FPs Sought for NIH Research Program Aimed at Individualized Care
AAFP NRN Partners on All of Us Researcher Cohort Collaborative
November 1, 2022, 9:00 a.m. News Staff — The AAFP National Research Network, in partnership with the NIH and the health care advocacy firm Pyxis Partners, is inviting family physicians to register with the AAFP Researcher Cohort Collaborative and increase the number of FPs and researchers in a massive program aimed at revealing more about why people get sick or stay healthy.
The NIH program, All of Us, intends to collect the health information of at least 1 million diverse participants from across the United States to help researchers account for initial differences in health and help determine individualized prevention, treatments and care for the general population.
“Family medicine physicians take care of families and communities across the lifespan; as such, they see the gamut of chronic and acute illness,” said Natabhona Mabachi, Ph.D., M.P.H., director of evaluation and a research investigator with the Academy’s Practice-Based Research, Innovation and Evaluation division. “This places them in the unique position to engage with the diverse data available in the NIH All of Us Research Hub and ask the kind of questions that could advance the practice of family medicine.”
The Collaborative’s overall goal is to develop a cohort of physicians, clinicians and researchers who will work together to develop primary care research questions. The cohort will then answer those questions using information in the Research Hub.
Enrollment in the Collaborative is open to both experienced and novice researchers through May 2023, and individuals who register may opt out at any time. Enrollees will receive bimonthly notifications from the AAFP NRN about opportunities available in the All of Us Research Hub, as well as opportunities to collaborate with other researchers. Registrants will also periodically be asked to complete surveys that describe their experiences with the Research Hub and Research Program.
Seeking Research Mentor
The AAFP NRN is also searching for an All of Us mentor/consultant to support junior researchers or novice family medicine clinicians who are eager to engage in research. The selected individual will be compensated for mentoring researchers from December 2022 to May 2023, include guiding them through the Research Hub and answering questions. Interested AAFP members who have experience with the Research Hub can contact Angie Lanigan, senior research project manager with the AAFP NRN, for more information.