NEW YORK – The National Institutes of Health's All of Us Research Program is making cuts to most of its program awards following a 34 percent decrease of its fiscal year 2024 budget and is warning about potential further reductions in coming years.
In an announcement on Tuesday afternoon, All of Us CEO Josh Denny wrote that due to reduced funding from the 21st Century Cures Act, the program only received $357 million for the current fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, or $184 million less than the year before.
"This will mean a reduction in most program awards, which will result in several impacts: a decrease in the rate of new enrollments, a delay in the launch of pediatric enrollment, and a slowing of new data collection," he wrote. "While these are difficult choices, we will maintain momentum to build on the program's many accomplishments to date."
Denny added that further intended cuts to Cures funding in fiscal years 2025 and 2026 "will be even more significant," and funding under the act is set to expire after that. For fiscal year 2025, President Joe Biden has requested $541 million for All of Us, he added, which includes planned funding from the Cures Act.
According to Denny, the All of Us program is "committed to launching pediatric enrollment as soon as possible" and plans to add new data on environmental factors, clinical care, and other areas. The project also intends to sign new partnerships through additional studies, such as the Nutrition for Precision Health study funded by the NIH Common Fund.
"While our budget circumstances are causing us to make adjustments to our immediate plans, our commitment to our participants and the protection of their data remains unwavering, and our motivation to continue advancing precision medicine and health equity is stronger than ever," he added.
Last fall, All of Us had awarded $30 million in funding to establish a Center for Linkage and Acquisition of Data for the program.