018
Response Date: February 23, 2018

Issued by
National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Purpose

The purpose of this RFI is to solicit public input to inform future updates to the All of Us Research Program that would be of most benefit to participants, researchers, and the broader community.

The information respondents provide will help identify key research priorities and requirements (such as data types and methods) for future versions of the All of Us protocol

Background

The mission of the All of Us Research Program is to advance the science of precision medicine and ensure everyone shares in its benefits. The overall objective of the All of Us Research Program is to build an observational research resource that will provide the information needed to address a wide range of scientific questions, facilitating the exploration of biological, clinical, social, and environmental determinants of health and disease. The program will collect and curate health-related data and biospecimens from one million or more individuals who reflect the diversity in the United States; these data and biospecimens will be made broadly available for research uses.

The program’s initial protocol is available for those seeking specific details. (A protocol is a scientific document with in-depth plans for a specific research effort; writing one is an important first step in the research process, to help researchers explain what they want to learn and how they will carry out their work). As described in the protocol, participants will be invited to share their electronic health records (EHRs), if any, and answer health-related surveys. Some participants may also be invited to undergo physical measurements and provide biospecimens from which genomic information and other biomarkers may be derived through analytics. DNA will be sequenced when samples and funds are available, and will be linked with behavioral and environmental data and information in participants EHRs. With safeguards in place to protect participant confidentiality, the program will provide qualified researchers from many organizations access to the cohort's de-identified data for research and analysis.
The program is currently in beta testing, with a national launch anticipated in spring 2018. Once enrollment opens nationally, volunteers over the age of 18 who live in the United States will be able to join All of Us, either directly through the joinallofus.org website or through participating health care provider organizations. All of Us aims to be open to all interested individuals, to reflect the rich diversity of America and to serve as a catalyst for innovative research programs and policies (see the All of Us core values).

Information Requested

The program requests use cases, or input on health problems or research questions of interest that All of Us could potentially help address. For more details about this request, and answers to frequently asked questions, please visit https://allofus.nih.gov/researchpriorities.

The All of Us Research Program will make all responses available on the website https://allofus.nih.gov/ as a searchable reference and as a principal database of use cases and requirements for informing future plans for All of Us. Other funders, including other parts of NIH, may consider use cases that are not incorporated into the All of Us protocol for additional funding opportunities.

We look forward to your input and hope that you will share this RFI with your colleagues.

How to Respond

All responses must be submitted online by February 23, 2018 through the program’s IdeaScale website, where users may also view and comment on others ideas.

This RFI is for information and planning purposes only and shall not be construed as a solicitation, grant, or cooperative agreement, or as an obligation on the part of the Federal Government, the NIH, or individual NIH Institutes and Centers to provide support for any ideas identified in response to it. The Government will not pay for the preparation of any information submitted or for the Government’s use of such information. No basis for claims against the U.S. Government shall arise as a result of a response to this request for information or from the Government’s use of such information.

Inquiries

Please direct all inquiries to: [email protected]