Researcher academy launched to support scientists at Minority Serving Institutions

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C — RTI International, a nonprofit research institute, today announced the launch of the All of Us Researcher Academy with support from the National Institutes of Health’s All of Us Research Program. The All of Us Researcher Academy will provide training and technical assistance to researchers at Minority Serving Institutions as well as facilitate peer-to-peer learning and network-building among researchers at Minority Serving Institutions.

The first phase of the All of Us Researcher Academy’s work will be focused on collaboration with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Researchers at HBCUs will receive support via free coursework and trainings to assist them in analyzing data from the All of Us Researcher Workbench.

“Many researchers at HBCUs are well-trained and poised to contribute to science and enhance our knowledge about human health but have limited resources and technical support needed to work with large health datasets,” said Dr. Sula Hood, who co-leads RTI’s work on the All of Us Researcher Academy along with Dr. Brian Southwell. “The new academy will offer needed support to ensure that researchers at HBCUs are included in the scientific community working to turn participant data into actionable discoveries. Their work will help to improve clinical and public health outcomes in diverse populations.” 

In 2020, RTI received a five-year award from NIH to participate in a national consortium of organizations supporting the All of Us Research Program. All of Us is designed to build one of the largest, most diverse health databases of its kind, engaging at least 1 million participants who reflect the diversity of the U.S., particularly from communities historically underrepresented in biomedical research. Data gathered from participants will help drive innovation in health care and help scientists understand how genes, health practices and environmental exposures can impact health and illness.

RTI's partners in development of the All of Us Researcher Academy include Community-Campus Partnerships for Health and the North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences (NC TraCS) Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Community-Campus Partnerships for Health will host an introductory webinar for prospective All of Us Researcher Academy participants and partners on June 23.

This work is supported by NIH’s All of Us Research Program under award number OT2OD028395. 

“All of Us” and the All of Us logo are registered service marks of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.