NIH’s All of Us Research Program is building one of the largest and most diverse databases to accelerate health research discoveries and innovations in precision medicine. The All of Us Researcher Workbench (RW) is a cloud-based platform that houses All of Us participant data. Less than 3% of registered RW users are affiliated with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). In 2022, we developed and launched the All of Us Researcher Academy (Academy) to promote equitable access to and use of the RW by researchers underrepresented in the biomedical work force. The initial stage of the Academy is focused on researchers at HBCUs.

Methods

The Academy employs a multi-level implementation strategy, and includes individual scholar, social network, and institutional level components. Individual-level components include tuition-free short courses and internships for students to gain hands-on experience using the RW. Social network level components include hosting virtual convenings and distributing a quarterly newsletter. At the institutional level, the Academy offers Institutional Champion (IC) awards to support team-based All of Us projects.

Results

To date, we have hosted 10 courses, averaging 22 learners per course, hosted 5 virtual convenings, and shared our newsletters with 354 subscribers. Six HBCUs received IC awards, supporting 21 faculty members, 5 postdocs, and 19 students. Six interns will start in summer 2023.

Conclusion

The Academy is expected to improve participants’ skills to use the RW, increase the number of HBCU-led publications and presentations using All of Us data, and increase participants’ research collaborations and mentoring connections.