NIH funds genetic counseling resource for precision medicine initiative

The National Institutes of Health’s All of Us Research Program today awarded a health technology company $4.6 million in initial funding to provide genetic counseling to program participants who wish to receive genomic data. The program last year awarded funding to establish three genome centers, which will share certain data such as drug-gene interactions and disease risk with participants who contribute biosamples and wish to receive it. The 21st Century Cures Act of 2016 authorized $1.5 billion for the All of Us Research program, which aims to enroll at least 1 million volunteers from diverse communities to share health and lifestyle information over time in a secure and private way for research in precision medicine, an emerging approach to disease treatment and prevention that considers differences in people’s lifestyles, environments and biological makeup. About 230,000 people have enrolled in the research program since it opened last May, according to a recent update. For more on the initiative, whose partners include the AHA, visit https://www.aha.org/all-us-research-program.