U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
All of Us seeks proposals to link new types of information to All of Us program participant data
Funding opportunity seeks proposals to securely acquire and link new data streams to enhance research capabilities
The National Institutes of Health’s All of Us Research Program is seeking proposals to establish the Center for Linkage and Acquisition of Data (CLAD). This platform will securely acquire, process, and link new types of information to All of Us program participant data. These new data streams will provide registered researchers using the All of Us Researcher Workbench additional insights into different factors that may impact health and disease.
“Our lived experiences shape our health. By gathering and integrating new data streams, researchers will be able to more broadly examine the drivers of health and disease,” said Chris Lunt, chief technology officer of the All of Us Research Program.
Currently, participants donate data through biosamples, responses to surveys, wearable devices, physical measurements, and electronic health records (EHRs). The new data center aims to make these data types more useful for research by adding new data streams, as well as supplementing some existing ones in ways that would not require additional action by participants.
Data linkages will be selected based on the anticipated value for health research. For example, data linkages to acquire environmental data streams may allow researchers to better understand the relationship between an individual’s physical environment and their health. CLAD will also look to pilot new approaches to supplement existing EHR data streams and fill data gaps. Currently, more than 520,000 All of Us participants have consented to share their EHRs with All of Us. The majority of the EHR data received for any given participant is shared through records from one of 60 health care provider organizations in the All of Us network. However, portions of a participant’s health care record may be missing due to care received at multiple organizations, interoperability issues, or because of participant mobility.
CLAD will acquire and process linked data before delivering it to the All of Us Data and Research Center, which curates data and makes it accessible through the Researcher Workbench.
Additionally, the selected awardee will be expected to develop analytical tools and documentation to help jumpstart analysis and use of the linked datasets by registered researchers in the Researcher Workbench.
“We’re looking for proposals that demonstrate the scientific and technological capabilities that address our current program needs, while enabling our future growth,” said Lunt. “Ultimately, we aim to provide a platform that helps researchers speed biomedical breakthroughs, transform medicine, and advance health equity.”
Anyone interested in learning more about this opportunity is encouraged to join a pre-submission webinar on March 3, 2023, at 1 p.m. ET. Registration is required to attend the webinar. Questions to be addressed during the webinar must be emailed to AllofUsDTPDAwardRequirements@nih.gov by 12 p.m. ET on February 27, 2023.
Proposals are due April 17, 2023, by 3 p.m. ET. Questions must be submitted to AllofUsDTPDAwardRequirements@nih.gov at least 14 calendar days prior to the proposal submission deadline. If submitted less than 14 calendar days from the deadline, they may not be answered.
Total costs for CLAD are anticipated not to exceed $30 million for the 18-month base period. The program anticipates making one award, subject to funding availability.
All of Us is a registered service mark of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS).
