A national research program is seeking Pennsylvanians to volunteer for a health-based study that will help develop “precision medicine,” and its staff members have been making appearances at Butler County locations in search of volunteers.

The All of Us Research Program is funded by the National Institutes of Health, and launched in Pennsylvania in 2017 as All of Us PA. Volunteers in the program start by filling out surveys that supply information about their living situation and some of their health history.

Lori Vish Stearns, director of engagement for the All of Us Pennsylvania Research Program, said the researchers will use survey data, and more data if provided by volunteers, to develop treatments that can be used to treat specific needs.

“The mission of the program is to welcome a variety of info so that research investigators can understand what makes us sick and what makes it better,” Stearns said. “The research investigators will look at data and will be able to identify why things happen, why things don't happen.”

According to Stearns, All of Us PA staff have been at UPMC Passavant, the Butler Area Public Library, Jean B. Purvis Community Health Center, the South Butler Community Library and the Slippery Rock Community Library giving information about the program and looking for volunteers. Stearns said the All of Us staff have been warmly welcomed in Butler County, and she has come across several people who sign up out of curiosity, or to help future generations.

Stearns also said people who volunteer start by creating an account online, which includes the initial survey. She also emphasized that all information collected by the study is confidential, and is seen as anonymous by researchers.

“All kinds of people sign up, people who are healthy, people with particular diagnoses sign up,” Stearns said. “We need all kinds of people.”

Once a person creates their account, they can continue work with the program by submitting a blood sample, which will also net them a $25 gift card for their participation.

Rob Morlino, director of marketing and communications for All of Us PA, said the genetic tests can be vital in precision medicine.

“Certainly this helps find certain genetic traits that make people have diseases,” Morlino said. “Especially to later generations, what we can glean from them can yield better results in the future.”

The survey data can be accessed by researchers across the country, with the participants again being anonymous. According to Stearns, there are many studies taking place simultaneously.

“There are behavioral health studies to understand depression, eating disorders, physical health for things like cancer, heart disease, nutrition,” Stearns said. “We have in the neighborhood of almost 2,000 research studies happening on the data.”

So far, about 33,000 individuals have registered for All of Us PA, and 6,000 to 7,000 of those people are in various stages of the research process. Stearns said the Pennsylvania branch aims to get 120,000 volunteers, so research can create more efficient treatments.

“My vision for the program is we will have so many answers so much faster so people don't have to go through trial and error for their care,” Stearns said. “With precision medicine, you give people the information they need right away instead of what everyone gets. It's a novel way of practicing medicine; we're just not there yet.”