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The group comprises two institutions with a track record of training researchers underrepresented in the biomedical workforce that will benefit from the academy’s training and technical assistance
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — RTI International, a nonprofit research institute, has selected two institutions with a track record of training researchers underrepresented in the biomedical workforce to serve as the fourth group of Institutional Champions for the All of Us Researcher Academy. As part of the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) All of Us Research Program, the academy provides capacity building, training, technical assistance and peer-to-peer learning for health and social science researchers using the All of Us Researcher Workbench.
The fourth group includes Diné College in Tsaile, Arizona, and Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwe University in Hayward, Wisconsin.
“Tribal Colleges and Universities, or TCUs, have served communities with innovation and dedication for more than 50 years. Having researchers affiliated with TCUs join our network of Institutional Champions will bring fresh perspectives to the All of Us Researcher Academy,” said Dr. Brian Southwell, a Distinguished Fellow at RTI who co-leads the academy with Dr. Sula Hood.
Awards totaling $146,000 across the two institutions will be dispersed to support faculty and student use of the All of Us Researcher Workbench, the cloud-based platform where researchers can access the All of Us dataset. Each institution will support researchers for a year and can welcome visiting students and faculty from other eligible institutions to participate in activities that increase capacity to analyze the All of Us dataset.
In 2020, RTI received a five-year award from NIH to participate in a national consortium of organizations supporting the NIH’s All of Us Research Program. The mission of All of Us is to accelerate health research and medical breakthroughs, enabling individualized prevention, treatment, and care for all. To make this possible, All of Us is building one of the largest, most diverse health databases of its kind, engaging at least one million research 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 leads the All of Us Researcher Academy in collaboration with the All of Us Research Program’s Division of Engagement and Outreach. The division partners with community organizations nationwide to foster relationships with participants, researchers, and health care providers. The academy and other researcher engagement activities are central to building a diverse community of researchers. There are now more than 14,300 All of Us researchers from all career stages, institution types, backgrounds and experiences.
RTI’s partner in developing this stage of the All of Us Researcher Academy is Community-Campus Partnerships for Health.
In 2022, RTI announced the initial group of Institutional Champions, followed by a second group in spring 2023 and a third group in winter 2024.
The All of Us Researcher Academy is supported by the Division of Engagement and Outreach, All of Us Research Program, National Institutes of Health, Award Number OT20D028395. All of Us and the All of Us logo are registered service marks of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
