‘ All of Us ’ Research Program Recruiting Participants

BOSTON (CBS) – The future of healthcare is to customize therapies based on a patient’s individual background.  That requires a large amount of data on people from all walks of life. As Dr. Mallika Marshall reports, local researchers are recruiting thousands of New Englanders to participate in one of the largest biobanks of its kind. If you had high blood pressure, wouldn’t it be nice to know exactly what medications would be best for you? Local researchers are recruiting thousands of New Englanders to participate in one of the largest biobanks of its kind. (WBZ-TV) It’s called precision medicine which involves tailoring specific tests, treatments and prevention to individual patients based on their particular genetics, habits, lifestyle, and environment. To do that, scientists need to study a huge pool of people, so the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has just launched the “All of Us Research Program” with the goal to recruit one million volunteers from across the country, including those who have traditionally been left out of biomedical research. “That can mean patients with disability,” says Dr. Dean Xerras, Medical Director for MGH Chelsea Health Center and a co-investigator in the All of Us program.  “It can mean patients of the LGBT community.  It can mean  Latinos, African Americans,” Dr. Xerras adds. Like Michelle Anderson of Roxbury who was initially hesitant to enroll given the misuse of African-Americans in biomedica...
Source: WBZ-TV - Breaking News, Weather and Sports for Boston, Worcester and New Hampshire - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Boston News Health Healthwatch Seen On WBZ-TV Syndicated Local Biomedical Research Dr. Mallika Marshall Source Type: news