All of Us is a research program of the National Institutes of Health, a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It was created under the NIH’s Precision Medicine Initiative Working Group of the Advisory Committee to the Director under the Obama administration in 2015. ^{1 2}

The All of Us program collects biological samples along with lifestyle, environmental, and phenotype data to conduct health studies based on the diversity of America’s population. It uses its data to produce information about genetic ancestry, genetic traits, and the health impact of genetics. ^{2 3 4}

Activities

Research

As of January 6, 2026, All of Us reported having over 873,000 individuals agree to participate in its research and over 599,000 who had completed the initial steps of the program. The initial steps included sharing electronic health records, responses to three surveys, physical measurements, and one biospecimen to be stored at a storage repository for biological materials known as a biobank. It also reported that it had provided funding to over 100 partner organizations and over 430 data collection locations. ⁵

For 2026, All of Us created research goals that included enrolling 1 million participants and soliciting minority groups so the data can be categorized by what it describes as nine “essential” diversity categories. The categories included age; racial categories including Black, Hispanic, American Indian and Alaskan Native, Asian American, and Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders; three socioeconomic categories; “disparity populations” as defined by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD); “underserved rural populations”; women; and two categories associated with “sexual and gender minorities.” ^{4 2}

LGBT Focus

In June 2024, All of Us published a press release celebrating that it had over 40,000 participants who identify as LGBT, making it the largest health dataset for LGBT individuals. ⁶

In June 2023, All of Us published a press release reporting that 14 percent of its then-413,450 participants identified as LGBT and nearly 75 percent were categorized as an ethnic minority or a member of the LGBT community. It uses its minority data categories to research health factors specific to ethnic minorities as well as “sexual and gender minority populations,” and the article cited how it has researched the relationship between reported stress from LGBT individuals and health outcomes and substance abuse. ³

Funding

In January 2015, the Precision Medicine Initiative was allocated $215 million when it was under the President’s 2016 Budget to fund biomedical research under the Obama administration. Its funding included $130 million to the National Institutes of Health to recruit volunteers for biological data collection, $70 million to the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to research genomic cancer factors, $10 million to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to create a database, and $5 million to the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) to address privacy concerns. ⁷

All of Us was initially funded under the 21st Century Cures Act in 2016 and has received funding from appropriations made to the National Institutes of Health. By 2022, All of Us had seen its annual budget increase to $541 million, but it was later decreased to $158 million by the 2025 Continuing Resolution. ⁸

Leadership

Josh Denny, M.D., M.S is the CEO of All of Us, serving in the role since 2020. He previously worked as a physician and professor at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center. He also served as the principal investigator for initial research for All of Us’ data and research center. Denny is also an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, a fellow of the American College of Medical Informatics, and a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation. ⁹

1. “Who We Are.” National Institutes of Health. Accessed January 6, 2025. https://allofus.nih.gov/article/who-we-are.
2. “All of Us Research Program Strategic Goals.” National Institutes of Health. Accessed January 7, 2025. https://allofus.nih.gov/article/program-goals.
3. “Research Roundup: Research With Pride: LGBTQIA+ Representation in All of Us.” National Institutes of Health. June 27, 2023. https://allofus.nih.gov/article/announcement-research-with-pride-lgbtqia-representation-all-of-us.
4. Mapes, Brandy M., et al. “Diversity and inclusion for the All of Us research program: A scoping review.” PLOS One. July 1, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0234962.
5. “Data Snapshots.” National Institutes of Health. Accessed January 7, 2025. https://www.researchallofus.org/data-tools/data-snapshots/.
6. “NIH’s All of Us Has Built the Largest LGBTQIA+ Health Dataset for Research.” National Institutes of Health. June 27, 2024. https://allofus.nih.gov/article/announcement-nihs-all-us-has-built-largest-lgbtqia-health-dataset-research.
7. Office of the Press Secretary. “FACT SHEET: President Obama’s Precision Medicine Initiative.” The White House. January 30, 2015. https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2015/01/30/fact-sheet-president-obama-s-precision-medicine-initiative. 
8. “How is All of Us Funded?” National Institutes of Health. Accessed January 8, 2026. https://allofus.nih.gov/article/program-overview.
9. “All of Us Research Program Staff.” National Institutes of Health. Accessed January 10, 2026. https://allofus.nih.gov/about/who-we-are/nih-all-us-research-program-staff.