The University of Illinois at Chicago will launch a new mobile research clinic to facilitate enrollment in the All of Us Research Program—a landmark National Institutes of Health (NIH) program that aims to advance individualized prevention, treatment and care for people of all backgrounds. The program seeks to enroll 1 million participants across the nation.
The specialized vehicle will enable researchers to reach communities that have been underrepresented in biomedical research, and that tend to have poor access to health care due to geographic barriers or limited transportation options. The full-sized mobile unit is wheelchair accessible. It has several stations for participants to complete surveys on iPads, an area for blood draws and physical measurements, and a bathroom.
The All of Us Research Program, which was launched nationally in 2018, emphasizes recruitment of individuals from communities that have been historically underrepresented in research. Participants will share health information such as lifestyle habits and living conditions, medical history, blood and urine samples, and blood pressure, height and weight measurement, which will ultimately provide the most diverse biomedical data resource in history. The data will be used to develop precision preventive strategies and treatments for both rare conditions and common acute and chronic diseases that may affect diverse populations differently.
The mobile unit will initially be located at UI Health’s Mile Square Health Center clinics, located across Chicago’s South and West sides, and will travel to other underserved neighborhoods in the city in the coming months. It will also be deployed to health fairs, neighborhood festivals and church-based events.
People who are 18 years or older can currently enroll, regardless of their health status.
