NIH Funds Genetic Counselling Resource for Million-Person Study

The NIH awarded $4.6 million to Color Genomics to provide genetic counselling and technological infrastructure for the All of Us research program.

The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a $4.6 million grant (part of $25 million over multiple years) to Color Genomics, a health tech company based in California, to set up and provide genetic counseling and technological infrastructure for the million-person All of Us Research Program.

All of Us is an ambitious program that plans to sequence the genomes of 1 million participants from diverse communities across the United States, in order to better understand the various factors that influence health, and ultimately accelerate health research and medical breakthroughs in precision medicine.

Returning results in a responsible way is integral to what All of Us stands for,” said All of Us Director Eric Dishman. “Participants are our partners in research, who may want to receive their own health data, including genomics. The genetic counseling resource will help our participants interpret and act upon their health information.

All participants will have access to genetic counselling services from Color, through which they can gain information on ancestry and traits, drug-gene interactions (which can help to inform choices about certain prescription drugs), and genetic variants associated with high risk of certain diseases e.g. breast cancer or heart disease. Genetic counsellors will also be able to connect participants to health care providers who can further address their particular health concerns.