Davids, Cleaver Celebrate New Regional Hospital Network Improving Rural Health Care

Today, Representatives Sharice Davids (KS-03) and Emanuel Cleaver (MO-05) celebrated the National Institute of Health’s (NIH) $6.3 million award for the establishment of the All of Us Heartland Consortium, a collection of Midwest research hospitals working together to advance individual health outcomes. Led by the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC), the Heartland Consortium also includes academic medical centers at the University of Iowa, the University of Missouri, and the University of Nebraska.

In its first year, the consortium, which represents the first of its kind in the Midwest, seeks to enroll more than 6,000 participants who reflect the diversity of the United States. In June, Davids and Cleaver joined Representatives Tracey Mann (KS-01), Jake LaTurner (KS-02), and Cori Bush (MO-01) to advocate in support of this project.

“While Americans living in rural areas face unique health challenges,including higher rates of chronic disease and a lack of access to specialist care, they are often underrepresented in biomedical research,” said Davids. “The Heartland Consortium will ensure all Kansans, no matter where they live, can benefit from a wide range of prevention strategies and individualized treatment options. With their top-notch research personnel and commitment to quality care, the KU Medical Center is perfectly situated to lead this program.”

“The Heartland Consortium is excited that our region will now be a part of the national All of Us Research Program, helping to further precision medicine research by ensuring people in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa are represented,” said Akinlolu Ojo, M.D., Executive Dean and consortium principal investigator, University of Kansas School of Medicine. “Our participation was made possible by the substantial resources and researcher expertise from disciplines across the KU schools of Health Professions, Medicine and Nursing and from other consortium members from our four-state region.”

The All of Us program promises to advance precision medicine and fundamentally transform disease prevention and treatment by accounting for social, environmental, and biological influences on individual health. The Heartland Consortium aims to reach a wide variety of participants, with special emphasis on those in rural areas, as well as other groups historically underrepresented in research. Now, researchers have access to comprehensive data from a diverse population of participants to drive future studies and treatments of all types of disease.

“The All of Us Heartland Consortium is a commonsense initiative that will ensure Americans from the Midwest, particularly those in rural areas, are well-represented in one of the most comprehensive public health research programs to date,” said Congressman Emanuel Cleaver (MO-05). “By combining the reach and tremendous research capabilities of these world-renowned universities and academic medical institutions, we can ensure that the All of Us Research Program is a success that leads to the development of new and improved health care for Americans of all backgrounds. That’s something I will always support, and I’m excited to see the benefits it brings to Missouri’s Fifth Congressional District and beyond.”

Since its founding, the All of Us program has created a national research resource that includes comprehensive and confidential health information from more than 1 million people in the United States. Unlike research studies that focus on one disease or group of people, All of Us is building a diverse and secure database that can inform thousands of studies on a variety of health conditions. The award highlighted today has the potential for review and additional funding every year for four years.

“It’s vital that the All of Us Research Program reflect the true diversity of the United States to allow researchers to better understand how differences in what it’s like where we live, our lifestyle and DNA impact our health and disease,” said Holly A. Garriock, Ph.D., Chief Cohort Development Officer, National Institutes of Health’s All of Us Research Program. “The Heartland Consortium will provide opportunities for more communities to participate in medical research and be represented in the All of Us dataset, enabling researchers to discover breakthroughs relevant to their communities.”

Davids has worked to support KUMC’s life-saving research and medical treatment since being sworn into Congress. She successfully advocated for the purchase of advanced CT and MRI machines at the Hoglund Biomedical Imaging Center, a research-based imaging facility on KUMC's campus. Davids also announced federal resources to improve youth mental health through expanded primary care clinician training at KUMC and to prepare children in Wyandotte County for life inside and outside of the classroom through programs focusing on early learning, health, and family well-being.