The Researcher Workbench dataset is now the world’s largest, most diverse genomic dataset available for wide use

The National Institutes of Health’s All of Us Research Program has significantly expanded its data to now include nearly a quarter million whole genome sequences for broad research use. About 45% of the data was donated by people who self-identify with a racial or ethnic group that has been historically underrepresented in medical research. The data expansion provides registered researchers access to the world’s largest and most diverse dataset of its kind paving the way to help advance health equity and uncover health care approaches better tailored to people’s genes, lifestyles, and environments.

In total, the expanded dataset provides researchers information from more than 413,450 participants. In addition to the whole genome sequences, this resource also includes data from surveys, electronic health records, physical measurements and Fitbit devices. Fitbit device data will now include information on sleep, in addition to activity, step count and heart rate. Sleep data, when used alongside participants’ electronic health record data, could be useful for studying how sleep patterns affect overall health and disease progression, including for conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, depression and dementia. Read More