OSU Health Sciences Library Hosts the Journey

Posted by Darlene Kaskie on July 14th, 2019 Posted in: All of Us, Blog, From the GMR, News from the Region, NNLM All of Us Ambassador Award, Partner Outreach Libraries, Success Stories

The OSU Health Sciences Library (HSL) hosted the NIH All of Us Research Program Mobile Education and Engagement Exhibit at the Wexner Medical Center plaza in June. During the two-day event, more than 200 persons learned about precision medicine through activities and information. The Wexner Medical Center also served as an enrollment center, one of the first health science libraries to participate in this role.

The All of Us Research Program aims to speed up health research and medical breakthroughs through data provided by 1 million or more volunteer participants. The program is open to any person living in the United States. Unlike a single research study focused on a specific disease or community, the All of Us Research Program will be a resource to inform thousands of studies, covering a wide range of health conditions. This information will help researchers learn more about different diseases and treatments, and participants will learn more about their health status and receive important information to share with their family members.

As a recipient of the All of Us Community Engagement Network Ambassador Program Award from the Greater Midwest Region of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, Lynda Hartel, Judith Wiener, and Missy Creed support the library’s outreach activities with community partners to promote education on the topic of precision medicine, and Ohio’s identified community health priorities which include chronic and infectious disease, mental health and addictions, and obesity.

“The OSU Health Sciences Library is uniquely situated to be involved in the All of Us initiative,” said Lynda Hartel, Assistant Vice President for Health Sciences and Library Director. “We are surrounded by remarkable researchers who will access this data to conduct studies and we want to contribute to this effort. By teaming up with librarians from the Columbus Metropolitan Library, we can make more people aware of All of Us and the opportunity to improve their own health while helping to make medical history.”

Look for more stories of their community outreach work throughout the year.

To learn more about the All of Us Research Program, please visit JoinAllofUs.org.

ABOUT Darlene Kaskie
Darlene Kaskie, M.L.S. is Community Engagement Coordinator for Region 6 of the Network of the National Library of Medicine. She connects communities to training, engagement, and funding to improve access, use, and understanding of health information. Advancing health literacy and digital skills training helps people make informed decisions about their health. She earned her Consumer Health Information Specialization (CHIS) from the Medical Library Association.

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