The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently published a survey that shows strong support for the Precision Medicine Initiative (PMI) Cohort Program, with survey respondents stating they would want to participate in this national research effort.
The PMI Cohort Program, a landmark longitudinal research effort, seeks to have at least 1 million participants across the U.S. join the study. The goal is to prevent and treat illnesses using individual variants in environment, lifestyle and genetics.
“We are excited about engaging participants in this historic research effort,” Dr. Kathy Hudson, study author and NIH deputy director for science, outreach and policy, said. “These survey results are extremely promising: they show that, after people learn about the PMI Cohort Program, they’re supportive and they recognize the value in taking part.”
Survey participants will give a variety of information about themselves through electronic health records, questionnaires and mobile or wearable devices. They will also experience a baseline physical evaluation, offering urine and blood samples. This will result in a national resource for scientists to research a variety of health conditions.
“These survey results suggest that people from all walks of life will be interested in the cohort program,” Dr. Dave Kaufman, lead author and program director at NIH’s National Human Genome Research Institute, said. “But it may take some more thought and effort to engage older people and those with fewer years of education. These results were helpful in identifying areas where the PMI Cohort Program may want to focus outreach efforts, beyond the communities that have been historically underrepresented in research.”
