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NIH Will Strengthen Links with UMMC to Improve Precision Medicine Research
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) today commended the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) on its selection to participate in a national effort to advance precision medicine research.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) today announced the inclusion of UMMC in its All of Us network, a program to gather data for accelerating precision medical research on health conditions and illnesses. UMMC will be part of the Southern All of Us network, which is being formed to reach traditionally underrepresented communities.
“The University of Mississippi Medical Center has long been a national leader in physiology, and this expertise can improve research to discover more precise treatments and cures for diseases,” Cochran said. “I am pleased the NIH is strengthening its research links to Mississippi, not only through the University of Mississippi Medical Center and expanding its geographic reach.”
Cochran has been a strong advocate for federal collaboration with Mississippi medical research institutions. As chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Cochran started funding for the Precision Medicine Initiative and supported record-level funding for the program, which aims to build a national research cohort of one million volunteer participants.
As part of a June Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on the FY2018 NIH budget request, Cochran promoted UMMC expertise in determining the role of physiology in patients’ unique medical needs and the potential for this knowledge to benefit the precision medicine effort.
Cochran has also encouraged the NIH to use existing research cohorts, like the Jackson Heart Study, in the precision medicine initiative. The Jackson Heart Study involves a research cohort of 5,300 men and women in Jackson. The study involves cooperation with UMMC, Jackson State University and Tougaloo College.
