All of Us Research Program launches COVID-19 initiatives
The All of Us Research Program, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), announced plans to conduct research on COVID-19, according to a press release.
The All of Us Research Program will gather data through three activities:
• Serology testing to detect the presence of IgG antibodies in participants to help assess rates of infections across regions and communities.
• An online survey, which will ask questions about how participants are coping with the pandemic.
• A search of participants’ electronic health records.
The NIH said the All of Us Research Program will make data gathered through these activities broadly accessible to approved researchers over time through future releases of its data platform, which is currently in beta testing.
All of Us, which launched national enrollment in 2018, is building a research resource with data and biological samples shared by nearly 350,000 participants for use in thousands of studies, spanning many different aspects of health and disease.
In addition to antibody testing, All of Us has deployed a new online survey to better understand the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on participants' physical and mental health. The 20- to 30-minute survey is designed both for participants who have been ill with COVID-19 and those who have not, and includes questions on COVID-19 symptoms, stress, social distancing and economic impacts.
To round out its COVID-19 research efforts, the program’s staff is working to standardize information in participants’ electronic health records related to COVID-19. The goal is to provide a resource to help researchers learn more about COVID-19 symptoms, associated health problems, and the effects of different medicines and treatments.
