In response to the rapidly evolving COVID-19 pandemic, the All of Us Research Program longitudinal cohort study developed the COVID-19 Participant Experience (COPE) survey to better understand the pandemic experiences and health impacts of COVID-19 on diverse populations within the United States. Six survey versions were deployed between May 2020 and March 2021 covering mental health, loneliness, activity, substance use, and discrimination, as well as COVID-19 symptoms, testing, treatment, and vaccination. A total of 104,910 All of Us Research Program participants, of whom over 73% were from communities traditionally underrepresented in biomedical research, completed 275,201 surveys; 9,693 completed all six surveys

Before the pandemic, the program was enrolling approximately 12,500 participants per month at more than 400 clinic sites. In March 2020, all in-person activity at sites and by engagement partners was paused to develop processes and procedures for in-person activities that incorporate strict safety protocols because of the pandemic. In addition, the program adopted new data collection methodologies to reduce the need for in-person activities. Through February 2022, 224 clinic sites have reactivated in-person activity, and all enrollment and engagement partners have adopted new data collection methodologies that can be completed remotely.

Large-scale genomic studies have uncovered thousands of statistical associations between genetic variants and health outcomes, transforming our understanding of the genetic determinants of human diseases. Nevertheless, study sample selection and attrition over time can bias associations between variables, generating potentially biased estimates for genetic associations. This bias can be magnified in the case of studying phenotypic associations with polygenic risk scores in large scale cohort studies of unrepresentative or highly selected populations, such as the UK biobank, and potentially in the newly launched All of Us Research Program cohort study.

A new antibody testing study examining samples originally collected through the National Institutes of Health?s All of Us Research Program found evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infections in five states earlier than had initially been reported. These findings were published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. The results expand on findings from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study that suggested SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, was present in the U.S. as far back as December 2019.