University of Arizona Health Sciences leaders Monica Kraft, MD, Francisco Moreno, MD, Andreas Theodorou, MD, and Eric Reiman, MD, encourage researchers and students to attend a virtual meeting for the National Institutes of Health’s All of Us Research Program.
The All of Us Researchers Convention takes place March 31 and April 1. It includes a Minority Student Research Symposium on the first day and Science Day for researchers on the second day. Agendas for both events can be found here. Those interested in participating can register here. Both events are free.
Dr. Kraft, professor and chair, Department of Medicine, UArizona College of Medicine – Tucson, deputy director, UArizona Health Sciences Asthma and Airway Disease Research Center, and contact principal investigator, All of Us Research Program University of Arizona-Banner Health, said the resource of health data the program provides and experience learning to use it is invaluable.
“I wanted to be sure all our researchers knew about Science Day on April 1 and had a chance to register. This is a way investigators from the University of Arizona Health Sciences and across the nation can learn how to use the Researcher Workbench and, ultimately, work with All of Us data to advance solutions they’ve been seeking to various health care challenges,” Dr. Kraft said.
In that regard, she pointed to a video on the All of Us Researcher Workbench on the convention website that features Jason Karnes, PharmD, PhD, scientific programs director for All of Us UArizona-Banner and assistant professor and researcher at the UArizona R. Ken Coit College of Pharmacy, for additional information.
Dr. Moreno, associate vice president, UArizona Health Sciences Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, and a principal investigator and engagement lead, All of Us UArizona-Banner, is on the planning committee for the Minority Student Research Symposium. He’ll serve March 31 as a judge for the event as well as moderator on a poster and concurrent session on diet, nutrition and diabetes.
Goals of the symposium and his office, Dr. Moreno said, include a desire to increase the diversity of health scientists and research that addresses the needs of underrepresented communities. That starts with students, he added.
“Underrepresented minorities represent 30% of the U.S. population but less than 9% of STEM PhD recipients and 7% of all physicians,” he said. “The All of Us Research Program hopes this symposium will widen the professional network of underrepresented STEM students, provide an environment that fosters exploration and professional development, and support their pursuit of a career in the biomedical workforce.”
Dr. Moreno, who also is a professor in the College of Medicine – Tucson’s Department of Psychiatry, encouraged any student interested in health sciences – particularly members of communities underrepresented in biomedical research – to complete a research project of their choice using data from the All of Us Research Program Hub. Students are paired with a STEM industry/academic mentor to prepare a research poster and present it during the following year’s student research symposium.
Those who would like to participate in the Minority Student Research Program and use All of Us data in their work over the next year – as a student or mentor – can fill out the MSRS 2023 Interest form here.
Drs. Theodorou and Reiman are other principal investigators on the All of Us UArizona-Banner team. Dr. Theodorou also is a professor and vice chair, Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine – Tucson, and chief education officer, Banner University Medical Group. Dr. Reiman is a professor, Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine – Phoenix, executive director, Banner Alzheimer’s Institute, and chief executive officer, Banner Research. Drs. Reiman and Kraft also are UArizona BIO5 Institute members.
About the All of Us Research Program University of Arizona-Banner Health
For the promise of precision medicine to become a reality, scientific research must include data from diverse populations. As part of this effort, the University of Arizona and Banner Health joined forces in 2016 as one of several cohorts nationwide for the All of Us Research Program spearheaded by the National Institutes of Health. NIH aims to enroll at least 1 million volunteers across the country to create the largest, most diverse genetic datasets for precision health research. Learn more: allofusaz.org
Media Contact:
Carrie Whitten Simmons, All of Us UArizona-Banner, 602-326-9048, carriesimmons@arizona.edu